In 1952, the men and women of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard across the Piscataqua River right there in Kittery, Maine, went to work building a submarine, the USS albacore.

Now, there's nothing unusual about building a submarine at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Lots of submarines were built there, but the albacore, well, she was going to be different.

And for nearly the next 20 years, right up until she was deactivated in the fall of 1972, the USS albacore operated right on the cutting edge of our world's undersea frontier.

Hi, I'm Eloise Daniels, and for the next half hour, we'll be taking a look at the history of the USS albacore and the rich maritime tradition of her home port of Portsmouth.

We'll meet some of the men who served on her, and those people responsible for bringing her back to New Hampshire.

And you'll witness an engineering marvel as the albacore is brought to her new home at the Port of Portsmouth Maritime Museum.

So join us, if you will, as we embark on the final voyage of the USS albacore.

♪ Local presentation of the final voyage of the USS Albacore on Channel 11 is made possible by a grant from Indian Head Banks.

Growing easier for you with 43 offices throughout New Hampshire serving all your financial needs.

It's an important development in submarine technology, and so this is a ship that was designed to sail underwater.

And it was developed here in Portsmouth.

It’s a part of Portsmouth maritime history and we thought it would be a great focal point of a maritime museum with the, attract attention, bring people into Portsmouth.

Portsmouth is a submarine city.

And you know what better focal point than to have the albacore, which is probably one of the most important ships that's ever been built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as our centerpiece.

Saturday, May 4th, 1985, the experimental submarine, the USS albacore begins her final voyage.

It will take nearly the entire day and involve a small army of engineers, volunteers and other officials.

She will travel up the Piscataqua River to her permanent home at Albacore Park, a journey that will be the culmination of a long and illustrious career for the USS albacore, a career that has its roots firmly entrenched in the rich maritime tradition of her home port.

♪ It wasn't long after Portsmouth was first settled that residents along the Piscataqua River turned simultaneously to the forest and the sea for their livelihood.

A vast wealth of prime timber made the area ideally suited for shipbuilding.

Tall, strong masts were found disguised as pine and birch trees, and soon an ever growing number of frigates, sloops, and schooners found their way into the waters of the Piscataqua River.

Few people realize how important a history that, maritime history.

The Portsmouth had 10% of all the clipper ships that were built in America were built here in Portsmouth.

Three of the four ships that were built for the Royal Navy before, while we were still a colony of England, were built here in Portsmouth.

And His Majesty's ships were grand ships.

Indeed, the HMS Falkland was the first warship built in North America, and was soon followed by the HMS Bedford, and the frigate HMS America was decked out with 60 guns and weighed in nearly 700 tons, but these three ships were the last vessels built by Portsmouth shipbuilders for the Royal Navy.

(Sounds of battle) With the advent of the Revolutionary War, the shipyards along the Piscataqua turned to building warships for the Continental Navy.

Construction of the men of war.

The Ranger was actually supervised by Captain John Paul Jones himself, and it was during the fight for our country's freedom that man first looked to travel beneath the surface of the sea.

In 1776, a Connecticut doctor named David Bushnell developed a small submersible craft called the turtle.

Armed with a hand powered drill, the turtle was to approach a British warship from below the surface and drill enough holes in the wooden hull to sink its prey, but the turtle was foiled in its mission when it was discovered that the British had covered their wooden hulls with copper, thus rendering the turtle's drill useless.

After the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, shipbuilding in the region continued to flourish.

By 1800, the newly created Department of the Navy had established plans to build a government shipyard in Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, in France, an inventive young man named Robert Fulton was designing a boat that could travel just as easily below the ocean as upon it.

The Nautilus, powered by sails on the surface and manpower when submerged, was just the first submarine to be built in the 19th century.

Both the Union and the Confederate navies constructed submersible warships during the Civil War, but it wasn't until pioneers like John P Holland and Simon Lake came along that submarine technology began to take great strides.

Unfortunately, it was another great conflict that was to accelerate the development of the submarine.

World War One had convinced the U.S. that a submarine force had to be a vital part of our country's navy, and so, to avoid the high cost of private construction, the Navy Yard in Portsmouth was selected to build the first military submarine.

The L8 was merely the first of seven submarines built in Portsmouth.

In the years 1917 and 1918, the Portsmouth Navy Yard had become the submarine builder for the US Navy.

In subsequent years, more and more submarines with newer and greater technologies were built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, when once again global warfare put the shipbuilding industry in high gear, World War Two saw nearly half of the U.S. combat submarines come out of the shipyards at Portsmouth.

