Pinned post for Q&A :)

IJN: Attacks U.S. west coast. HMS Warspite: *engages plot armor* IJN: Wait, what?

If anybody is interested in PSNS history, they have a book called “Nipsic to Nimitz” which covers the first 100 years. I gave Drach a copy during his visit.

At 20:40, you see a ship's main gun being lifted off flat cars. NOTE: The flat cars are PRR (Pennsylvania RailRoad) flat cars with special "carriage" blocks for transporting such gun tubes to, and from the Philadelphia, and later Newport Naval yard gun tube relining plants. I mentioned this in comments during a Drydock a couple weeks back when this topic came up. PRR was the only railroad (that I am aware of) that had a fleet of specially made, and dedicated flat cars for transporting Naval gun tubes!

It's always really cool seeing Bremerton from the point of view of an outsider, especially one who appreciates naval ships. Growing up there, the shipyard is such a part of everyday life that you tend to forget how unique and interesting it is. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

That toolbox at 15:45 is a Gerstner, made in Dayton, Ohio. That model is still available today.

It is amazing seeing the old photos and knowing where they were taken from. And seeing buildings, piers and drydocks still there from over 100 years ago.

The photo of the Arizona at Puget Sound was taken 18 January 1941 and represents the last known close up photo of the ship before her destruction at Pearl Harbor.

The PSNS was right across the water from where I grew up. I remember taking a field trip there in the early 80s. We toured the Missouri and saw the Oriskany next to it. When the Nimitz class carriers would come in for service, we could watch from our back deck as the tugboat maneuvered them into position.

I got to visit the USS Missouri when she was mothballed there next to USS New Jersey in the '70s and '80s. My grandma lived in Bremerton, we lived in Tacoma. On one trip to visit grandma in the late '70s, I finally pestered my parents into stopping. It was pretty thrilling for a junior high kid who read everything he could about the Pacific Theater of WW II to stand in the very spot where the war officially ended. Yes, officially, it's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, but 'round here, we just call it The Navy Yard. Both of my grandfathers worked there as electricians during WW II. One of my mom's high school friends was an operator of the Hammerhead.

Gosport, which became Norfolk Navy Yard, was originally (1767) a Royal Navy dockyard. In keeping with the US Navy's habit of rarely naming anything after its actual location, it is in Portsmouth, VA. I used to take a short cut, from USS Nimitz in drydock to the parking lot, through the foundry. I saw 60,000 lbs of molten steel poured for a Nimitz class anchor. Chief Machinery Repairman, retired.

Gosport yard became (eventually) Norfolk Navy Yard. Newport (sic) is located in the city of Newport News which is several miles to the north, and is actually named Newport News Shipbuilding. I've worked at both facilities.

If you want to see an aerial view of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, go to Port Orchard, climb the Sydney Avenue hill and walk over to the Kitsap County Government along Division Street. A good 200 vertical feet of elevation climb in a very few blocks. Many of the homes in that neighborhood have a fantastic view of the Shipyard. You can easily count the ships and with binoculars you can read the hull numbers and get a list of ships in those docks. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the USS Saratoga had recently left Bremerton and just arrived in San Diego when the attack happened. The reason the persons of Japanese ancestry were removed from Bainbridge Island and Port Orchard before anywhere else is that persons living along Rich Passage could have observed a big carrier such as the Saratoga steam on by. Riding the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton is to be impressed at how narrow the Passage is.

The USS Maryland, BB-46 was sent to PSNS to replace her bow, after being struck by a Betty-dropped torpedo. My dad was a Radarman third-class at the time it struck and said it blew a hole through her “large enough for a freight train.” They had to sail backward from Honolulu to Bremerton.

USS Pyro was built and launched at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on December, 1919. She and her sister, USS Nitro were launched on the same day. USS Pyro is named after the Greek word for fire. USS Nitro is named after Nitro-Cellulose, a type of gunpowder. Pyro was a Pearl Harbor survivor and served in the Pacific theater. Nitro served in the Atlantic and supported the landings at Normandy. Both were scrapped in 1949.

SSN-683 was the Parche. I served on SSN-686 the L. Mendel Rivers out of Charleston, 1975-77. CWO4 USN Ret.

I’m sitting in my boat at the Bremerton Marina just as this video popped up on my feed!

When I reported onboard USS Nimitz CVN-68 in August 1996, she was home-ported at Bremerton. It’s interesting that the nuclear refueling of the Nimitz could have been done there at PSNS instead of Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, but when the contract to build the USS Nimitz at NNS was drawn up the shipyard included a clause that they got first dibs on the refueling contract. So I got to make a round the world cruise onboard USS Nimitz, taking the long way around from Bremerton, WA to Norfolk, VA by way of the Suez Canal.

