And The Submarine Capital Of The Navy Is...

A little over two weeks ago, the outgoing Base CO at Naval Station Kitsap had a throw-away line in his Change of Command speech where he said:

"The new submarine capital of the Navy is Kitsap," Tanaka told about 200 invited guests during a change-of-command ceremony that was chased into the Bangor theater by threatening skies. "There are more submarine crews in Kitsap than in any other place."

Since the boomers and SSGNs stationed there have two crews, he's actually correct -- even though Subase New London has 2 more full-sized submarines assigned (plus NR-1). He also noted that Bangor has all three types of submarines there (SSBNs, SSGN, and SSNs), whereas only SSNs are stationed in Groton. He could have also pointed out that the three newest SSNs in the Bremerton area could wipe out any group of ships (up to and including a complete Strike Group, or a complete submarine squadron) in the world without breaking a sweat. Things move slowly up Groton way, but they've finally responded to this "heresy":

After the staff in Groton heard about Tanaka's remarks, Ginda said “there were no emergency meetings to figure out how we were going to counter this blasphemy, if you will” because Tanaka has a “tough road ahead of him” if he wants to continue to call Kitsap the new capital.
”We have the natural synergy of the base and Electric Boat, right down the river, where the latest class of subs are built,” Ginda said. “We have sub school, where officers and enlisted cut their teeth on a submarine profession that started here, as the first submarine base, and continues on as the submarine capital of the world.”

Captain Ginda is actually right in this "controversy". Whiile Kitsap might have more capable and varied submarines, the fact remains that the vast majority of Submariners pass through Groton at some point in their careers -- everyone goes through training there before getting to their first boat except the enlisted nukes. Plus, the Nautilus is there, as well as the company that built USS Holland (SS 1). In my mind, as long as the Submarine School and Submarine Force Museum remain in Groton, it will be the "Submarine Capital".

The Puget Sound is a lot prettier than the Long Island Sound, though...