accountability and responsibility on the part of all three DNRs, as well as their perfect safety record, has gone a long way in building confidence with the public, the Congress, and the administration in the U.S. Navy's ability to safely and successfully utilize nuclear power at sea.
Commissioning: Into the Fleet
When EB has finished building the boat to the contract specifications, it is time to finish training the crew and turning the boat into a warship. This process takes several more months. It includes weapons and tactical training, emergency procedures drills, navigation training, and actual weapons firings at the Atlantic undersea test and evaluation center (AUTEC) range down in the Bahamas. Located in the waters off Andros Island, this is an instrumented range where submarines and their crews can practice the process of operating their boat and learning to 'fight' it. Somewhere during this process, the boat and her crew pass the point where they become one great war machine.
Almost six years after the contract was first signed, the final step in the process takes place. Once the Navy has determined that the boat is in all ways ready to enter the fleet, a commissioning date is scheduled, with the ceremony to be held either in Groton or Norfolk.
On this day the boat's name becomes official, the crew of 'plank owners' (the original crew at the time of commissioning) is set, and the PCU submarine becomes a U.S. Navy submarine. Usually, high-ranking Navy and political figures give speeches, the commissioning captain gets to speak a few words about what this day means to him and the crew, and then, at a special moment in the ceremony, the commissioning pennant is broken out and the crew, adorned in their best Navy whites, rushes aboard and mans the boat for the first time in her official Navy career.
At this point the boat actually enters service with the fleet. But if the crew think they have seen the last of the builder's yard, they are mistaken. After the boat goes on its initial shakedown cruise, it is sent back to the yard for what is known as the Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) period. This involves taking the boat back to the yard and fitting all of the new equipment modifications that have evolved since the initial contract was signed. In addition, any warranty repairs that have become necessary will be done at this time. Following the PSA period, it will be time to head out to her new home port and the first real missions for the fleet. There probably will be only one or two of these before the CO gets word his relief is being sent. And when the commissioning captain leaves the boat, she really does belong to the fleet and the string of men who will command and sail her.
Home Bases[8]
Once a boat has been commissioned into the fleet, it will be assigned to duty at one of the submarine bases scattered throughout the United States. These bases have the job of providing administrative and maintenance support to a boat, as well as providing housing and sustenance to her crew. Their facilities range from the ultramodern Trident facilities at Bangor, Washington, and Kings Bay, Georgia, to the turn-of-the-century New England charms of Groton, Connecticut. For the crews of the boats, these places mean home and family. Let's look at them.
Pacific Fleet
Out in the Pacific are a number of bases supporting nuclear submarine operations. These include Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Ballast Point in San Diego, California; and Bangor, Washington. The most modern of these is the huge base at Bangor, designed to support operations of the Ohio-class SSBNs and their Trident missiles. It is located on Washington's Puget Sound, nestled into the trees of Kitsap Peninsula. Built in the 1970s specifically to support Trident operations, this is a huge facility with room to support a squadron of eight Ohio-class submarines. Currently this is Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) 17. Those who have had the pleasure to serve at Bangor have often called it one of the most comfortable and modern duty stations in the entire U.S. Navy. Also located at Bangor is Submarine Group (SUBGRU) 9. It supervises all of the submarine activities in the Pacific Northwest, including the permanent facilities for basing, overhaul, and rework at Bremerton, Washington. Technically, SUBRON 17 at Bangor is also subordinate to SUBGRU 9.
Down in San Diego is the sub base at Ballast Point. While the permanent facilities at this location are not as developed as other bases (it is literally carved into the side of Point Loma), it is located adjacent to the immense naval facilities in San Diego, and considered by the sub crews and their families a
Though the permanent facilities at Ballast Point are not as well developed as Bangor and some of the other bases, it has an amazing array of submarine tenders, floating drydocks, and other support ships to provide infrastructure for the many boats and submersibles based there. The major submarine organization located at Ballast Point is SUBGRU 5, which has a number of subordinate units in addition to several attached SSNs and a tender. The first is Submarine Development Group (SUBDEVGRU) 1, which is equipped with several tenders and a rescue ship, as well as two research submersibles and the two DSRV rescue submarines. Also subordinate to SUBGRU 5 are SUBRON 3, with nine SSNs and a tender, as well as SUBRON 11, with seven SSNs and a tender.
Farther out in the Pacific is the submarine base at Pearl Harbor. Most of the facilities at Pearl Harbor date back to World War II, when the Pacific submarine force underwent a huge expansion to support the offensive operations against Japan. Today the base is still vital to submarine operations in the Pacific. The headquarters organization for the Pacific fleet, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) is based here with a tender forward deployed at Guam. Subordinate to COMSUBPAC at Pearl Harbor are SUBRON 1 with eight SSNs and SUBRON 7 with ten SSNs. This large concentration of subs is designed to support U.S. Navy operations in the western Pacific, and boats from Pearl Harbor will frequently be assigned to support carrier groups as they rotate through the Pacific and the Indian Ocean.
Atlantic Fleet
The deepest roots of the U.S. submarine forces are back in the Atlantic. Here is where the boats are built and tested, and where most of the institutional infrastructure exists. This is also where the deepest cuts have occurred, and will probably continue to be made in the months and years to come. The winning of the Cold War has not been kind to the submarine force in the Atlantic fleet, and already one major base at Holy Loch, Scotland, with its assigned SUBRON 14 (nine SSBNs and a tender) has been completely closed down. As the submarine force continues to draw down, it is sometimes ironic to think that the Atlantic SSN/SSBN force, which did so much to keep the peace and win the Cold War, will be decimated by the victory they were so helpful in forging.
The headquarters for Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (COMSUBLANT) is located at the sprawling U.S. naval facility in Norfolk, Virginia. From here COMSUBLANT controls the largest force of SSNs and SSBNs in the U.S. Navy, at a number of different facilities. Farthest from home are SUBGRU 8 and SUBRON 22 (one submarine tender) based at La Maddalena, Sardinia. Though they do not have any submarines directly attached, these two units directly support the very active U.S. submarine operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
Closer to home, the Atlantic SSBN force is controlled by SUBGRU 10 at Kings Bay, Georgia. This includes SUBRON 16 with the last of the Trident I/C4-equipped Lafayette-class boats. Also under SUBGRU 10 at Kings Bay is SUBRON 20, with a force of five or six Ohio-class SSBNs and their Trident missiles. Essentially duplicating the facilities at Bangor, Washington, Kings Bay is another of the new generation of sub bases developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. While the permanent facilities are quite nice, saying that Kings Bay is a pork barrel base is