Puget Sound ❤

My parents took me here as a kid. I loved all things naval. So the Turner Joy, plus the museum, plus the ferry ride past the Navy Yard was a real treat.

My Grandfather was a Merchant Marine during WW2 and after the war took a job at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard. Thank you for covering this.

USS South Carolina CGN 37 was being dismantled there when the need became apparent that they needed a display for outside the gate. They removed a cut down section of her bow and made a static display there.

I was Crew on the USS Parche ( Pu-ARCH-ee) from 2000 to its decomissioning in 2004 Great video and thanks.

Spent 3 years living on Bangor Submarine base, Dad was a Senior Chief Machinist Mate and was assigned to the Trident Training Facility. He ran the simulator and got my brothers and I in one day to run it. It had periscope that ran up out the top of the building!

I used to live just down the street before I moved to Hawaii. Spent a lot of time hanging out around there.

Drach - a good friend of mine was a senior chief firecontrolman aboard Parche and was with her during the majority of her highly decorated history. I've read Blind Man's Bluff and so am aware of some of what the men of Parche accomplished, but to this day my friend won't say a word about any of it. He is long retired and nothing remains of Parche but her sail, but he is true to his commitment to the Silent Service. Not to criticize your pronunciation of the name, but my friend always said it thus, PAR-chee. Everyone in the Navy I've ever heard say it pronounces it the same way. She had a lot to live up to as her predecessor was Red Ramage's boat in the Pacific during WW II, one of the highest scoring US submarines. The crew of SSN 683 were all aware of their illustrious namesake and I would say more than lived up to her reputation.

I visited the Puget Sound Navy Museum back in 2021, almost by accident. Drove by and decided to stop for a few hours- glad I did.

Thanks for the wonderful vid sir, much appreciated. I am a local and had the privilege of standing on the Missouri's teak deck as a child before she was reactivated in Reagan's naval expansion. For like minded folks in the area, do not miss the United States Naval Undearsea museum just north of Bremerton in Keyport, WA - worth going just for the torpedo exhibit alone.

All those huge (for 1941) dry-docks helps explain why so many of the Pearl Harbor casualties went to Puget Sound

I've been there a few times. I need to send you the photos from the National Undersea Museum in Key Port.

I grew up in the Puget Sound area and somehow had no idea this museum existed! Thanks Drach, adding this to the list of places I gotta check out.

I find this tremendously interesting, not only due to my continuing interest in ships and naval history, but also because I was born in Bremerton, and now live in Western Australia. You are pretty much in my backyards!

That was excellent thank you! I can't tell you how many time I went to PSNS to see aircraft carriers, BB-62 Missouri and BB-63 New Jersey. Always and exciting trip to take the ferry there and check it all out. My favorite memory, however was in 1968 or 9 when BB-63 New Jersey anchored near Tacoma and there were tours while it was in active duty in Viet Nam. We took landing craft out to the ship and climbed up rope ladders to get on board. Sailors manning cannon and machine guns everywhere. Got to go inside some of the decks and of course the enitre upper deck where the 16 inchers are. I was 5 or 6 years old and loved every minute.

I worked at PSNS in the 70s. The dry docks are interesting, but what is really impressive is the interiors of the shop buildings. The machine shop is particularly impressive with lathes that can turn an aircraft carrier or battleship prop shaft. That shop, when I worked there dated from the 30s. I also found the prop shop quite interesting. It was amazing to see a prop being balanced. I also remember seeing the primary search radar from an aircraft carrier set up and rotating in the electronics shop. I worked on a number of ships there including the aircraft carriers Kitty Hawk and Constellation, nuclear cruisers Bainbridge and Long Beach as well as several SSNs. It is strange to think that all the ships I worked on are long gone.

My Grandfather and Grandmother lived in Bremerton. He was a Commander of Engineering in the USN. Whenever my brothers and I visited, my Grandfather would take us to the Yard at Bremerton, and show us things in the non-classified areas of the yard. I was young enough to be fascinated, but not remember much, but I remember going!

It was nice to meet you for the museum walk-through! I found the exhibits fascinating, particularly the photos of what the shipyard has looked like throughout the years. Cheers

Hope i get a chance to say hello next time you're here! I'm a bremerton EMT and drive past the museum and turner joy at least twice a day. Love this area so much.

And when in the Chicago area, don't forget the other German submarine nearby, the UC-97. It is a bit harder to visit, though.

