Two more subs moving to Bangor

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Navy is pulling two more of its Trident nuclear submarines from Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in coastal Georgia, relocating them to Washington state to beef up its arsenal in the Pacific.

When the submarines USS Louisiana and USS Maine ship out in October 2005, Kings Bay will have lost half its Trident submarine fleet – five of 10 – since 2002.

By contrast, the Navy has increased the number of nuclear submarines at the Naval Submarine Base Bangor near Bremerton. Subs based at Bangor include the Persian Gulf and Korean Peninsula in their target area.

Last month, the submarine USS Nebraska left Kings Bay for Bangor, joining the USS Kentucky and USS Pennsylvania, which relocated from the Georgia coast in 2002. In addition to those three boats, four other Tridents are based at Bangor: USS Henry M. Jackson, USS Alaska, USS Alabama and USS Nevada.

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., whose district adjoins the Bangor base, hailed the latest transfers.

“This move of two additional Trident submarines from the East Coast to Bangor reflects, appropriately, the higher level of threat that our nation faces in the Pacific region at this time and in the foreseeable future,” said Dicks, a senior member of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee.

The transfers were bad news for coastal Camden County, in Georgia’s southeast corner, where each Navy submarine accounts for roughly $13 million in military payroll and 1,000 sailors and family members.