Rick Raymond presented a photograph of USS Bremerton CA-130 exiting San Francisco in 1955 to Mayor Greg Wheeler in a ceremony April 20, 2026. The ceremony took place in front of the ship’s bell on the sixth deck of city hall. The photo was donated by Charles Dachenhauson from his collection.
DANVILLE, Va. — A piece of U.S. naval history now stands outside a workforce training hub in Danville. The sail from the USS BuFalo has been installed on the campus of the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program in Cyber Park, 150 Slayton Avenue, near the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville.
The structure is intended as a visual reminder of the program’s mission to prepare workers for jobs supporting the construction and maintenance of naval vessels.
The Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program oFers around-the-clock instruction for manufacturing careers tied to the defense industry. OScials say the goal is to train about 1,000 workers each year.
The program features a 16-week, hands-on curriculum. Graduates earn industry-recognized credentials designed to lead to employment in Welds such as welding, machining, quality control inspection and advanced manufacturing.
The initiative is a public-private partnership involving the U.S. Department of Defense, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, Danville Community College and other partners. Program graduates have received job oFers from major defense contractors, including Newport News Shipbuilding, Electric Boat and BWX Technologies.
The USS BuFalo, a Los Angeles-class submarine, was built in Newport News. Construction began in 1976, and the vessel was launched in 1982 and commissioned in 1983. It was decommissioned in 2019 after 35 years of service.
USS Buffalo sail installed at Danville training campus | Business | chathamstartribune.com
-April 2026 PSNS Salute
Have you ever seen a submarine get hollowed out?
It’s happening here to the decommissioned USS Hyman G. Rickover as part of the extensive recycling program at PSNS & IMF on the Waterfront in Bremerton, Wash.
Learn more about the disposal of decommissioned nuclear vessels and how it directly contributes to the readiness of the force: https://www.war.gov/…/dismantling-giants-how-recycling…/
In our previous update we announced that the monument is going to be located at the gateway to the city of Bremerton and will be one of the first things people see when they enter the city from the south. The site at First and Wycoff is currently a right of way and will be rezoned as a park upon completion, gaining the Charleston neighborhood and City of Bremerton a new park. The Navy has removed the Sail from the submarine and it is currently in 4 pieces. Removal of other parts of the boat continues and we have a verbal confirmation from the Navy that we can have the requested USS BREMERTON artifacts. David Fergus and Rice Fergus Miller Architects are continuing to refine the design and Art Anderson Associates is working on the engineering for the project. Our site survey is complete and we have coordinated the location of the monument on the site with the city’s public works. We installed a “Future Home of The USS BREMERTON Monument” sign at the site in December 2025.
We have made a lot of progress over the past three months, gaining many new partners to help with the work of preparing the USS BREMERTON artifacts prior to installation in the monument. The sail is currently cut in half horizontally and will need a lot preservation and welding to prepare it for the monument. We provided a presentation to the Puget Sound Ship Repair Association on the project and they have been extremely helpful finding us partners amongst their members. At this point we have partners for all the services we need to prepare the Sail for installation in the monument. Our partners include: Metropolitan Solutions who have taken samples of the sail materials, South Bay Sand Blasting and Tank Cleaning, who will be removing internal structure and corrosion as well as preparing surfaces, American Scaffold who will be setting up work areas and containment and helping with preservation, Sherwin Williams who is providing all the paint, and IMIA, LLC, who is helping with preservation, welding the sail back together and coordinating the work of the other partners. We hope to start preparing the USS BREMERTON artifacts this year.
We are still looking for additional partners to help us move the parts from the shipyard to the location we will prepare them and eventually to the monument site. We are also meeting with potential partners to help us with the park infrastructure such as concrete, electrical, landscaping, signage, etc. Fundraising continues. We have raised approximately $140,000 to date through direct donations, brick sales, and grants. We continue to raise money to pay for materials and services that we do not find partners to donate in-kind.
You can learn more about the monument project on our website:
In order to complete the USS BREMERTON Monument at Navy League Park we need your help. Unfortunately, there is no single list of everyone who served on the BREMERTON. We are asking you to reach out through your networks to those who served with you on the BREMERTON so they have an opportunity to be a part of the monument though our “Join the Monument Crew, Buy a Brick” campaign. We are hopeful that this will make it to all crewmembers to offer them the opportunity to be a perpetual part of the monument with a brick.
https://polarengraving.com/bremertonsailmemorial
We would also ask that you share information on the monument with anyone else you think may be able to help us with the project – either financially or in kind. Lastly, please consider sharing a sea story on the website about your time on the boat.
USS BREMERTON Monument Committee:
Captain (ret) Alan Beam, CO #3
Captain (ret) Jerry Logan, CO #10
Captain (ret) Tom Zwolfer, CO #11
Hawaiian Operating Areas – In the summer of 1993, just northwest of Pearl Harbor, the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Indianapolis (SSN 697) operated at sea with Capt. David Zacharias and navigator Dan Eytchison on the bridge, flying the Indy Flag during active service. Years later, the submarine’s sail assembly was documented awaiting reassembly for public display at the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, Indiana, on June 11, 2017, marking a later chapter in the ship’s history.
Check out this great photo of the USS Bremerton visiting its namesake city on Oct. 4, 1986.
Kitsap Sun photojournalist Meegan M. Reid came across an actual print of this photo (which is a rare find) while getting the many boxes of film archives of the Sun ready for an office move.
Back in the day, every image that was in the paper was printed in the darkroom before it went to press, and while the Sun has an extensive collection of sports prints from those eras (since the sports editors thankfully insisted on filing them away for later use) the news photo prints were put in a box at the receptionist’s desk after they were used in the paper and anyone who came into the building could take whatever photo they liked home.
We’re betting this print never made it to that front-desk box because who wouldn’t have wanted to take this one home to hang on the wall?!?!?
The connection between the U.S. Navy and the game of cribbage is a long-standing tradition. Cribbage, a card game with a unique scoring system, became popular among sailors during long sea voyages. The Navy used cribbage to pass time, build teamwork, and keep minds active during downtime. Cribbage boards are commonly found on ships and submarines.
We share the story of the Navy’s famous Lucky Cribbage Board in our exhibit We Have the Watch, which is now open! You can learn more about the cribbage board here: https://youtu.be/RSyfI7fMp6o. It was carried onboard USS Bremerton until she was decommissioned.
O’Kane Cribbage Board onboard USS Bremerton
War hero’s artifact still rides the USS Bremerton
If you are new to the game of cribbage, watch our Educator’s video on how to play: https://youtu.be/i3KQfr76yGA
Posted by Puget Sound Naval Museum
Today at 1245 I officially signed over USS BREMERTON (SSN 698) to PSNS. The Bad Fish a.k.a. the American Classic is officially decommissioned. It has been an extraordinary 40 year run for the best Submarine in the US Navy. I thank each of you for your service and dedication you provided during your tenure as BREMERTON.
BREMERTON Departing.
CAPT Chris Lindberg
17 th and Final Commanding Officer of USS Bremerton (SSN 698)
