Tag: USS Bremerton

698 prepares for propulsion plant deactivation

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Reprinted in whole in modified format from

“USS BREMERTON CONTINUES INACTIVATION PROCESS”

 

By Max Maxfield, PSNS & IMF Public Affairs | Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance
Facility | Oct. 23, 2020

 

BREMERTON, Wash. —

 

Los Angeles-class submarine USS Bremerton (SSN 698) entered Dry
Dock 1 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance
Facility Oct. 14, 2020, to continue its inactivation process.
According to Gary Van Horn, project superintendent, while the ship
is in dry dock, the propulsion plant will be deactivated and defueled;
components and parts that might be used by other active Los
Angeles-class submarines will be removed and stored; and hull
blanks will be installed.

 

 

Van Horn said ship’s force will be working side by side with PSNS
& IMF workers to help speed the inactivation process along. Also,
the Bremerton Project Team will try to take advantage of lessons
learned from other recent inactivations of Los Angeles-class
submarines.

 

“Lessons learned from the ‘bridge and tower’ system that is being
used currently in Dry Dock 5 for defueling operations on USS
Olympia (SSN 717) and USS Louisville (SSN 724) will help with
Bremerton,” said Van Horn. “We have been monitoring their
progress closely and expect to realize time savings based on their
lessons learned.”

 

The docking portion of the inactivation process is estimated to take
about 11 months.

 

 

Bremerton departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, April
20, 2018, on its way to Bremerton, Washington, where it began the
inactivation and decommissioning process.

 

Bremerton was commissioned on March 28, 1981, and is named after
the city of Bremerton, Washington. The tenth ship of the Los

Angeles-class nuclear powered attack submarine, much of Bremerton’s activities remain under wraps.

 

 

Its most high-profile mission was to assist local, state and federal
officials with the disposal of the commercial tanker, New Carissa.
The vessel had been spilling oil since it was shipwrecked near Coos
Bay, Oregon, Feb. 4, 1999, and posed a danger to the environment.
Once the unified command completed work in preparation for the
ship’s disposal, Bremerton stepped in to fire one MK-48 advanced
capability torpedo to sink New Carissa March 11, 1999.

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Article provided through the courtesy of Capt. Alan R. Beam, USN (ret), USS Bremerton CO from 1985-1988.
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WARNING 

WARSHOT LOADED

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TO READ MORE ABOUT THE BREMERTON SINKING THE SHIP THAT WOULD NOT SINK, GO HERE:

Image of a Badfish Mk48 doing its duty may possibly be subject to copyright

 

 

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.

Copyright © 2019-2020 bremertonreunion.net

 

USS Bremerton (SSN 698) List of Commanding Officers

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1MC: “Bremerton, Arriving…”

Thomas H. Anderson             (1978-1982)

Douglas S. Wright                  (1982-1985)

Alan R. Beam                          (1985-1988)

John C. McMacken                (1988-1990)

Louis A. Hughes                     (1990-1992)

John M. Crochet                     (1992-1995)

Ronald R. Cox                        (1995-1998)

Robert L. Thomas                 (1998-2000)

Brian K. Nutt                       (2000-2002)

Charles J. Logan                  (2002-2005)

Thomas A. Zwolfer               (2005-2008)

Howard C. Warner III          (2008-2010)

Caleb A. Kerr                         (2010-2013)

Wesley P. Bringham              (2013-2016)

Travis W. Zettel                     (2016-2018)

David I. Kaiser                      (2018-2018)

Christopher C. Lindberg    (2018-PRES)

 

 

USS Bremerton ends her active service with her final destination being Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in April 2018.

 

 

2018 Reunion Poster Artist: Richard Crombie

 

 

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.

Copyright © 2019-2020 bremertonreunion.net

 

 

Taking Command

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…with Transformational Leadership

 

By popular request, a republication of an article (with some revisions) and links to a story written by a submarine officer who started his seagoing career aboard the USS Bremerton.

I discovered this superb piece of writing by Ron LaSalvia, Captain, U.S. Navy (ret), former Commanding Officer of the USS Montpelier (SSN 765), where he served from 1999 through 2001. His article is titled, “Taking Command: The Crew Is Only as Good as the Captain”  in which he describes the major challenges he faced when becoming a CO.

To read Ron’s leadership story CLICK HERE

Some of the greatest stories in literature are about captains of warships. It is through the struggles and successes of these revered individuals that we get a sense of all the intimate challenges of preparing a ship for the lethal necessities of war. The heroes are often leaders who earn the respect of their crews in the process of forging them into a vital fighting force.

The responsibility of becoming a commander of a U.S. Navy submarine is a privilege few officers achieve. The rigorous process takes at least 20 years of service. Of the individuals who are awarded a command, some embody exceptional vision, skills, and character that are transformational and as a result their crews and ships become cut above the competition in the unforgiving realm of undersea warfare and survival.

mont_p1
Los Angeles 688i Class Fast Attack submarine  (Image source: Google)

 

Ron LaSalvia, served onboard USS Bremerton (SSN 698) from 1982-1985 where he began learning the ropes of being a submarine officer.

