Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay

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Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is a base of the United States Navy in Camden County, in southeast Georgia. It is the Atlantic homeport for US ballistic missile submarines. The submarine base encompasses about 16,000 acres (64 km²), of which 4,000 acres (16 km²) are protected wetlands.

1 History
2 Major Commands at Kings Bay
3 Homeported ships
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The early years

Archeological research has revealed a pre-Columbian Indian presence throughout the area, dating back thousands of years.

Early in the 19th century, much of what is now the submarine base was the site of several plantations, including Cherry Point, Harmony Hall, New Canaan, Marianna and Kings Bay. Beginning in the 1790s, Thomas King built a plantation along the bay. John Houston McIntosh built a considerably larger plantation known as New Canaan, where he grew cotton and sugar cane.

The plantation system declined following the Civil War, and the land broken up into smaller holdings. Residents harvested abundant fish and other seafood, and trapped and hunted to supplement small-scale farming of corn, rice, sugar and other vegetables.

[edit] The Army years

The US Army began to acquire land at Kings Bay in 1954 to build a military ocean terminal to ship ammunition in case of a national emergency. Construction actively began in 1956 and was completed in 1958. Since there was no immediate operational need for the installation, however, it was placed in an inactive ready status.

The most prominent feature of the terminal was its 2,000-foot-long, 87-foot-wide concrete and steel wharf (600 by 26 m). It had three parallel railroad tracks, enabling the simultaneous loading of several ammunition ships from rail cars and trucks.

Elsewhere aboard the base, the Army built 47 miles (76 km) of railroad tracks. Spurs off the main line ran into temporary storage areas protected by earthen barricades. These mounds of dirt, still prominent features in many areas of the base, were designed to localize damage in case of explosive accidents.

Although the Army base was never activated to serve its primary purpose, it was used twice for other missions. In 1964, as Hurricane Dora hammered the area, nearly 100 area residents were sheltered aboard base. Also, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, an Army Transportation Battalion of 1,100 personnel and 70 small boats took up position at Kings Bay.

[edit] The Navy years

The chain of events that led to today’s combination of high-tempo submarine operations at Kings Bay and the complex construction project that reshaped the face of thousands of acres of land began in 1975. At that time, treaty negotiations between Spain and the United States were in progress. A proposed change to the U.S. base agreement with Spain was the withdrawal of the fleet ballistic-missile submarine squadron, Submarine Squadron 16, from its operational base at Rota, Spain. Anticipating that this would take place, the Chief of Naval Operations ordered studies to select a new refit site on the East Coast.

In January 1976, the negotiators initialed a draft treaty between Spain and the U.S.; it called for withdrawal of the squadron from Rota by July 1979. The U.S. Congress ratified the treaty in June 1976.

After careful review, Kings Bay was selected in November 1976, shortly after the election of Georgian Jimmy Carter as President. Soon afterward, the first Navy personnel arrived in the Kings Bay area and started preparations for the orderly transfer of property from the Army to the Navy. Naval Submarine Support Base Kings Bay was established in a developmental status 1 July 1978. The base—now Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, not only occupies the former Army terminal land, but several thousand additional acres.

Preparations for the arrival of the submarine squadron went forward with haste throughout the remainder of 1978 and into 1979. Commander Submarine Squadron 16 greeted the submarine tender USS Simon Lake (AS-33), when it arrived at Kings Bay on 2 July 1979. Four days later, USS James Monroe (SSBN-622) entered Kings Bay and moored alongside Simon Lake’s starboard side to begin a routine refit in preparation for another deterrent patrol. Kings Bay has been an operating submarine base since that day.

In May 1979, the Navy selected Kings Bay as the preferred East Coast site for the Ohio-class submarine. On 23 October 1980, after a one-year environmental impact study was completed and with Congressional approval, the Secretary of the Navy announced Kings Bay as the future home of the new Trident-missile submarine.

The Trident-basing decision touched off the largest peacetime construction program ever undertaken by the U.S. Navy. The program took nine years to complete at a cost of $1.3 billion. The building project included the construction of three major commands: Trident Training Facility (TTF), Trident Refit Facility (TRF), and Strategic Weapons Facility, Atlantic (SWFLANT).

