Greetings from Jacksonville, FL post card


Reunion Hotel Information

Jacksonville, FL - 2025

Tour Schedule Continued

Two tours will be offered today: Kings Bay Submarine Base/ ST Mary's, GA. Submarine Museum or Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens.  Tours run concurrently so please note you can only select one offering.

Kings Bay & St Mary's:

NOTE: IF TAKING THE KINGS BAY SUBMARINE BASE TOUR WE WILL HAVE TO SHOW PHOTO ID's AND PASS THROUGH SECURITY INCLUDING METAL DETECTORS.  ANY METAL ITEMS SUCH AS KNIVES OR WEAPONS OF ANY KIND SHOULD BE LEFT AT THE HOTEL OR ON THE BUS.  OPEN TOE SHOES AND HIGH HEELS ARE NOT ALLOWED.

Wednesday, October 15th:   Kings Bay Main Gate 9:30 AM  $45, Join us as our bus takes us to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, a base of the United States Navy located adjacent to the city of St. Marys, Georgia, on the East River in southeastern Georgia, and 38 miles from Jacksonville.  The Submarine Base is the U.S. Atlantic Fleet's home port for U.S. Navy Fleet ballistic missile nuclear submarines capable of being armed with Trident missile nuclear weapons.

The chain of events that led to submarine operations at Kings Bay began in 1975.  At that time, treaty negotiations between Spain and the United States were in progress.  A proposed change to the United States naval basing agreement with Spain included the withdrawal of the fleet ballistic-missile submarine squadron, Submarine Squadron 16, from its operational base at Rota, Spain, northwest of Gibraltar, giving easy access to Atlantic Ocean patrol areas.  Anticipating that this would take place, Chief of Naval Operations James L. Holloway III ordered studies to select a new refit site on the East Coast of the United States.  In January 1976, the negotiators initialed a draft treaty between Spain and the United States.  It called for withdrawal of the submarine squadron from Rota by July 1979.

Kings Bay Base Logo

After review, Kings Bay was selected in November 1976, shortly after the election of Georgian Jimmy Carter as President.  Preparations for the arrival of the submarine squadron went forward throughout the remainder of 1978 and into 1979.  Commander Submarine Squadron 16 greeted the submarine tender Simon Lake, when it arrived at Kings Bay on 2 July 1979.  Four days later, USS James Monroe entered Kings Bay and moored alongside Simon Lake's starboard side to begin a routine refit in preparation for another nuclear weapons deterrence patrol.  Kings Bay has been an operating submarine base ever since that time.

In May 1979, the U.S. Navy selected Kings Bay as its preferred East Coast site for the new Ohio-class Trident submarines.  On 23 October 1980, after a one-year environmental impact study was completed, and with Congressional approval, the Secretary of the Navy announced that Kings Bay would be the future home port for the new Trident-missile submarines in the Atlantic Ocean.

Note: Again, underlined items in red are links to the facility's web site.

Major commands at Kings Bay include:

  • Submarine Group 10  is the senior command at Kings Bay.  It exercises command over various commands and units assigned, including operational and administrative control of the Ohio-class submarines based at Submarine Base Kings Bay.

  • Submarine Squadron 16

    USS Florida (SSGN 728)

    USS Georgia (SSGN 729)


  • Submarine Squadron 20USS George Bancroft sail

    USS Alaska (SSBN 732)

    USS Tennessee (SSBN 734)

    USS West Virginia (SSBN 736)

    . USS Maryland (SSBN 738)

    USS Rhode Island (SSBN 740)

    USS Wyoming (SSBN 742)

    • Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic
  • Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic (SWFLANT) provides strategic missiles and strategic weapons system support to the ballistic missile fleet.

    • world's largest covered dry dock
  • Trident Refit Facility The Trident Refit Facility (TRF) is the largest tenant command at Kings Bay and has kept a significant portion of the United States Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines at sea since 1985. The Trident Refit Facility possesses the largest covered drydock in the world, measuring 700 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 67 feet deep. Simulator Trainer

  • Trident Training Facility The Trident Training Facility has an essential role in support of the Trident submarines and uses equipment trainers (simulators) to simulate, as realistically as possible, the actual equipment on the submarine.  Trainers include damage control, fire fighting, ship control, navigation, and most weapons and engineering subsystems.






Time and schedule permitting:  After our visit to Kings Bay, we might have a chance to stop at the nearby
St Mary's Submarine Museum.   St Mary's Submarine Museum On 30 March 1996, WWII Submarine Hero and Medal of Honor recipient RADM Eugene Fluckey dedicated the St. Marys Museum and the museum opened it's doors for the first time.  It is the largest museum of its kind in the south, and the fifth largest in the country with nearly 5,000 square feet of space “jam-packed” with exhibits and displays on two floors.  The museum’s exhibitions and displays feature real and working shipboard equipment.  A ship's contol panel, ballast control panel, periscope, and working sonar panels give exciting visuals of the interior of a submarine.  There is also an area for informative submarine movies, a gift shop, and a display dedicated to the eight submariners who received the Medal of Honor.

Cummer Art Museum and Gardens:

;Cummer Art Museum Gallery

Wednesday, October 15th:    10:30 AM  $15, (no bus, private car convoy)  One of Jacksonville’s most prominent families, who settled in Florida in the early 1900s, Arthur Cummer and his brother, Waldo Cummer, came from a long line of Michigan lumber barons.  They built their homes on either side of their parents, Ada and Cummer Gardens Wellington Cummer, on the banks of the St. Johns River.  The brothers led the Cummer Lumber Company while their wives, Ninah Cummer and Clara Cummer, masterminded the gardens surrounding their homes. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens  is the largest fine arts museum in Northeast Florida.  The Museum was established in 1958,;when art collector, garden enthusiast, and civic leader Ninah M.H. Cummer bequeathed her art collection and riverfront home, which she owned with her husband Arthur, to create a museum.  Today, the core collection of 60 pieces from Mrs. Cummer's estate has grown to include more than 5,000 works of art, including pieces by Peter Paul Rubens, Winslow Homer, Norman Rockwell, and Whitfield Lovell.  The 1.5 acres of historically significant gardens, set against the backdrop of the St. Johns River, serve as a centerpiece of beauty for all to enjoy.

Thursday, October 16th: Final Day of Reunion

9:00 AM Business meeting for all shipmates.

9:00 AM Ladies contest with fabulous prizes!

The rest of the day will be free to explore some of the area's many attractions .

5:00 PM   Banquet tonight -  Chicken Marsala or Salmon $60
                                                 Filet Mignon $76

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