Page 274 - Beyond Decommissioning

Experience and lessons learned 255

6.7.1.4 Submarine bases

The Nautilus Submarine serves as a model of nuclear preservation. The first nuclear-
powered submarine in the world, Nautilus was manufactured at Electric Boat Ship-
yard in 1951–54 (this shipyard still produces submarines for the US Navy) and entered
service in 1955. It was the first vessel to cross the North Pole in 1958. Following
decommissioning in 1980, the Nautilus was towed to Groton, Connecticut and opened
as a floating display in 1986. Stairs and glass walls were added to allow visitors to
explore this historic vessel. The Nautilus is part of the US Navy’s Submarine Force
Museum, situated on the Thames River in Groton, Ct. The submarine provides a his-
toric link to the operating Navy base and Electric Boat Shipyard that are also situated
along the Thames River. In this way, the Nautilus is a “living” example of the con-
tinuity of nuclear power. The Nautilus also highlights that the public has a concern
in nuclear sites (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.).
The U-boat base in Saint Nazaire is an enormous reinforced concrete structure. It
was constructed in 1940 and 1941 by the Germans in occupied France. The German
troops defending the base surrendered at the very end of the war in 1945. The structure
housed two flotillas of submarines and contained 14 cells, each cell allowing two sub-
marines to dock. Five of the cells were also dry docks where the water could be dra-
ined out to inspect and repair the bottom of the boats. In total the building used
3
500,000 m of concrete, with foundations 12 m deep, walls 3.5 m wide and a roof slab
4 m thick. In all the structure measures 300 m long 130 m wide 18 m high.
The building also included: 62 workshops for torpedoes, engines, welding steel,
periscope repairs, etc., 97 warehouses for spare parts, 150 offices for supplies, 92 dor-
mitories and rooms for crew along with kitchens, bakeries, hospitals, toilets, shower
rooms, etc.
After the war, initial plans were made to demolish the structure but the costs were
far too high. Instead the French submarine fleet was based at the bunker for a while.
The base lay abandoned for a long time until 1994 when the local authorities
launched its restoration. There are now several museums inside the massive struc-
ture. One of the museums is a replica of the transatlantic passenger liner
Escal’Atlantic, which once transported passengers from Saint Nazaire to Central
America and the Caribbean. A section of the building houses a submarine museum,
another section is a tourist information office, while the remainder, including the
huge panoramic terrace, is for tourists to stroll around and enjoy the beautiful vista
(The Helpful Engineer, 2011).
Conserving the derelict historic Submarine Mining Depot at Sydney Harbor’s
Chowder Bay and in parallel accommodating new uses compatible with its heritage
values was a real challenge for the Sydney Harbor Federation Trust. Chowder Bay was
established in 1892 to maintain a defensive, electrically triggered minefield within the
harbor. The Trust took over in 1999 and began to redevelop the historic Building 7.
Modifications had hidden the building’s past uses and layout, and water in-leakage
had damaged its timber, stone, paint, and banisters. Previous renovations had replaced
original fabric and the site facilities were unsuitable for public use. The adaptive reuse