USS South Carolina (CGN-37) Memorial (Bremerton, Washington)

 memorial, military, cruiser, United States Navy

Preserved and memorialized here at the Bremerton Marine Park is the bow of the former USS South Carolina, the second member of the California Class of Nuclear Powered Guided Missile Cruisers. Commissioned into active US Navy service on January 25, 1975 as a member of the US Atlantic Fleet, the South Carolina was homeported at Norfolk for her entire service life.

As a member of the US Atlantic Fleet, the South Carolina served with distinction in the Gulf of Sidra Incident, Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm and served as part of a NATO peacekeeping force during the Yugoslavian civil wars. As she approached her 30th year in active service, the South Carolina and her sisterships were in need of nuclear refueling and refit in order to continue to operate, and the US Navy deemed that the ships were too old and outdated to undergo the complex and expensive refueling process.

The South Carolina was deactivated on August 28th, 1998, and was formally decommissioned on July 30th, 1999. Following her decommissioning, the South Carolina was towed from Norfolk to Bremerton and entered the Nuclear Ship Scrapping and Recycling Program (NSSRP) and had all of her superstructure above the deck removed and scrapped. After entering drydock #3 her nuclear reactors were removed and the balance of her hull, with the exception of her bow. was broken up.

Today the South Carolina's bow stands as a memorial to both the ship and the workers of the Bremerton Navy Yard, and bears a plaque commemorating the yard's service record during the Second World War.


www.navsource.org/archives/04/1137/040137.htm