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Naval Submarine Base New London
Connecticut gave the Navy land in 1868, and in 1872, two brick buildings were built on the land along with a pier; it was officially declared a Navy Yard. The Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE NLON) has grown considerably since those times. Located on the east side of Thames River in Groton, CT, SUBASE NLON supports twenty one attack submarines and the Navy's nuclear research deep submersible NR-1. The base is on 500 acres and has over 400 buildings, with the housing and support facilities for 10,000 active duty and civilian workers and their families. All submariners in today's Navy will be stationed there for training and perhaps a tour aboard a fast attack submarine or with a pre-commissioning crew while their new submarine is under construction.
The SUBASE is located on the Groton (east) side of the Thames River. The Thames River's mouth spills out into a place on the northern shore of Long Island Sound called New London Harbor. SUBASE harbor pilots have said that dredging had increased the channel's depth to 40 feet, from the mouth of the Thames River all the way to the SUBASE. Apparently, this is still too shallow for Ohio Class submarines. The upriver limit of Ohio Class submarines falls between the U.S. Coast Guard Station on the west side of the Thames River and the Electric Boat facility on the east side, which is owned by General Dynamics Corporation and is reserved of ship building, refitting and repair.
The pier complex consist of a combination of concrete piers and wooden piers, however, ongoing construction is gradually replacing all the older, wooden ones with concrete. As of October 1996, there were a total of 15 submarine berths available.
The SUBASE has two U.S. Navy YTB class (2,000 hp) tug boats, one 2,600 hp tug and one 1,600 hp tug, all to assist submarines and other vessels.
New London Harbor has more than 30 wharves and piers in all, varying in sizes and configurations. These are used mostly as repair berths and for mooring recreational and governmental vessels. There are commercial docks as well, such as the Hess Dock which is owned by the Hess Oil and Chemical Division, Amerada Hess Corporation.
