Recap of the Bangor Submarine Base Tour

The June 30 tour of Submarine Base Bangor went off without any issues and everyone seemed to enjoy the trip.  Dick Gonzalez and Bob Opple were gracious enough to share their thoughts on the trip.

The Tour Group by USS Sturgeon's sail at Keyport Undersea Museum

We met at the Keyport Undersea Museum and while we waited for the arrival of the Navy bus we did a quick roll call of our members and their guests. We also managed to take a few group pictures next to the sail of the USS Sturgeon SSN 637. When the bus arrived, we met the Public Affairs Officer (Sub Group 9) Kenneth Takada, who provided an overview of the tour and the emphasis on security.
     We proceeded through Bangor main gate and disembarked at the entrance of the Trident Training Facility (TTF). We split up into several smaller groups, met our tour guides, (all wearing Dolphins) and proceeded into several training areas including the diesel engine room compartment where we enjoyed an overview of the twelve cylinder Fairbanks & Morse power plant with its updated electronic engine controller. My grandson Nathan was given the opportunity to start and operate a simulated engine. Later in the tour he simulated firing a torpedo in the torpedo training room. Our final event before breaking for lunch was the navigation simulator, where several tour members had the opportunity to wear virtual headgear in order to steer a boat in different scenarios.
     After lunch we boarded the bus and headed down to USS Louisiana SSBN 743, which was commissioned 1997 at Kings Bay Georgia. Prior to boarding we noticed several Humvees equipped with turrets, and machine guns manned by serious looking marines. We went through the Marine Security Checkpoint to validate our citizenship and then boarded the bus again and proceeded to the boat.
     Louisiana was undergoing a good deal of maintenance work and we saw several yard birds working right alongside crew members. We could see several other boats in the same state, keeping in mind this is primarily a boomer base where readiness is essential to their mission.
     We broke into small groups and several qualified crew members provided a systematic and detailed tour of the boat. They seemed to appreciate we were also qualified and could understand most of the terminology and layout of the boat.
     We exited the sub and boarded the bus back to the Keyport Undersea Museum parking lot. We expressed our appreciation to the Public Affairs Officer for the effort and time spent on our behalf.
     Perhaps we should repeat this tour again sometime next year.

Dick Gonzalez

The Tour Group at Deterrent Park on Submarine Base Bangor with the sail of USS Woodrow Wilson (SSBN 624) in the back

Bangor and the Tour of USS Louisiana 

I have been fortunate enough to go to Bangor a few other times and as with all of my visits to this NW sub base I once again was in WOW.

WOW at the hospitality shown towards us by everyone we came in contact with be it the bus driver, a major tour guide, the young sailors conducting the training classes and in particular the crewmen assigned to the SSBN Louisiana who took time out of their very busy schedules to each give us a very in-depth personal tour.

I was in WOW at the security around the submarines that were in their pens, the professionalism of the Marine Corps who have the responsibility for security of not only the submarines but the many nuclear weapons that I know are somewhere on the base. We can all rest assured that our submarines are protected from anyone who has hopes of damaging our fleet.

I was in WOW at the ballistic submarine we toured; there was little comparison between it and the old diesel World War II submarines that many of us served on. The sophistication of the equipment far exceeded anything that we could have imagined in the 50s or 60s. As I stood in the forward torpedo room I was told that it was 47 feet across, that itself was a tremendous difference as the old fleet boats were only 17 feet at the widest point.

But most importantly I was in WOW just meeting and talking to today’s submarine crew. I doubt that I would have the knowledge to qualify on subs today. The sophistication and complexity of the electronics and nuclear power are all about my head. These kids are continually undergoing training not only at sea but during the three-month period there on shore. The only question that our guide, or anyone on board, could not answer was: “where was the fanorknor valve?”, all we diesel guys know that answer.

We also had the opportunity to tour the training facility and talk to a few of the instructors and they confirmed how sharp these young men and women really are. The retention rate of today’s submarine sailor’s over 70% and this tells you how well these young sailors are respected by the military today.

I want to thank Richard Gonzales for putting this trip together, all of us were very impressed at the conclusion of the tour and looking forward to our next visit. Maybe next time to a Fast Attack submarine like the old Razorback SS-394.

Bob Opple

Thanks Bob and Dick for the recap.