Pier extension at Bangor is complete, giving Seawolf-class submarines a new home

BANGOR — After several years of planning, funding and construction, the Navy completed a pier extension project at the Bangor base late last year. Nicknamed "Olympic pier," the new infrastructure will support the Navy's Seawolf-class submarines at Naval Base Kitsap.

The pier extension project cost $121 million in total, which includes funding authorized by the Military Construction Appropriation Act in Fiscal Year 2017 and Fiscal Year 2020, according to Submarine Group 9 spokesperson Lt. Corey Jones. The Navy first envisioned the project in 2008. The Pentagon in February 2020 awarded a Seattle construction company, Manson Construction of Seattle, an $89.3 million contract to extend the pier, and construction began that year. In October 2022, Submarine Development Squadron (DEVRON) 5 held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the Olympic pier to mark the completion of the project, according to a statement released by the Navy.

The pier's name stems from its view of the Olympic Mountain Range, according to the Navy. The pier becomes a new home to the Navy's Seawolf-class submarines, which includes USS Seawolf, USS Connecticut and USS Jimmy Carter.

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USS Seawolf, previously homeported in Bremerton, arrived at the new Olympic pier in December 2022 after a seven-month deployment, according to the Navy. The arrival of USS Seawolf was the first time any ship has moored at the newly constructed pier, the Navy said.

USS Connecticut, originally stationed in Bremerton, will shift to Olympic Pier following the sub's scheduled depot repair period at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Jones told Kitsap Sun. USS Connecticut struck an underwater mountain in the South China Sea in October 2021 and was pulled into Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton for repairs at the shipyard in December of that year.

"In the near-term, the Seawolf-class submarines will call the Olympic Pier home. However, the pier is also configured for Virginia Block V and beyond class submarines, which gives us the capacity to homeport additional classes of submarines in the future, if required," Jones said.

The Bangor base benefits from this pier extension because the base can better accommodate present and future submarines with greater efficiency, Jones said. Improvements include a 528–foot extension to the Service Pier, a 3,000-square-foot utility building, and parking for 315 vehicles to support ship crews and maintenance personnel, according to Jones.

The new pier "includes state-of-the-art technologies for security and pier services for moored submarines and incorporates the latest technology to provide multiple fully redundant power sources, ensuring continuous safe in-port operations and minimizing the affects due to normal wear and tear or natural disasters," according to the statement from the Navy.

Reporter Peiyu Lin covers the military for the Kitsap Sun. She can be reached at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor completes Seawolf-class subs pier