On 15 January 1989, the first Trident submarine, Tennessee, arrived at Kings Bay. It was followed by Pennsylvania later that same year. West Virginia was commissioned at Kings Bay in October 1990 and was followed by Kentucky’s arrival in July 1991; Maryland, June 1992; Nebraska, July 1993; Rhode Island, July 1994; Maine, August 1995, and Wyoming in July 1996. The commissioning of Louisiana in September 1997 gave Kings Bay its full complement of 10 Trident submarines.

Sail of USS George Bancroft on display at main gate,
dedicated 7 April 2000, as part of Kings Bay's celebration
of the submarine forces' 100th anniversary.

The enormous effort put forth by all the commands at Kings Bay reached fruition in late March 1990, when the Trident II (D-5) missile made its first deterrent patrol on board Tennessee.

The end of the Cold War and the reorganization of military forces in the 1990s affected Kings Bay. A nuclear policy review recommended the Navy reduce the Ohio-class fleet ballistic-missile submarines from 18 to 14 by 2005.

The decision was made to decommission the four oldest Ohio-class submarines and convert them to conventional (SSGN) platforms. Pennsylvania departed 4 August 2003 and Kentucky departed 24 August for SubBase Bangor, Washington, as part of balancing the Trident fleet. Additionally, the Louisiana and Maine have relocated to the Pacific Fleet. Two SSGNs are slated to for NSB Kings Bay and arrive in 2006. The USS Florida has arrived, and the USS Georgia is still in testing.

[edit] Major Commands at Kings Bay

[edit] Submarine Group 10

Submarine Group 10 was commissioned January 1, 1989, and is the senior commander at Kings Bay. Group 10 is a subordinate command to Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. It exercises command over various commands and units assigned, including operational and administrative control of the Ohio-class submarines based at Submarine Base Kings Bay.

Group 10 is the local coordinating authority for all matters assigned by the submarine force commander and exercises direct control over the administration and training of submarine offcrews at Kings Bay. Specifically included in these responsibilities are the proper integration and coordination of the facilities dedicated to training support of the Trident system.

[edit] Submarine Squadron 16/20

Submarine Squadron 16/20 provides administrative support for the East Coast-based Ohio-class submarines. The squadron coordinates planning and executing all SSBN/SSGN maintenance with Trident Refit Facility and is responsible for all material readiness and fiscal responsibility.

[edit] Naval Submarine Support Center

The submarine center provides centralized administrative and support services to the submarine squadron assisting them in their responsibilities for material, personnel, training and logistics of assigned and visiting submarines.

[edit] Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic

Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic (SWFLANT) provides strategic missiles and strategic weapons system support to the fleet ballistic missile fleet. The command is responsible for assembling the D-5 missile and processing missile guidance and launcher subsystem components.

[edit] Marine Corps Security Force Company

Under the operational control of SWFLANT and commanded by a senior Marine Corps officer, the Security Force Company provides security operations as approved by the Chief of Naval Operations, in coordination with the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and performs other functions as directed by the commandant. As of June 27th 2008 MCSFCO will be restructured from a company to a battalion

[edit] Trident Refit Facility

Trident Refit Facility (TRF) is the largest tenant command at Kings Bay and has quietly and efficiently kept a significant portion of America’s submarine warfare capability at sea since 1985. TRF provides quality industrial and logistics support for the incremental overhaul, modernization, and repair of Trident submarines and also provides global submarine supply support. In addition, TRF provides maintenance and support services to other submarines, regional maintenance customers, and other activities as requested.

TRF boasts the largest covered dry dock in the Northern hemisphere, measuring 700 feet (210 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) wide, and 67 feet (20 m) deep. A state-of-the-art Magnetic Silencing Facility (MSF) provides degaussing services, including ranging and deperming for US Navy and Royal Navy submarines, as well as steel hull surface craft. The MSF is the only facility of its kind on the East Coast and is also used for research for development of future magnetic systems. The Defensive Ordnance Support Facility maintains and stores torpedoes carried by Trident submarines.

[edit] Trident Training Facility

The Trident Training Facility (TTF), with over 520,000 square feet (48,000 m²) of classroom and office space, trains sailors in the skills necessary to operate and maintain the Trident submarine and its systems. TTF has an essential role in support of the Trident submarines.

[edit] Homeported ships

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 30.791° N 81.537° W