Sleek and deadly, the US submarines played an integral part in both the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns.

Yet despite their effectiveness, modern submarines had their flaws, for they were still basically surface vessels with the built in ability to submerge.

During World War Two, our so-called fleet boat was a standard design throughout the war, would have to spend about 80% of its time on the surface and 20% of its time submerged and while submerged.

It had to husband its electrical energy and hence could be propelled, perhaps at speeds of two and three knots.

So when it really wanted to, position itself ideally to for attack on an enemy convoy, it would have to surface usually at night and propel itself at approximately 21 knots on the surface, and then submerge and again proceed at low speeds because it just simply could not did not have the energy capacity to, propel itself deeply submerge for any period of time.

At the end of World War Two, our Navy decided to test two important parameters in submarine design the powerplant and the ideal hydrodynamic hull for propulsion.

Deeply submerged.

The nuclear power plant was tested, of course, and the submarine Nautilus, the hull of which was not particularly, hydrodynamically designed.

And then the, ideal hull was, tested in albacore.

What they did, in effect, was to build a full size, floating laboratory, if you will, built in 1952 and commissioned in December of 1953, the USS albacore was developed to be one of the most important and dramatic advances in submarine design, 205ft long, weighing in at 1350 tons and staffed by a crew of nearly 50 men, the albacore was the first true submarine.

The unique teardrop shaped hull approached as nearly as possible the ideal hydrodynamic design, making the albacore more at home below the surface than upon it.

As you may know, albacore is not a military submarine.

It has no torpedo tubes or offensive weapons of any kind, and sole purpose in life was to, develop the maneuvering characteristics and the high speed underwater propulsion characteristics that were now permitted.

In that we were not tied to the oxygen of the Earth's atmosphere for propulsion.

That is to say that we could develop a hull whose shape was ideal for underwater propulsion, which, as it turns out, is altogether different.

The design of the hull that asked us operate primarily at the interface between air and water.

Well, albacore was different from most submarines that, that was this natural element is under the water.

And she was a rough rider.

And that sail was awful close to that water.

When you're on the surface and it's wet and it's cold when you're running around on the surface.

But when you submerged albacore, she was in her element.

And the faster you would go, the smoother she got.

And, there was basically no sensation of movement at all until we've gone to a dramatic turn or an angle or whatever changed depth fast.

And she was just as smooth as silk, the way the crew was set up.

And, the nature of operations, the other ships I'd been on, we go to sea and we know exactly what the ship's going to do.

And, and we don't press that.

And on albacore is was just exactly opposite.

It's the same as if you took your car out on the freeway and drove it just as fast as it go every time you got in it it is every time in you got out and you go out and just.

And you'd try to make it do everything and experiment.

And that's what we did with, with albacore.

And in February of 1966, the crew of the USS albacore did just that when she became the world's fastest submarine, establishing a new submerged speed record, the exact speed remaining classified to this day.

But the albacore wasn't known just for her speed.

In the course of her 20 years of active duty, the USS albacore went through five separate design phases, testing everything from experimental control surfaces to underwater acoustics to new propeller designs.

But it was the shape of the albacore hull earned her a spot in history for the unique teardrop shape was adopted as the standard hull designed for all subsequent submarines in the US Navy.

Finally deactivated in September of 1972, the albacore was retired to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where she sat mothballed for more than ten years.

But in 1982, a group of Portsmouth citizens and officials, led by then Deputy Mayor Bill Keefe started a move to bring the albacore back to Portsmouth and make her the centerpiece of a new maritime museum.

What started slowly soon began to gather momentum.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill authorizing the Navy to release the albacore to the Portsmouth Submarine Memorial Association, thus opening the door for the return of the museum's showpiece.

With that, the Portsmouth Submarine Memorial Association began preparations to move the albacore from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to her permanent home at albacore Park.

The plan called for the submarine to be displayed in a most unique fashion, on ten acres adjacent to Market Street Extension.

This will be the first American built submarine that will be on dry land.

The other memorial submarines are in water and they deteriorate very fast because of, you know, the salt and and the elements in the water.

We thought if we could get the albacore on dry land and build it into a permanent dry dock, it would be there forever.

It would be easy to maintain.

It would be accessible to the public.

And, so with that in mind, we thought we'd do something that would have a long range important of significance and, and not be a maintenance problem through the years.

