Captain Christopher Lindberg, Commanding Officer of the USS Bremerton SSN-698, in his personal effort to connect with USS Bremerton alumni residing around the world, wants to hear from you and your desire to attend the DECOM Ceremony on May 18th – VIRTUALLY.
Being the skipper of the longest serving fast attack submarine in the United States Navy, he more than understands the difficulties that the COVID restrictions have had on both public/alumni access to the ceremony and travel. He is ready to hear from you.
Send your messages up until May 16th
Please send an email letter stating
Your name, rank/rate and brief history of your service onboard Bremerton, and which City/State/Country you plan to be watching from.
Similar details of other shipmates who will be joining with you to help celebrate.
An unclassified anecdote from your experience on the boat that you are willing to share with the CAPT is welcome
Send your introduction to:
email: bremertonreunion.alumni@gmail.com
Subj: DECOM-LIVE
please address your letter to CAPT. Chris Lindberg
NOTE: The DECOM Ceremony is scheduled to be held at Keyport, WA, on May 18th, 2021 at 13:00 (PST). Estimated duration of the ceremony is approximately 1 hour.
NOTE: Due to the Navy’s continuation of its strict COVID regulations, the DECOM ceremony is not open to public or general alumni access.
The Decommissioning Ceremony of the USS Bremerton SSN-698, scheduled for Tuesday, May 18th at 13:00 will be LIVE STREAMED for the reunion alumni to witness in the comfort of the Horse & Cow Pub and Grill in Bremerton, Washington.
Bremerton’s Captain Lindberg exhausted every effort to allow alumni to attend the DECOM ceremony in-person. His long standing battle against the indomitable Navy COVID restrictions have run its course.
Despite the significant loosening of social distancing requirements in the State of Washington, the Navy restrictions, particularly involving active duty personnel, are just plain strict and currently unmoving.
No further delays are possible as responsibility of the Badfish is scheduled to be handed over from the Captain to the shipyard on May 18th, the very day of the Ceremony.
As disappointing as it may be for the alumni of the longest serving submarine in the United States Navy, we as veterans understand the true role of the military and that is to be able to Stand Ready to Defend Our Country.
Life must go on. The fateful day is fast approaching.
NOTE: THE FAIRFIELD IS TAKING BLOCK RESERVATIONS UP TO MAY 1st
Submariners enjoy celebrating
As a post-DECOM event, the Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula Council of the Navy-League is organizing a celebration dinner at the beautiful Kiana Lodge, a popular event venue in a forested area along the waterfront in Poulsbo, Washington. The event will be attended by the hard working Bremerton sailors and is open to 698 alumni attending the DECOM reunion.
Dinner Celebration reservations will be available through this website. Stay tuned for the delicious details.
Groups of 698 Veterans watching the Ceremony from around the world
In recognition of all the Bremerton alumni throughout the nation and the world, Captain Lindberg is inviting alumni near and far, who plan on witnessing DECOM LIVE to send him a note and he would like to make you and your individual alumni gatherings part of the Decommissioning Ceremony with special recognition.
You may submit your regional reunion gathering details to:
bremertonreunion.alumni@gmail.com
SUBJ: DECOM-LIVE
and address your letters to CAPT. Christopher Lindberg
Based on the membership of SSN 698 related social media groups, there are roughly 300 shipmates on-line out of the estimated 1400 to 1500 or more sailors who served on the USS Bremerton SSN 698.
You may know some shipmates who are not using social media and can only be contacted by email, telephone, US Mail or by website. Please forward this information to them.
Capt. Alan R. Beam (698 CO #3), one of the key organizers of events related to USS Bremerton, requested that alumni information be gathered. In effort to consolidate contact information specifically for USS Bremerton SSN 698 alumni, a user driven database on this website has been established where contact and some service information can be entered and collected.
In the header menu you will see 698 Alumni Sign Up. There, you may volunteer your information by clicking on it and entering your contact and other requested information.
By providing some specific service info, we want to weed out imposters as well as help document a part of the history of the 698. In order to add yourself to the database, some of the service information is not required, though all the information is requested.
This information will only be used by USS Bremerton SSN 698 event organizers and it is understood that your contact information will be used for announcements and other event business. The use of email will help reduce cost of mailing when formal invitations are not required and circumvent difficulties encountered with any given social media platform.
Please, if you are not a 698 Alumni, if you have not served aboard USS Bremerton SSN 698, do not try signing up through the 698 Alumni Sign Up.
