Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility

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Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Aerial Bremerton Shipyard November 2012.jpg

Four decommissioned aircraft carriers docked at the shipyard. From left: Independence, Kitty Hawk, Constellation, and Ranger.
USA Washington location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location N shore of Sinclair Inlet, Bremerton, WA
Coordinates 47°33′31″N122°38′39″W / 47.5585°N 122.6442°W / 47.5585; -122.6442 Coordinates: 47°33′31″N122°38′39″W / 47.5585°N 122.6442°W / 47.5585; -122.6442
Architect US Navy
NRHP reference # 92001883
Significant dates
Added to NRHP 27 August 1992 [1]
Designated NHLD 27 August 1992 [2]
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility
Puget Sound, Washington
Type Shipyard
Site information
Controlled by United States Navy
Site history
Built 1891
In use 1891–present

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF) is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km²) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted use since its establishment in 1891; it has also been known as Navy Yard Puget Sound, Bremerton Navy Yard, and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

United States Navy Naval warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U.S. allies or partner nations. with the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, and two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches. It has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force.

Shipyard place where ships are repaired and built

A shipyard is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.

Puget Sound sound along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington

Puget Sound is a sound along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and two minor connections to the open Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Juan de Fuca—Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and Deception Pass and Swinomish Channel being the minor.

Contents

It is bordered on the south by Sinclair Inlet, on the west by the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, and on the north and east by the city of Bremerton, Washington. It is the Pacific Northwest's largest naval shore facility and one of Washington state's largest industrial installations. PSNS & IMF provides the Navy with maintenance, modernization, and technical and logistics support.

Sinclair Inlet

Sinclair Inlet is an arm of Puget Sound in Kitsap County, Washington, USA. It is the southwestern extension of Port Orchard, and it touches the shores of three of Kitsap County's four incorporated cities: Bremerton, Bainbridge Island, and Port Orchard. It is connected to Dyes Inlet by the Port Washington Narrows and to Puget Sound by Rich Passage. It was named by United States Navy explorer Charles Wilkes for George T. Sinclair, acting master of one of his ship's crews.

Naval Base Kitsap U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state

Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state. It was created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. The Mission of Naval Base Kitsap is to serve as the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout West Puget Sound and to provide base operating services, including support for both surface ships and Fleet Ballistic Missile and other nuclear submarines having their home ports at Bremerton and Bangor.

Pacific Northwest Region that includes parts of Canada and the United States

The Pacific Northwest (PNW), sometimes referred to as Cascadia, is a geographic region in western North America bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and (loosely) by the Cascade Mountain Range on the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common conception includes the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) and the U.S. states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Broader conceptions reach north into Southeast Alaska and Yukon, south into northern California, and east to the Continental Divide to include Western Montana and parts of Wyoming. Narrower conceptions may be limited to the coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains. The variety of definitions can be attributed to partially overlapping commonalities of the region's history, culture, geography, society, and other factors.

History

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was established in 1891 as a Naval Station and was designated Navy Yard Puget Sound in 1901. During World War I, the Navy Yard constructed ships, including 25 subchasers, seven submarines, two minesweepers, seven seagoing tugs, and two ammunition ships, as well as 1,700 small boats. During World War II, the shipyard's primary effort was the repair of battle damage to ships of the U.S. fleet and those of its allies.

World War I 1914–1918 global war originating in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

Submarine Watercraft capable of independent operation underwater

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. It is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, as well as medium-sized or smaller vessels, such as the midget submarine and the wet sub.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Following World War II, Navy Yard Puget Sound was designated Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It engaged in an extensive program of modernizing carriers, including converting conventional flight decks to angle decks. During the Korean War, the shipyard was engaged in the activation of ships. In the late 1950s, it entered an era of new construction with the building of a new class of guided missile frigates. In 1965, USS Sculpin (SSN 590) became the first nuclear-powered submarine to be maintained at PSNS. The shipyard was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. [2] [3] The historic district includes 22 contributing buildings and 42 contributing structures, as well as 49 non-contributing buildings, structures, and objects. [3]

Korean War 1950–1953 war between North Korea and South Korea

The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border.

Frigate Type of warship

A frigate is a type of warship, having various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.

USS <i>Sculpin</i> (SSN-590)

USS Sculpin (SSN-590), a Skipjack-class nuclear-powered submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sculpin.

Installations

Perhaps the most visible feature of the shipyard is its huge green hammerhead crane, built in 1933. The PSNS hammerhead crane is 250 feet (76 m) tall and 80 feet (24 m) wide with a lifting capacity of 250 tons. [4]

Ship-Submarine Recycling Program

In 1990 the Navy authorized the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) to recycle nuclear-powered ships at PSNS. Approximately 25% of the shipyard's workload involves inactivation, reactor compartment disposal, and recycling of ships. It has pioneered an environmentally safe method of deactivating and recycling nuclear-powered ships. This process places the U.S. Navy in the role of being the world's only organization to design, build, operate, and recycle nuclear-powered ships. On 15 May 2003 PSNS and IMF were consolidated into what is now known as PSNS & IMF.

The Ship/Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) is the process that the United States Navy uses to dispose of decommissioned nuclear vessels. SRP takes place only at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington, but the preparations can begin elsewhere.

PSNS is the only U.S. facility certified to recycle nuclear ships. During all this period Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has scrapped more than 125 submarines and some cruisers. [5]

Mothball Fleet

The shipyard contains a portion of the United States Navy reserve fleet, a large collection of inactive U.S. Navy vessels, including the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). [6] Kitty Hawk is mothballed, meaning that she is stored in case she is needed by the Navy in the future. [7]

Environmental Issues

Gorst Creek Ravine near Port Orchard, Washington was a hazardous waste dump for the Navy's shipyard waste between 1969 and 1970, when the site was not permitted by local authorities to take waste. [8] After several collapses since 1997 the landfill could blow out Highway 3. The landfill is an "ongoing source of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and metals flowing downstream with the potential to affect groundwater wells, sport fisheries and the Suquamish Tribe's fish hatchery. [8] In October 2014, the US EPA ordered the Navy to fix the problems. [9]

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Historic Districts

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard contains five historic districts:

  1. Officers' Row Historic District;
  2. Puget Sound Radio Station Historic District;
  3. Hospital Reservation Historic District;
  4. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Historic District; and
  5. Marine Reservation Historic District.

These five units are a comprehensive representation of the historic features of the naval shipyard.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ National Park Service (23 January 2007). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Puget Sound Naval Shipyard". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2008.
  3. 1 2 Erwin N. Thompson and Ben Levy (20 December 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Navy Yard Puget Sound / Bremerton Navy Yard; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-05-03. and Accompanying 17 photos, from 1985 and 1991  (3.71 MB)
  4. ↑ Putnam, Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kirk T. (19 July 2009). "Senior Chief Re-enlists on Historic Bremerton Landmark". America's Navy. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Navy exploring private firms for typically PSNS work" . Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "Navy Decommissions USS Kitty Hawk". America's Navy. 12 May 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Friedrich, Ed (6 February 2009). "Kitty Hawk Gives Bremerton a Quartet of Vietnam-Era Carriers". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  8. 1 2 "EPA to Navy: Fix issues at former dump". Columbian (WA). Associated Press. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Dunagan, Christopher. "EPA wants Navy to help fix former dump" . Retrieved 2015-09-10.
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