Its interesting to note the build up of the US NAVY during the cold war in ships and submarines. My
father worked at Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. from 1957-1963 as a welder working on submarines on
the second shift. I remember we picked him up at work at the shipyard around mid night and there was
a lot of workers coming out to buses,cars,etc. There was a real sense of urgency to gain the upper
hand on Russia [ six and seven days a week and sometimes 12 hours a shift ]. He worked on the George
Washington the first polaris submarine [ converted from an attack submarine ].
Also at this time there were many shipyards involved in building submarines. Such as Portsmouth Navy
Yard in Kittery, Maine , Electric Boat, Newport News Shipyard, Ingalls Shipyard, and Mare Island Navy Yard.
The US Navy yards modernized the old destroyers [ 110 of them] in the FRAM program to cope with
Russian submarines and get an extra 10-15 years of service life. The Navy yards also converted gun
cruisers to guided missile cruisers saving time and money. There are only 3 Navy Yards left now Pearl
Harbor, Puget Sound Navy Yard, and Norfolk Navy Yard. Since 1965 those noted and gone are Brooklyn
Navy Yard, Boston Navy Yard [ where I worked 1967-1973] , Hunters Point Navy Yard, Long Beach Navy
Navy Yard, Mare Island, Charleston Navy Yard, and Philadelphia Navy Yard. These same Navy Yards all ten
of them made huge contributions in ships and submarines during WW 2.
gusord