Click on the link below or photo of the young Ensign LaSalvia to go to Captain LaSalvia’s article.

 

ron1
Mr. Ron LaSalvia aboard the USS Bremerton SSN 698 during an expeditionary patrol in the Western Pacific in 1983(photo by Challen Yee).

Entrepreneur.com

Click on the links above to go to the article!

 

“Master-One, bearing… mark, angle on the bow…” (image source google).

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.

Copyright © 2019-2020 bremertonreunion.net

 

“You owe me one”

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Editor’s Note: I’d like to introduce John Brunkalla, he is a USS Bremerton Plankowner who served in M-Divison from 1981-1983. We’re grateful to be able to share in one of John’s recollections especially in light of the fact that he suffered a near fatal motorcycle accident not more than a few months after he transferred off the boat in 1983. In his story he captures a glimpse of the magic and legend found in the Silent Service. 

This is a reposting of an original article published on February 11, 2017.

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“You owe me one”

By John Brunkalla

I was in engineroom Upper Level in an ocean somewhere, a LONG LONG time ago…….. I was standing the 2300-0700 watch when around 0100 my trusty Bremerton Zippo ran out of fuel. Damn, 6 hours to go with no lighter. Check maneuvering…no one has a light…same with COTW, ERS, ERF ERLL and the ELT. Double damn!

Picture me climbing onto the turbine generators, main engines and any other available steam pipe I could find to light my smoke, hoping it was hot enough to fire me up…close but no cigar. In the words of Wiz (shipmate David Withers): spin, Spin, SPIN!

I’m guessing around 0300 Captain Wright scared the living shit out of me as he came up the ladder and turned the corner to where I was catching up on 0000 entry logs. A Marlboro hanging from my lip. I hopped to attention and he told me, “At ease.”

He asked how things were going. I gave him a rundown and he then asked if I had any problems. “As a matter of fact sir, my lighter ran out of fuel earlier in the watch, nobody back here has a light and I can’t run to my rack to fill it up. I need a smoke BAD” (I know, Waah, waah, waah, right?).

The Captain reached into his pocket, pulled out his lighter and fired up my smoke. Then he looked me in the eye and said, “Don’t forget now…you owe me one.”

Captain Douglas S. Wright with the harbor pilot standing on the bridge as USS Bremerton is preparing to enter Bremerton, Washington, in 1982. Also in photo are Lt. Erik Nelson, EM/SS Ron Martin  on the headset, and Seaman Mike Hansen on the fairwater plane (Photo courtesy of Plankowner John Scanlan, THANKS JOHN! and Tom McPhillips for the eye-witness ID work).

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Maybe a month or so down the road I was just hitting the rack, it was after having stood watch, followed by drills, followed by field day, then some poker, working on quals and another watch. Finally, eight glorious hours to sleep!

I had pretty much just gotten into the beginning of my equalizer when the runner slid my curtain open and said “Bronk, get up, the Captain wants to see you on the bridge ASAP.”

WHAT? WTF had I done to piss him off so bad that it bypassed everyone up the chain? And on the bridge no less!

I dressed as quickly as I could, hoping I looked at least half way presentable and ran up to Control where the OOD was pointing topside and said, “He’s waiting for you.”

HOLY SHIT! My mind reeled as I climbed the ladder to the bridge, running through the past 24 hours trying to figure out what it was I had done wrong.

I climbed out into the fresh air…AHHH that smells GOOD…then I noticed the Captain’s  back was turned to me. I announced my presence, “Petty Officer Brunkalla reporting as ordered, sir.”

He held up his hand and said, “Give me a minute” and proceeded giving orders to the lookouts and instructions below. When finished he turned to face me…unlit cigarette hanging from his lip…and said, “I believe you owe me one.”

After lighting his smoke he let me stay topside a few minutes and check out the glorious view of being surfaced in the middle of nowhere where there is nothing but ocean and sky, standing on the bridge of the baddest boat ever to sail the seven seas!

What a magnificent few minutes those were.

Thank you for that memory Captain Wright. I would sail through the gates of hell with you sir!

 

 

Author John Brunkalla with a young lady friend during a 1982 port visit in Bremerton, Washington. John reflects, “If I had only met her 10 years later when I was ready to settle down…” (Photo  courtesy of John Scanlan).

JB

Moments in Submarine History

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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.

 

24 NOV 2019 

THE LEGEND OF THE SILENT SERVICE

 

17 DEC 2019 

FREDERICK WARDER AND THE SEAWOLF

 

22 DEC 2019 

WHO IS THE SILENT SERVICE?

 

25 DEC 2019

FIRST WARTIME CHRISTMAS STORY

 

31 DEC 2019 

MORTON TAKES COMMAND

 

 

 

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.

Copyright © 2020 bremertonreunion.net