Naval Base Kitsap


Naval Base Kitsap is a U.S. Navy base located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state, created in 2004 by merging the former Naval Station Bremerton with Naval Submarine Base Bangor. It is the home base for the Navy’s fleet throughout West Puget Sound, provides base operating services, support for both surface ships and fleet ballistic missile and other nuclear submarines as one of the U.S. Navy's four nuclear shipyards, one of two strategic nuclear weapons facilities, and the only West Coast dry dock capable of handling a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and the Navy's largest fuel depot.[1] Naval Base Kitsap is the third-largest Navy base in the U.S.[1] The base has a workforce of 15,601 active duty personnel.

Kitsap
Near Bremerton, Washington in the United States
An aerial view of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility at Naval Base Kitsap during 2012
NB Kitsap is located in Washington (state)
NB Kitsap
NB Kitsap
NB Kitsap is located in the United States
NB Kitsap
NB Kitsap
Coordinates47°43′14″N 122°42′47″W
TypeNaval base
Area12,000 acres (4,900 ha)
Site information
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUS Navy
Controlled byNavy Region Northwest
ConditionOperational
WebsiteOfficial website
Site history
Built1942 (as Naval Submarine Base Bangor) and 1946 (as Naval Station Bremerton)
In use2004 (2004) (as merged base)
Garrison information
Current
commander		Captain John Hale

It also provides service, programs, and facilities for their hosted combat commands, tenant activities, ships' crews, and civilian employees. It is the largest naval organization in Navy Region Northwest, and composed of installations at Bremerton, Bangor, Indian Island, Manchester, and Keyport, Washington. It received the 2005 and 2017 Commander in Chief's Award for Installation Excellence - the Best Base in the U.S. Navy.[2]

History

Bangor
Main article: Naval Submarine Base Bangor

Serving the U.S. Pacific Fleet, this base is one of only two such Trident submarine bases operated by the U.S. Navy: the base at Kings Bay, Georgia, used by the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, is the other. Nearby is Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific (SWFPAC), where submarine-launched ballistic missiles are stored and maintained.

Bremerton
Main article: Naval Station Bremerton

This installation is home to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. In addition to performing drydock and overhaul services for active naval vessels, it is also home to an inactive ship facility for several decommissioned warships, including aircraft carriers.

Naval Base Kitsap is also home to Naval Hospital Bremerton.

Protest

In November 2009, five protesters, including 82-year-old priest William J. Bichsel, S.J., cut through two fences to reach an area near where nuclear warheads are stored in bunkers. The protesters put up banners, sprinkled blood on the ground, scattered sunflower seeds and prayed until they were arrested; all faced prison sentences.[3] Bichsel was released from federal prison on February 9, 2012.[4]

Environment

In 2010, after purchasing the base's first hybrid bus on April 29, 2010, Naval Base Kitsap purchased two additional hybrid buses, with five others to be delivered by the end of July. The diesel-electric vehicles are the Navy's first hybrids and were funded through the GSA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Replacement/Exchange Program and are overseen by NAVFAC, the Navy's non-tactical vehicle program manager.[5]

In March 2020, private water wells of homes surrounding Bangor have been found to be contaminated with PFAS; one was found to have more than 70 parts per trillion of PFAS.[6]

Units, warships and submarines

(as of February, 2023) [7]

See also

References
  1. "Kitsap Navy base is getting a new boss". The Seattle Times. January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  2. "Naval Base Kitsap - About > Mission". Retrieved June 10, 2009.
  3. "Disarm Now Trident Plowshares Action". nuclearabolitionist.blogspot.com. November 2, 2009.
  4. "William Jerome Bichsel, inmate # 86275-020". Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Dep't of Justice. search for "86275-020"
  5. Waller, Darrell (July 1, 2010). "Navy Buys First "Green" Buses for Naval Base Kitsap". US Navy. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  6. Farley, Josh (March 10, 2020). "Well near Bangor found to have potentially dangerous levels of contamination". Kitsap Sun. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  7. "Naval Vessel Register". Naval Vessel Register. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  8. SSN21
  9. SSN721
  10. SSN722
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