On February 13, 2020, the Rotary Club of SSI boarded a Glynn County school bus and ventured south to King’s Bay Naval Base. Twenty eight of our Rotarians and guests attended this once in a lifetime tour. After successfully advancing through strong security measures, we entered the base. We toured the grounds briefly and then boarded the USS Tennessee submarine for our guided tour. We were broken into two groups to traverse the tight quarters in the submarine.

We viewed officers’ personal quarters, the control room, the actual missile silos, and many more spaces on the submarine. We learned they rely on the stars to guide their way and use little satellite information so as to avoid hacking by enemies. We met many of the young men and women who serve our country proudly and discovered aspects of their personal journeys aboard the submarine and their time spent on the sea during a deployment. We finished the tour having lunch with Officer Bassett in their canteen.

During this tour we learned there were 66 nuclear submarines in the US Navy. They are mainly designated as the Ohio class but we learned the US Navy is converting to the Columbia class, more advanced and capable, in the next few years. The word our guide, Public Affairs Officer Scott Bassett, used to describe the submarines, missiles and the entire operation was “stealth.”

Most of our group had never been on an operational submarine and found the tour fascinating. It was truly a day of learning and camaraderie.