PSNM and its sister museum the Naval Undersea Museum, just up the road in Keyport are both hidden gems. Both are worth spending a day at.

Yeah, I served in the USN back in the 90s on USS Carl Vinson when Alameda was closed and we moved to Bremeron in '97 IIRC. The only active ships at the time was my ship and I believe a couple of those fleet support/supply ships that generally go with a carrier battle group. Lots of older nuclear subs were being cut up at the time, plus the nuclear cruisers. I saw everything from the USS Long Beach to the Virginia class CGNs getting scrapped which was surprising as we had just deployed with one of the Virginia class on our deployment in '96. The mothball yard was way fuller back then too. There were a couple conventional carriers (Forrestal class IIRC) that have since been sent to Brownsville,TX for crapping and a couple Iowa battleships. One of them, the Missouri has since been sent to Pearl Harbor as a museum and I forget which one the other was. Anyways, I think they rotate the West coast carriers in and out of PSNS as needed to keep them maintained.

Favorite day trip there. Beautiful ferry ride, two cool museums in walking distance and a nice downtown area. Oh and a cool park.

I grew up in Puget Sound on Whidbey Island, visited PSNS when the carrier my father was on was in drydock.

14:44 "The yard was undergoing a little bit of a conversion." Seems appropriate - a little reciprocity for all the ship conversions it had performed. :)

OK, you broke me. Less than 2 minutes in and you are telling me there is a sub more decorated than the Barb. My brain is trying to make it out the door screaming "It ain't so".

I love the puget sound museum. One of the torpedos in there was designed by my aunt

I'm happy to hear good thinhs from Puget Sound. I know nothing about this city (apart from the band Ayron Jones) but I like the name very much. Reminds me of olive oil.

Another museum -- and promptly totally engrossed to the very end! Jim Y

Well, this was timely. I plan on visiting Turner Joy, the PSNM, and hopefully the USN Undersea Museum in a couple weeks.

I’ve visited both the Museum and the “Turner Joy”, I’d also recommend the Naval Undersea Museum in the same general area.

I served on the USS Sacramento AOE-1 from 77-80. The Sac was built and homeported at PSNS. It was a great place to be stationed.

This brings back memories of cleaning up Bunker C from sediments at Puget Sound docks. Thanks for the memories Drach!

Cool! I hope you made it to the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum too.

I had no idea you were so close to my house. Great to hear your thoughts on this.

i helped retore parts of u505. it was a awsome project . I miss it so much. its a uboat with a really dark history.

6:19.Slight correction, Drac. Gosport Navy Yard became Norfolk Naval Shipyard Portsmouth, VA), not Newport News Shipyard (Newport News, VA) Love your channel, btw.

I gon to this museum multiple times pluse go by it every day to work

Keep up the good work! I would not have known of these museums if it weren’t for you! My bucket list of places to visit is growing.

Guess i should hop on the ferry & check it out! Didn't even know it was there.

It would have been fantastic, had you been able to visit the yard in the late 80's to mid 90's. Four Essex class carriers, the cruisers Chicago and Oklahoma City, a slew of Forrest Sherman class destroyers and some old diesel boats......all replaced with nuclear submarines and cruisers, Knox class frigates, the Battleships New Jersey and Missouri and the first Super Carriers. It was amazing to behold.

And sandwiched between the Turner Joy and this museum is the museum of old Bremerton, the "Drift Inn."

Good overview of PSNS museum. The submarine Parche is pronounced Par-chee BTW and she got many of those awards as a special intelligence gathering platform during the Cold War.

Visited Bremerton several times for these attractions , Definitely worth the drive 👌🏻

Lol the exact second you mentioned the hammerhead, i rounded the corner on my commute and it came into view. Also along the boardwalk to Turner joy are little plaques that describe some of the most impressive jobs PSNS had. And as a fun little detail - lots of artifacts will pop up over the years because i know that many enlisted men and workers take all the souvenirs they can sneak out. Also there is a cool ww2 naval ocean tug that is undergoing restoration in the marina next to turner joy. And then there's the submarine museum nearby at the naval base just 5 minutes' drive north And the gorgeous 115 year old foot ferry connecting bremerton and port orchard And regularly the state's ship, the lady washington, is moored in port orchard just across the foot ferry And you can get surprisingly close to the awful (but gorgeous) littoral combat ships as you drive out of bremerton

Drach. You must come to Fredericksburg Texas and see the National Museum of the Pacific War. Birth place of Admiral Chester Nimitz.

