Submarines and Aircraft Carriers
I didn’t expect submarines to be found easily, but we’ve actually had quite a few. The first is in Point Loma peninsula in San Diego Harbor, CA. Directly in the centre of that map, next to the dock, is a narrow black torpedo-looking thing. That’s the submarine.
The Norfolk, VA naval base is apparently the biggest naval station in the world. You can see at least 4 submarines, 2 air carriers, 2 helicopter carriers and 27 other warships.
In NYC is the USS Intrepid museum, a carrier from the Vietnam War. There’s some ground level shots and a map of the different planes parked here on the Intrepid Museum site. On the northeast side of the pier is the USS Growler, “the only intact strategic nuclear missile submarine open to the public anywhere in the world.”
The USS Growler and USS Intrepid
Thanks: Andrew, punk floyd, Kyle Siwek
It’s actually the USS Intrepid, not the Interpid.
Thanks Richard, that’s corrected. My splelling checker must be having an off day
Note that the the front of the deck of the Intrepid is another SR-71! There are a lot of planes up there that never flew from a carrier.
Actually it’s an A-12, an earlier variant operated by the CIA. It’s faster than the SR-71 and also a bit stealthier.
Missing from Google Maps is the Concorde display next to the Intrepid museum, so the images are a few years old.
Also - in San Diego the active aircraft carriers are in a different part of the harbor, on San Juan Island, where the Navy has a base and a naval air station. I decided to take a look there and find the carrier docks, and whatcha know, the USS John C Stennis (CVN74) is alongside the pier:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
It’s now in Bremerton, Washington in drydock (and has changed stations so it will still be home polrted there when meaintenance is done), and I spent a week on it last year with a friend who serves on the ship.
What are the orange dashed lines at Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth ?
I was looking for the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear power sub, docked at the Groton, CT sub base, but “for some reason” Google maps’ ground-level images aren’t avail for the sub base. I assumed the military had an arrangement with Keyhole not to survey its installations. From the looks of it, it’s just an oversight. (No pun intended.)
Jakub - The orange dashed lines are oil containment floating things (insert more technical term here). When a navy boat docks along side a peir for any extended time they run out the oil floats around the boat. That way, oil where to leak, it wouldn’t (in theory) spread. They worked pretty well when I was in the navy.
It’s like a foot high peice of plastic, part of it above and below the waterline, and it floats.. making a containment ring.
Todd-
I don’t think there’s anything sinister going on here. The Groton sub base just happens to be in one of the many areas not covered by the highest-res images.
A little south of there is Electric Boat, which builds nuclear submarines: http://tinyurl.com/dtoux
There aren’t any subs docked there in these images, but you can see the very long hangars that stick out into the river.
Just south of that is a Hess oil station, with a big Hess logo visible on one of the tanks, and south of that is Pfizer’s world research headquarters.
Another Aircraft Carrier that you can see clearly from space is the Placemark: USS Midway in San Diego / Google Earth, now a permanent museum. (Or see the same image, but now annotated with myGmaps).
Another nice view of a carrier is here at Mayport Navel Station, Jacksonville, FL.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Greg- The carriers in San Diego are at North Island, not San Juan Island. The latter is in Washington state.
Don’t forget The Hornet: Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
I took a very cool tour of the Hornet which was only more impressive after seeing Midway (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074899/)
Here is a photo of a decomissioned submarine. (Next to the bridge).
It’s the USS Blueback, located at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, OR. The submarine is open for display to the public and kids can go on sleepovers on board. Check this link for more information: http://www.omsi.edu/visit/submarine/
Oops Forgot the link to the satellite image for the USS Blueback:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Here’s four submarines side by side in my home town. They are retired Oberon class (I believe) submarines and have been docked on the Dartmouth side of Halifax Harbour for several years now.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Biogeek - the aircraft carrier you noted is not the Midway, but an active carrier (Greg Hughes above said it was the USS John C Stennis CVN74) .
The Midway was moved to San Diego in January 2004 (data from http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/cv-list1.html), so the photo was taken before then.
After this time, the Midway was docked at Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth (between the green park and the dock).
The Rosyth Naval dockyards just north of edinburgh, scotland have largely been mothballed now but the royal navy decided to leave behind some old Nuclear submarines - this has caused massive controversy in scotland because the rusting hulks are only 20 miles from edinburgh. insult to injury etc.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Is it just me or does the fleet size/firepower at the Norfolk base dwarf the navies of most major countries combined?
Jakub and Jeremy
The ‘technical term’ you are looking for is - boom. I know this because i have a PHD in boomology.
hey guys if u wanna see aircraft carriers and naval craft - search for portsmouth uk nd look on the right of the harbour - there is evrything from hms invinible to the hms victory from the battle of trafalgar in 1805!!
Hey, does anybody know where the Growler went? It was moved from its location next to the Intrepid some months ago. I’ve been Googling like a fiend and can’t find the info. Thanks! Drop me a line if you know. dave dot pentecost at gmail dot com
Looks like a LA Class leaving Yokuska, Japan. I would say judging by the wake she is hauling butt!
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
#23 Rob Stewart…nice catch on the LA class sub buddy. Sure does look like she’s got places to go, and people to see.
I was there, is not real is a museum in NYC.ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg-unot
Don’t forget the USS Kittyhawk in Japan.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
The Placemark: U-505 / Google Earth, a captured German submarine at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. It has been moved indoors since the image was taken.
Across the way, at Naval Station San Diego, is the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1) which was used in the infamous Project Jennifer to recover a downed soviet submarine, and now houses the totally cool looking experimental ship Sea Shadow.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_Mining_Barge
The one is San Diego is the USS Nimitz CVN-68, look at the bow it has the numbers on it. It’s still active:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Now as for the USS Midway, it was docked in Oakland til the Dock in San Diego could be built:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Here are the Forrestal and Saratoga wait to become museums:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Found 3 Subs in Dry Dock at Pearl:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
$10 if anyone can actually find the Sea Shadow in San Diego
IRT Matt’s comment on Electric Boat (number 9 above), a boat can be clearly seen in one of the dry docks there.
the notice something else different. they have an RA-5C Vigilante. when the Intrepid museum got the concorde, the empire states aerosciences museum got the Vigilante
3 Active Carriers at Hampton Roads, VA
From North to South:
CVN-71: USS Theodore Roosevelt
CVN 65: USS Enterprise
CVN-75: USS Harry S. Truman
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth