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Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay

The mission of Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is to deliver support to the strategic warfighter. Kings Bay is the east coast homeport for the Ohio-class fleet ballistic-missile submarines and the only naval base in the Atlantic fleet capable of supporting the Trident II (D-5) missile. The 16,000-acre base, located in southern coastal Georgia, has a combined workforce of more than 8,300 military and civilian employees and propels the local economy with an annual payroll of $450 million.

The base is home to Submarine Group 10, Submarine Squadrons 16 & 20, Trident Training Facility, Trident Refit Facility, Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic, and other support-providing commands. In addition to being an integral part of our nation’s strategic deterrence program, Kings Bay has attained and sustained award-winning results unsurpassed in Navy Region Southeast or other submarine and shore commands in the U.S. Navy.

Kings Bay has earned the reputation as the place to work and live. The base has garnered the golden anchor award for retention excellence and The Navy Times recently recognized Kings Bay as the best place for Sailors to retire. Kings Bay takes great pride in its mission and dedication to service; a base recognized for total commitment to innovation, quality of life, environmental awareness and community relations

Early in the 19th century, much of what is now a bustling modern submarine base was the site of several plantations, including Cherry Point, Harmony Hall, New Canaan, Marianna, and Kings Bay. Along the bay, Thomas King developed his Kings Bay plantation. Buying the land in the 1790s, King built a small-to-medium sized plantation. Investigations by University of Florida archaeologists revealed a broad spectrum of previously unknown information about the lifestyle of the plantation owner of the day.

Elsewhere on what is now base property, John Houston McIntosh built a considerably larger plantation known as New Canaan, where he grew cotton and sugar cane. Just west of the Stimson Gate, across Georgia Highway Spur 40, rests the two-story tabby ruin of McIntosh's sugar mill. Point Peter was the site of the last major military engagement of the War of 1812 in January 1815, when the British landed in force on Cumberland Island and staged a two-pronged attack against the fort.

The Americans retreated and made a last stand against the invaders along what is now Kamehameha Avenue on lower base. A peace treaty ending the War of 1812 was signed in Belgium in December 1814, but the soldiers, far removed from Europe, knew nothing of the treaty. The British then destroyed the fort, barracks, and magazine. After occupying and looting Point Peter, Cumberland Island and St. Marys, the British left in early March 1815. An exhibit about the fort and battle is on display at the Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum in downtown St. Marys.

The Army began to acquire land at Kings Bay in 1954 to build a military ocean terminal to ship ammunition in case of a national emergency. Construction actively began in 1956 and was completed in 1958. Since there was no immediate operational need for the installation, it was placed in an inactive ready status.

The most prominent feature of the terminal was the 2,000-foot-long, 87-foot-wide concrete and steel wharf. In addition, three parallel railroad tracks would have enabled the simultaneous loading of several ammunition ships from rail cars and trucks.

Elsewhere aboard the base, the Army built 47 miles of railroad tracks. Spurs off the main line ran into temporary storage areas that were protected by earthen barricades. These mounds of dirt, still prominent features in many areas of the base, were designed to localize damage in case of explosive accidents.

Never activated to serve its primary purpose, the Army base was used for other missions. In 1964, as Hurricane Dora hammered the area, nearly 100 area residents were sheltered aboard at the base. Also, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, an Army Transportation Battalion of 1,100 personnel and 70 small boats took up position at Kings Bay.

The chain of events that led to today's combination of high-tempo submarine operations at Kings Bay and the complex construction project that reshaped the face of thousands of acres of land began in 1975. At the time, treaty negotiations between Spain and the United States were in progress. A proposed change to our base agreement with Spain was the withdrawal of the fleet ballistic-missile submarine squadron, Submarine Squadron 16, from its operational base at Rota, Spain. Anticipating this would take place, the Chief of Naval Operations ordered studies to select a new refit site on the East Coast. In January 1976, negotiators initialed a draft treaty between Spain and the U.S.; it called for withdrawal of the squadron from Rota by July 1979. The U.S. Congress ratified the treaty in June 1976.

A site-selection steering group evaluated more than 60 sites along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. By summer of 1976, the number of sites was narrowed to five: Narragansett Bay, RI; Cheatham Annex, VA; Charleston, SC; Kings Bay, GA; and, Mosquito Lagoon, FL.

A comprehensive study evaluated each site against a number of criteria, including: costs, ability to meet required schedule, land availability to meet explosive safety requirements, operational capabilities, and logistics consideration, environmental impact and growth potential for future requirements. After careful review, the Navy selected Kings Bay.

The first Navy personnel arrived in the Kings Bay area in January 1978 and started preparations for the orderly transfer of property from the Army to the Navy. Naval Submarine Support Base Kings Bay was established in a developmental status July 1, 1978.

The base, now Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, occupies the entire former Army terminal, as well as several thousand additional acres. Preparations for the arrival of the submarine squadron went forward in haste throughout the remainder of 1978 and into 1979. Commander, Submarine Squadron 16 greeted the submarine tender USS Simon Lake (AS-33), when it arrived at Kings Bay on July 2, 1979. Four days later, USS James Monroe (SSBN 622) entered Kings Bay and moored alongside Simon Lake to begin a routine refit in preparation for another deterrent patrol. Kings Bay has been an operating submarine base since that day.

In May 1979, the Navy selected Kings Bay as the preferred East Coast site for the Ohio-class submarine. On October 23, 1980, after a one-year environmental impact study was completed and with Congressional approval, the Secretary of the Navy announced Kings Bay as the future home of the new Trident submarine. The building project included the construction of three major commands: Trident Training Facility (TTF), Trident Refit Facility (TRF) and Strategic Weapons Facility, Atlantic (SWFLANT).

Other U.S. military bases may have tanks or aircraft at their front gates, but Kings Bay has a submarine greeting visitors at the entrance to the 16,000-acre naval base located in southeast Georgia. Rising from a sea of green grass at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay Franklin Gate is the USS George Bancroft Sail Exhibit, a display commemorating 100 years of the Navy's submarine program. USS George Bancroft (SSBN 643), commissioned January 22, 1966, in Groton, Connecticut, served in the Navy's submarine service for more than 27 years. With the advent of the Ohio-class submarines and the end of the Cold War, the older Franklin-class submarines were no longer needed and Bancroft was decommissioned and struck from the Navy list September 21, 1993. Bancroft ended up in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington for scrapping and recycling in March 1998. Bancroft would not go away easily.

Alerted to its imminent destruction, a grassroots effort on the part of St. Marys Submarine Museum, a local submarine veterans organization, former Bancroft crew members and local businesses raised the necessary funding to bring the submarine's sail to Kings Bay and to construct the exhibit. Saved from the recycling bin, the sail was brought to Kings Bay in 1998 for use in an exhibit honoring the U.S. Navy's submarine service centennial.

From October 1999 to March 2000, members of Construction Battalion Unit 412 cleared and grubbed 500 tons of soil and trees to construct the footings, foundation, and lighting necessary for the exhibit. The Seabees molded the earth to resemble a submarine hull, allowing a contractor to then spray the earthen hull with a thick coat of black gunite.

The display readied for dedication on April 7, 2000, became the centerpiece for Kings Bay's celebration of the submarine forces 100th anniversary. Over 2,000 people from the local area and across the country joined the dedication as Bancroft, one of the "41 for Freedom," came alive once again. Please visit our web site at >

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