Back when the museum was privately owned and in a building downtown, it was much better. There was some about the Yard, but a very great number of artifacts from various time, places, and ships in USN history. Now that the Navy owns it, the museum is mainly geared to the Yard. From what people affiliated with the museum have told me, a lot of the artifacts from the old days seem to have gone missing. Including one that I loaned to the old museum.

Great tour of the shipyard and museum. Thaks, Drach.

Great video Drach. I wrote my history master's thesis on the search for and subsequent development of the Puget Sound Naval Station in the late 1800's/ early 1900's as an outgrowth of US imperial ambitions towards the Pacific. It was fun to research as I lived in Washington at the time. (I think I have mentioned this before on one of your livestreams!)

I visited both the Turner Joy and the museum last year and it was great

Was there about 3 months back.

Great video, Drach...👍

Maintaining the shipyards is interesting to say the least. Much of the equipment/facilities still in use are a century old or older, often one of a kind, and is much artistry as technology to keep operational.

I did a collections contract project last year with PSNM, easily the happiest job I have had on the west coast, and I sorely miss those guys.

Spent time in Bremerton Shipyard in 1984 and 1985.

The museum building itself was the original Administration building for PSNS and was moved to the current site in downtown Bremerton sometime in the 2000s.

Last year i left my Job at PSNS. It was bittersweet leaving. I used some of the old buildings as inspiration for DnD stuff.

Damnit I was working in the shipyard when you were here :(

Thanks for this one D.

@drachinifel thanks for giving me an idea of what to do today , anything you want photos of?

Thanks Drach

Dude I had a field trip the day you uploaded the video and we went to the navy museum in Bremerton. Which the building is in Bremerton😅

IJN thought process on planning their ventures in the Pacific: "After Pearl Harbour we'll go for the US West Coast" "Err, that would be a bad idea" "Why?" "Warspite" "Eh?" "WARSPITE!!!!!!" "Ah, I get the point, let's go somewhere else, like the Philippines"

I remember going to the shipyard will my ship USS E. S. Land AS-39 was going through PSA. I remember seeing the USS Enterprise CVN-65 in drydock.

USS Pyro and USS Nitro ye perfect names for boomships

Starting the May weekend off with some naval history. Drach in America.

I was a welder apprentice at the Shipyard. I was on the submarine hull cut crew then I was nuclear trained.

Wish I knew you were in the Northwet. I would of tried to visit.

If I ever get back to Seattle/Puget Sound….

I was just over here a few months ago on a trip, very nice place wish I had had the time to go in.

Boats, not Ships! Lol 🤪 My own opinion has always been that submarines are only submarines, not boats or ships. They mostly turn horizonally with no banking either in or out of turns, unless they're going really fast, maybe...

Might be a little out of your area of interest, but since you are near Seattle, you might want to see the Boeing aircraft museum. Lots of interesting aircraft there: U2, SR71, US presidential aircraft to name a few. Despite the name, there are plenty of aircraft there that are not Boeings.

That Hammerhead crane is very impressive, as well as a large floating crane depicted. I like the image at 14:13 of the carrier conversion because we can see the railroad tracks the cranes ran on straddling the tracks used for materials.

The best way to get to Bremerton from Seattle is on the ferry.

Question: HMS Warspite's wikipedia page claims that she scored hits to the battlecruiser Von Der Tann, but pretty much every source I've ever read confirms Von Der Tann was only hit by four battleship caliber shells, a 15-inch shell from HMS Barham, two 13.5-inch shells from HMS Tiger, and one 15-inch shell from HMS Revenge. Never is it mentioned that Warspite hit Von Der Tann.

Looks like Enty, lower right, at around 12:00.

Very enjoyable! I live next door (Bainbridge island) and should visit the 'Bummertown' Naval Shipyard Museum! Also known as 'Bumpster,! Did you see the Underwater Warefare Museum nearby to Brremerton?

I would have loved to meet you while you were here in Bremerton, but alas, I was working at the time. To those who’ve never been to Bremerton, the sail prominently displayed as the thumbnail is that of SSN-683, which is displayed next to the ferry landing. The USS Turner Joy is also here in Bremerton, and is also within walking distance of the ferry landing.

I remember probably ten or so years ago, driving by there and seeing 3 aircraft carriers sitting side by side just off the highway.

The photo at 20:00 makes me sad. That's a 688 class SSN about to get it's reactor removed in preparation for scrapping. Fantastic boats......................

One of the few good things left in the Puget Sound at this point..... from an ex-Washingtonian

Grew up there, Hope you also got to see Keyport and maybe something about Bangor.