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| TSR Visits Kings Bay and the St. Mary's Submarine Museum By Eric Ryle - TheSubReport.com 16 JAN 2007 |
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| For you submarine veterans and support personnel of the Kings Bay of old. Yes, you that sailed from there from its beginnings as a new home for Squadron 16 and various submarine tenders. Let me say, this is not your Father's Kings Bay. St Mary's and Kingsland Georgia are no longer the sleepy towns of what those might remember from the past. The Submarine base now brought into full maturity with support of Trident Submarines and SSGN's, the Camden County region has grown rapidly in the past 15 years. The last few exits before you cross into Florida are no longer exits to no mans land. All the amenities of a good sized town or city are available to those who are stationed at the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. Restaurants, hotels and shopping retails of the all the cookie cutter type chains now dot the area. Even a Lowe's super center just had its grand opening. All the growth means no more road trips to Jacksonville Florida for decent entertainment and a fast food burger. With an ever increasing population, a mass advertising campaign through out the southeast in recent years has attracted a multitude that have found refuge for their retirement years. Although with its rapid growth, the region around the base still boast remnants of easy living and a friendly atmosphere from its Old South past. Amongst the historical downtown shops and homes of St Mary's on the waterfront is the St Mary's Submarine Museum. John Crouse, a retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer, along with the support of volunteers, the Sub base and the local community has amassed an amazing collection of submarine memorabilia. This collection from both Diesel and Nuclear submarines has something to offer for any former submariner to take a stroll down memory lane. This is a great place to bring the kids or grand kids to give them a idea of what your submarine glory days were like. The museum covers it all from the humble beginnings of the Turtle in 1776 all the way to exhibits on Kings Bay's current resident Trident Submarine Fleet. Every spot of wall space and floor real estate is jammed packed with artifacts, models, medals, photos, books, and plaques. Other items include a working periscope and control room panels and other trinkets of all types from just about every era. Many items are donated by local area subvets and other veterans that have visited the museum. Other larger items are collected through the U.S. Navy Curator and are on loan to the Museum. You will also find things from foreign Navy's and even items retrieved form the Russian Submarine Kursk. Of special interest to the older Nuclear boat sailors, will be the James K. Polk exhibit. The Dive and Drive station, BCP panels, sonar stack and a compartment hatch were retrieved from submarine disposal at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Preservation and display of the Polk Control Room equipment helps document an era of submarines that is fading fast. The USS Nautilus remains as the only U.S. Nuclear submarine on display as a museum. Efforts to turn other decommissioned nuclear submarines into museums boats such as their WWII Diesel predecessors have proven cost prohibitive. The Polk exhibit helps serve as a reminder to those that sailed on the Lafayette, Benjamin Franklin and Sturgeon class submarines and others built in the 1960's. John Crouse says the museum recently celebrated it's 10 year anniversary and hopes for many more years to come. Properly maintaining and housing the collection is expensive. Funding is derived from admission, fund raisers and donations. To even attempt to acquire new items for the museum can be very costly. The Shipyard and the Navy charges for removal and shipping of items to prospective museums and collectors. The postage alone to ship the Polk Exhibit items from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was $28,000. Anyone who would like to help with the efforts of the Museum with donations and contributions can contact John Crouse or the Museum directly. Once you are done with the Museum, make sure you wander over to the USS George Bancroft Sail Exhibit at the Franklin gate of the Sub Base. The Bancroft Sail is mounted on top of a cement structure resembling a submarine surfacing. It is quite a sight to see. You are even welcomed to walk on and touch the exhibit. Walking on the structure gives you the illusion that you can lay below to your former watch station. This is a great tribute to the 41 for Freedom. So for that next vacation trip to Florida, make sure to build into your travel plans a stop by Kings Bay and the St Mary's Submarine Museum. You will be glad you stopped by. The shops and the historic downtown area are always a big hit with the women folk. With all the things to see and do, and the hospitality of the locals, you will find yourself visiting longer than you planned. |
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| CDR Gale Ruskosky (USN RET) donates a sign from Submarine Squadron 12 Key West, Florida to the Museum. |
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| Submarine Museum Manager John Crouse |
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| MM3/SS Jesse Arlington of the USS Wyoming SSBN 742 and Lisa Seaman Visit the Submarine Museum with Family |
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| USS George Bancroft Sail Exhibit |
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| Email Contact: John Crouse |
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