I live in Southeastern Washington...
Here in the Tri Cities of Richland, Kennewick, & Pasco.
Because we’re hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean…
This is not normally the kind of place you’d expect to find a submarine.
But the other day, I learned that there is indeed a submarine…
In fact, a quite famous one... just four miles from my house.
So, I decided to check it out.
And there it is, at least the top part of it...
Which in Navy terms is known as the “sail”…
Or the superstructure that sits on top of the main body of the submarine.
It's in a city park where it is being preserved to offer a very visual history lesson.
This is the USS Triton...
A nuclear submarine that has the distinction of being the only Western submarine powered by two nuclear reactors.
And at the time of her construction, which completed in 1959…
She was the largest submarine ever built.
(Newsreel announcer) All five thousand jammed the Grouton, Connecticut, shipyards for the launching of the Triton...
America's eigth nuclear submarine... The first with more than one atomic engine...
And the largest... almost the size of a light cruiser.
Triton is christened by the wife of Vice Admiral, John M. Will.
447 feet long, she will displace some 8,000 tons submerged.
Triton's armament, not torpedos or missiles...
But three decks crammed with electronic gear and new far-ranging radar.
Twin nuclear engines will enable her to cruise two years without refueling.
More than just a radar picket and a combat command ship...
Triton foreshadows the underseas capital ship of the future.
A major event in naval history!
And she’s quite famous because, back in 1960…
USS Triton became the very first submarine to circumnavigate the entire world...
While staying completely submerged the entire time…
A voyage covering over 26,000 nautical miles.
In doing so, she managed to one-up Ferdinand Magellan…
The Portuguese explorer who, over 500 years ago…
Led an Armada of five ships in the very first circumnavigation of the world.
Of course, Magellan’s ships travelled on the surface of the ocean…
And when the USS Triton did the same round-the-world voyage over 400 years later…
She became the first one to go all the way around the world and stay submerged under the water the entire time.
(Newsreel announcer) USS Triton, the world's largest nuclear submarine...
Surfaces off the Delaware coast at the end of 84 days of underseas cruising that carried it around the world.
A helicopter hauls Captain Edward L. Beach aloft for a quick hop to the White House...
And ceremonies marking the historic accomplishment.
Captain Beach, who skippered the Triton on a course matching that of Ferdinand Magellan in the first round-the-world voyage in 1519...
Receives the Legion Of Merit, with a Presidential citation.
To Captain Beach also goes the distinction of commanding perhaps the most spectacular shakedown cruise in navy annals.
Triton returns to its home berth in New London...
To be greeted with civic rejoicing and jubilant wives and families of the 183 officers and men...
Whose mission had been top-secret until just hours before.
After 84 days, welcomes home are warm, indeed!
They made naval history on Operation Magellan... But gosh, it's good to be back!
So, that’s a quick summary of the history of the USS Triton…
But you’re probably wondering…
How did it end up here, in a city park, in Richland, Washington?
In 1969, USS Triton had outlived her usefulness…
And became the very first U.S. nuclear submarine to be taken out of service and decommissioned.
She sat over on the east coast of the United States...
At the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as part of the reserve fleet until 1993.
Then she was towed to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard...
Over here on the west coast of the United States, to await recycling.
And Puget Sound’s only about 180 miles from here, as the crow flies.
She sat there at the shipyard in Puget Sound for 14 years…
And then they spent a couple of years in recycling her.
But they saved the “sail” superstructure, so that it could be moved here to Richland...
To create this park, as a tribute to the USS Triton’s unique place in American naval history.
But why did they choose Richland as the place where what’s left of the USS Triton should rest?
Well, that’s because of Richland’s important place in the history of nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
As part of the Manhattan Project during the second world war…
Plutonium for the very first nuclear bomb was produced at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, just a few miles north of Richland.
And after World War II, during the cold war...
The Hanford project expanded to include nine nuclear reactors and five large plutonium processing complexes.
And these days, a large amount of high-level radioactive waste is stored at Hanford…
Including the decommissioned reactor cores from the USS Triton…
Which were brought here by barge on the Columbia River…
And off loaded right here at the Port Of Richland.
In the background of this shot, you can actually see the cranes and other machinery...
That are used to unload barges that have items heading to the Hanford site.
And that’s why this spot, right here...
Is the perfect place for a tribute to the USS Triton…
And America’s history with nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
There’s a lot of interesting stuff inside the sail…
And it’s all been preserved.
Right now, because of the global pandemic…
They’re not leading tours inside the sail of the USS Triton, but they used to.
Maybe someday, after the pandemic has passed, I’ll get to go inside.
Well, that’s the story of the USS Triton…
And how what’s left of her ended up here in a park in Richland, Washington…
Just four miles from my house.
I’m Jim Zim. Thanks for watching.
Videos about interesting places here in Washington...
Are just one of the kinds of videos you’ll find here on my YouTube channel.
I also do a lot of videos about playing with model trains at my house…
And about fun Caribbean vacations on cruise ships or at all-inclusive resorts.
I’m also a dog lover… With a history as a hobby breeder of American Cocker Spaniels…
And a foster for litters of puppies of many mixed breeds.
I’ve put links on the screen to four videos on four completely different subjects.
Click on one that looks like it might be of interest to you!