June 2024 – BremertonReunion

Just this last week, 698 veterans Rich Crombie and I were privately invited to get an inside look at the progress on the Bremerton Monument Project (The “Project”).

The meeting was hosted by 698 commanding officers. Alan Beam together with the Chairman Jerry Logan and Navy League President Tom Zwolfer provided us the update.

REALITY

The discussion involved the extensive work they have accomplished including difficulties and surprises they have navigated. Importantly, they shared the good news about their achievements collaborating with Bremerton’s Mayor Greg Wheeler and former Mayor Patty Lent, along with essential problem solving with the City’s Public Works and Legal Departments. They addressed many fundamental issues, that only detailed, aggressive, and time consuming efforts could achieve.

No longer wishful thinking or mere imagination, the Project has reached the critical threshold in terms of being able to move forward to completion. There are mainly two major factors to be addressed and those will be highlighted later in this article.

One of the many points we discussed was the former location that was considered back in 2021 that was along the waterfront at Evergreen Park. The former design concept seemed attractive with the image of the sail positioned as though Bremerton was homeward bound in the Port Washington Narrows.

It turns out there are several reasons why that location had to be abandoned, not the least of which was the limited construction area and the discovery it was a capped environmental cleanup site that had previously been contaminated with fuel, creating a risk that could derail the Project with delays of unknown length.

In a long time Navy city like Bremerton, one may consider that finding an area that already hasn’t been occupied by a navy monument could be quite a task. Moreover, finding one that would garner support from the City and State, and be in a high traffic area along a major thoroughfare, and near the main entrance to the shipyard would be a coup.

This is the absolutely amazing location that was worked out by the Navy League and the Bremerton supporters.

This could be one of the most seen submarine monuments in a the city of monuments.

They were able to secure about an acre of land that will be reserved as a Bremerton city park space, in fact the memorial park will be called Bremerton Monument at Navy League Park, a place that when after the construction is completed the City of Bremerton has agreed to that they will be responsible to maintain.

This arrangement and the provision of real estate to be secured for a public monument park represents the long time synergy held between the Bremerton community, the Navy and the Bremertons (SSN-698 and CA-130).

**Bird’s eye view of Bremerton Monument Location (near red flag)** – source google maps

DESIGN

The board has engaged with celebrated local architect David Fergus, formerly of Rice, Fergus, Miller Architecture, who has developed a preliminary design that highlights both Bremerton, the submarine, and Bremerton, the cruiser. The majority of the components will be from the submarine, namely the sail, upper and lower rudder, stern planes, anchor, and fixed cleats.

Able to meet city ordinances and have the ability to be maintained by the City’s public works, the design is still subject to detailed development, but the initial design incorporates beautifully flowing walkways to capture the essence of ocean waters flowing, artistic color divided patterns, information and historical interest panels, a large landscaped park area with designated parking, not to mention the several components of the submarine that will adorn the monument grounds with the big Badfish sail as the focal piece.

**Preliminary Design of Bremerton Monument by Architect David Fergus**
source: Bremerton Monument Brief – Bremerton Navy League

OBJECTIVES

The official requests for the various components of the Bremerton have been made and, in response, the shipyard reports that they are scheduling the final cut up process to begin near the end of the year. With the way things have gone over the last many years with submarines in the shipyard pipeline, we need to take a deep breath, sit back, and relax. This leaves us with the one critical area we can all take part in to make this Project a reality.

FUNDING TARGET: $1,000,000 (1M)

The focus is now on securing funding the 1 million ready to go by the time construction begins. These costs are what you would imagine for a non-profit leading the way: transportation (albeit a short distance) the materials and the cost of qualified professional contractors and craftsman to drive the Project to completion.

With funding in place and once the Bremerton components are available, the project can be done within a few month period with the necessary contractors at the ready,

Donations will be made through Bremerton Navy League which is a 501(c)3. (Also for your reference, the BremertonNavyLeague website and the Bremerton Navy League Facebook.)

Any and all contributions are welcomed! $20,000 has been contributed to date.

Plans are being made to encourage donations from the public as well as other payment options and plans.

DONATION INSTRUCTIONS

Currently, donations designated for the Bremerton Monument at Navy League Park can be made by check to the Bremerton Navy League. Make notation on your check that it is for the Monument. Send your donations to:

Bremerton Monument

c/o Bremerton Navy League

PO Box 5719,

Bremerton, WA 98312

Check your company for matching donations!

LOOKING FORWARD

For many years now the focus of the alumni, at large, has been on the Bremerton’s retirement from her long service as a first-flight Los Angeles Class nuclear fast attack submarine. A well loved submarine many have called home away from home, have endured months at a time at sea, and have served years of sea time in pursuit of the nation’s defense interest. Many generations of submarine officers and men have battled with her against all odds in the shipyards from Commissioning to Decommissioning, and have become part of her storied history.

Adding to the Project Board: Rich Crombie and I have teamed up together before to help organize three alumni reunions, in 2016, 2018 and 2021. Rich has extensive experience in public speaking, working with the public and marketing, and I have kept tabs on the pulse of many of the Bremerton’s alumni and efforts to SaveThe698. We gladly accepted the invitation to join the Project’s board and to dedicate ourselves to help in the team effort to bring the Monument to completion.

There are various on-line events planned for the future that will allow the 698 Alumni and the public to hear directly from the board regarding the progress on the Project. I will post instructions and information as they become available.

While the trail that leads to the end of one life draws to a close, now we have an opportunity to begin anew in this effort to create life that surrounds the formation of the Bremerton Monument. This is an important juncture to transition from an ending of the boat’s life of service at sea, to a new course and a new life of prominence in her namesake city, a lasting rallying point for all of us who served as a Bremerton sailor and who support the cause to SaveThe698.

