PORT HADLOCK — Conversion of the Naval Magazine Indian Island ammunition wharf for maintenance of Navy submarines is expected to be completed this summer, the base’s commanding officer said Thursday.
Asked when a submarine could use the upgraded wharf, Capt. Jonathan Kurtz, said: “Who knows when it will conceivably be used?”
Electrical power and fuel facilities, and new pilings are included in the more than $1 million contract to upgrade the 1,650-foot pier for subs and other Navy vessels.
Generators and fuel tanks were most recently installed, Kurtz said.
The improvement will allow subs and other Navy vessels to shut down their power plants and use “shore power,” he said.
“That gives us flexibility,” Kurtz said.
Backup to Bangor
Projecting that Naval Base Kitsap piers at Bangor could be full this year, the Navy wants to use the Indian Island wharf as a backup facility, officials have said.
Submarines are planned to enter Port Townsend Bay at least once a year.
Naval Magazine Indian Island is the only alternative location in the Puget Sound region capable of supporting submarine non-nuclear cruise missile and torpedo loading, and storage operations, Navy officials have said.
The submarines likely to use the wharf are the former Trident nuclear-powered subs that have been reconfigured to support special operations forces and to launch conventional Tomahawk missiles.