In special cases where a shipmate has passed away and you are the primary contact for our lost shipmate, please send a message to bremertonreunion.alumni@gmail.com to request being place on the contact list. We honor the survivors who desire to maintain contact and attend events with those who shared an important part of their loved ones life in the Navy.
If there is significant interest in event info from non-698 personnel, other than survivors, another database may be created. If you are not a 698 alumni and are interested in following events, you can follow this website and/or strongly recommend theNavy League of the Bremerton – Olympic Area website at https://bremolympicnlus.wordpress.com. You may also contact bremertonreunion.alumni@gmail.com with your request to be added to a contact list, use subject: 698 SUPPORTER with a brief description of your connection with the Bremerton and your contact information.
Keep on reading, important note below…
SIGN UP NOTE/CHECK SPAM SETTING:
The sign up tool is designed to provide you a private link where you can manage your information, however, be on the alert, you may get this email in your spam folder. Please un-spam that email. If you have any issues with receiving the confirmation and link, you may contact this website’s administrator with any problems. Your information can be entered manually by an administrator and, if needed, your lost private link email can be resent.
If you have any suggestions for modifications to the information requested or other bright idea, feel free to contact me at bremertonreunion.alumni@gmail.com
Aloha from USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park – soon to be the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum!
Construction on site is wrapping up and we are transitioning to exhibit installation. Pacific Studio, our exhibit installer arrived on island. They are very well organized and have hit the ground running. Their first container has been delivered and we expect five additional containers over the next two weeks. Four to five additional containers will follow. Pacific Studio plans to complete the exhibit installation prior to Christmas. The museum’s audio-visual (A-V) systems will be installed between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The A-V system will be tested and content will be loaded in early January 2021. We are on track for a soft opening of our museum in mid to late January and a grand reopening in February – March. As soon as we can set a date with confidence, we will do so and will let you know.
I have attached some pictures of the current work in progress.
Thank you very much for your interest and support of our renovation.
Sincerely,
Chuck Merkel
Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Executive Director, Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association
DELIVERY OF FIRST CONTAINER
CONTAINERS ON LANAI
CONTAINER OFFLOAD
EMPTY CONTAINER
TOOLS
TYPICAL PACKAGING
OUTDOOR SIGN STANDS
OUTDOOR PLAY AREA
INTERPRETIVE SIGN STANDS
OUTDOOR PLAY AREA
COLD WAR GALLERY
698 LOOKING FORWARD
USS Bremerton, the most senior not yet de-commissioned submarine in the United States Navy, is currently at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard preparing for her date with destiny. Decom ceremony and reunion in Bremerton are tentatively scheduled for Spring of 2021, that puts BadFish on course for a 40 year run.
Cheers – from RMCS(SS) Don Jones, Plankowner, SSN698
SAVE THE 698
Join the Movement. Are you passionate about preserving the USS Bremerton in any way shape or form? Do you wish to be involved before, during and after her decommissioning in whatever works are needed to establish the memory of 698 for the benefit of the public and of naval history? You are invited to a new closed group forum on Facebook “SaveThe698” to be involved in public discussion related to Saving 698. You can see the group site by clicking HERE.
A collection of articles from the 698 group PFSM capital-campaign
Here are the links to the “Moments in Submarine History” type posts published on this website’s pages through the campaign. It was a fairly short campaign so there were only a few stories, having barely scratched the surface in regards to the treasure of legendary U.S. Navy submarine accounts. Selections were from the beginning of World War II and correspondingly those in the month of December which happened to coincide with our 698-PFSM campaign. The other aspect of the articles were helpful to illustrate how every U.S. Navy submariner is connected to the whole of the Silent Service.
USS Bremerton, the most senior not yet de-commissioned submarine in the United States Navy, is currently at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard preparing for her date with destiny. Decom ceremony and reunion in Bremerton are tentatively scheduled for Spring of 2021, that puts BadFish on course for a 40 year run.
Cheers – from RMCS(SS) Don Jones, Plankowner, SSN698
SAVE THE 698
Join the Movement. Are you passionate about preserving the USS Bremerton in any way shape or form? Do you wish to be involved before, during and after her decommissioning in whatever works are needed to establish the memory of 698 for the benefit of the public and of naval history? You are invited to a new closed group forum on Facebook “SaveThe698” to be involved in public discussion related to Saving 698. You can see the group site by clicking HERE.