You can help make this happen.

Featured Image: The new shining star of the US Navy’s submarine fleet, USS Bremerton arriving in Bremerton, Washington, Fall 1982. Image courtesy of Donald Jones, Plankowner, USS Bremerton.

Navy League, city planning new Callow Ave park to host USS Bremerton sail

Peiyu Lin – Kitsap Sun

Published 1:37 p.m. PT June 14, 2024 Updated 1:43 p.m. PT June 14, 2024

BREMERTON — Years after discussions were initiated at the local Navy League about keeping the sail of submarine USS Bremerton (SSN 698) in its namesake city as a monument, the league has made a request to the Navy and completed a preliminary design of a monument that could recognize the vessel and its history in a new city park.

On May 1, the president of the Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula Council of the Navy League Tom Zwolfer and Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler jointly signed a letter to the Navy, making a preliminary request that the Navy retain the components of the Los Angeles- class submarine, including its sail, sail planes, anchor, rudders and stern planes, to create a monument. Jerry Logan, retired Navy Captain, the 10th Commanding Officer of USS Bremerton and chairman of The USS Bremerton Sail Memorial Committee, said the group’s request to use some of those pieces of history as a monument will now move to the next step.

“Once we get our design finalized, we will submit the official request to the Navy for those components that we have in mind here,” Logan said.

Preliminary design of the USS Bremerton monument shows that the monument will showcase the sail and the sail plane of the USS Bremerton submarine and the anchors of the submarine and the USS Bremerton (CA-130). Provided By Jerry Logan.

Preliminary design of the monument has been completed. The Bremerton City Council reviewed and discussed the project on Wednesday, where Logan, Zwolfer, and Alan Beam of the Navy League — all former commanding officers of the USS Bremerton — presented an update of the project.

With Mayor Wheeler’s suggestion, the Navy League is now proposing to build the monument at a triangular plot of grassy area at First Street and Callow Avenue, near the Naval Base Kitsap’s Charleston gate, tentatively to be named “Navy League Park.”

The approximately 42,000 square feet of land is now the Washington State Department of Transportation’s right of way. WSDOT is in the process of transferring the property to the city at no cost, Wheeler said.

“We do not foresee that (cost of any money),” Wheeler said. “If for some remote reason there was a cost, we work through that.”

Originally, WSDOT purchased the property for the Bremerton gateway improvement project, Wheeler said, an effort from 1998 to 2008 to improve access to the city from the south.

The proximity to the Charleston Gate would make the monument an entry point into Bremerton that demonstrates the relationship between the city, its people and the military history, Wheeler said, and give residents and visitors “an idea of the importance of the military presence in our history.” He highlighted the design in which the crisscrossing grey sidewalks could be a symbol of such connection.

Logan shared similar thoughts.

“I think of it personally as not just a military monument, but hopefully a bigger bond to the city and the relationship with the Navy, and the role Bremerton, Washington plays in the country,” Logan said. “We want to try to capture not just about two Navy ships. We think it’s about the city of Bremerton, certainly, and everything the city has done to create a good relationship with the Navy.”

Navy tugs flank the USS Bremerton as the submarine arrives at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton on Friday, April 27, 2018. ©MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

A sub’s sail plus the cruiser’s anchor

According to the preliminary design, the USS Bremerton monument will showcase the sail of the submarine as well as the anchors of the submarine and the USS Bremerton cruiser (CA-130). The anchor of the cruiser is now placed at Hal’s Corner, between Warren Avenue and Sheridan Road. The cruiser was commissioned in 1945, struck from the Navy list on 1973, and sold for scrap on 1974, according to the Naval Vessel Register.

The USS Bremerton (CA-130) was captured at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, California, on 21 November 1951. The ship was recommissioned for Korean War Service on Nov.23 after having been in reserve since April 1948. Official U.S. navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Provided By The Navy

“We picture the two anchors sort of create the entrance to the monument area,” Logan said.

Benches will be placed at the part to allow people to walk on and stay at the monument, Logan said.

Commissioned in 1981, the USS Bremerton submarine served the country for 37 years before it was inactivated in 2018 and decommissioned in 2021 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, according to Naval Vessel Register. The ship is currently in Bremerton, hasn’t been recycled, and it’s unknown when the Navy will cut it up and make the components available, Logan said. The Navy League hasn’t heard back from the Naval Sea Systems Command regarding the request.

If the plan continues, the USS Bremerton sail would be the fourth submarine sail placed in Kitsap County. The others are the sail of USS Parche, laid outside the Puget Sound Navy Museum in downtown Bremerton, the sail of the USS Woodrow Wilson, at Deterrent Park on Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, and the sail of the USS Sturgeon, at the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport.

Background: Effort underway to save USS Bremerton sail as monument

The Navy League is fundraising for the monument project and plan to raise approximately $1 million, Logan said. A retired doctor and big supporter of the USS Bremerton, the late Byron Faber, had donated $20,000 to the Navy League as part of his bequest, which stated a desire to use the funding to create a monument for the ship.

Depending on the Navy’s timeline to recycle the submarine and the Navy League’s fundraising progress, construction would likely begin in a two-year timeframe, Logan said.

***

About the writer:

Peiyu Lin covers the military and South Kitsap for the Kitsap Sun. Lin joined the Sun in 2021 after she graduated from the University of Arizona and received her Master’s degree in Journalism at UA. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Arabic Language and Culture at National Chengchi University in Taipei. Originally from Taiwan, Lin is a Mandarin speaker and has experience reporting bilingually in the U.S., Taiwan and Jordan.

Month: June 2024

Monument Project – Getting Underway