So and so the albacore was chosen to blaze yet another trail with a history of two decades of doing things no other submarine had done.

Moving on to dry land seemed almost natural for the albacore.

As Navy Seabees and reservists began site preparations, representatives of Crandall Dry Dock, Griffin Construction and H.B.

Fleming Construction met with association board members to devise a plan to put the 1350 ton sub in permanent dry dock.

Oh, it was designed and constructed here as a marine railway for a one time use for hauling the albacore out.

And what you see behind me here is, is that system, the, tracks going down about 760ft long.

The roller system proposed on top of that.

And then down at the far end of the track is the cradle that has the blocking on it, and the vessel will be brought in over that dropped down on the blocks by the tide and hauled up the hill with the machinery.

Sounds easy right?

Well, it's really much more complex than that for the albacore to even get to the specially constructed marine railway engineers will have removed this Boston and Maine Railroad trestle, dredged the North basin, and removed nearly 13,000yd of Market Street extension.

In all, nearly 50 permits were required from various state and local agencies before the albacore could begin her final voyage.

Of course, Mother Nature has her role to play in this dramatic move as well.

For the whole, plan centers around high tide.

In order for the albacore to reach her final destination, the move must occur during peak tide or the sub runs.

The risk of becoming stuck somewhere along the way.

If all goes as planned, the tugboats from Portsmouth Navigation will tow the albacore to the site where the sub will wait for the rising tide, then ease stern first through the trestle, pivot through the north basin through the canal in Market Street extension and be positioned over the custom built cradle.

Then comes the tricky part.

The most critical part is what we call the transition phase, from being completely waterborne to land being to grounding on the blocks.

The vessel is what we call a tender vessel that would have a tendency to the tip or roll under certain conditions.

And, we feel that that's the most critical phase of this operation.

As the May 4th date for the big move drew near, construction crews put the finishing touches on the site preparations, orchestrating their own special ballet of steam shovels, bulldozers and dump trucks.

And committee members held one last press conference to bring the media up to date, as well as to solicit some last minute help.

But I hope that this, brief presentation will provide you with just a bit of an idea of the complexity of the move, and I think you all appreciate the fact that, we will all be sleeping better on a Saturday night.

We would ask you all if you will please, if you're so disposed to keep your fingers and toes crossed for us.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

At last, the time had come for the USS albacore to begin her final voyage.

By 7 a.m., a large crowd was working its way aboard the Viking Sun to witness the event from the river.

Back at Albacore Park, the press gathered for a final briefing.

Volunteers prepared for the onslaught of spectators, and engineers waited to see their plan put into effect.

Shortly after 8 a.m., the tugboats had the submarine in tow and were headed for Albacore Park, accompanied by its own small flotilla.

The albacore was carefully maneuvered into position to wait for the high tide, giving spectators the opportunity to pause and reflect on the event.

I think it's, it's a great engineering feat that's a very exciting prospect.

Portsmouth, for everybody to be able to see a Portsmouth built submarine close up.

I think the museum is going to become a major attraction.

As the sub prepared to move through the trestle, spectators took advantage of whatever perch they could find, and former crew members gathered at Albacore Park to share in the excitement and rekindle old friendships.

A long time How you been?

I think most people don't realize that the size of the Albacore you know you see pictures of the albacore, and that's going to be easy to bring, that is, sure.

Last Saturday I was standing on the hull of the albacore, and, and it suddenly struck me that the massive size of this whale and, and I began to even doubt, you know, are we really going to be able to do this?

It, it's it's a massive.

And I think that, the people as they see the albicore slide through the railroad bridge and through the cut, they're going to suddenly recognize the enormity of the project we've undertaken.

By 9:30, the albacore had started its move through the train trestle.

But a sudden shift in current alter the albacore angle into the north basin.

The submarine's X-shaped stern had become hung up on the soft bottom with the help of a small tugboat and a few strong backs.

The current eventually coax the sub free of the mud, and she was soon headed for the cut in Market Street extension.

As the large crowd lined the route one bypass bridge, many marveled at the size of the albacore, for though the sub may appear to be huge on the outside, for the crew members who served on her, the albacore was downright tiny.

Albacore, you talk about a small and cramped quarters.

That's true.

However, I was on some of the old, fleet snorkelers, such as (inaudible) and ships of that size.

And, they were even more cramped.

One they were very little bigger than albacore and not near as wide, and carried almost twice as many crew members.

So, those types of ships were really uncomfortable.

A very prime example I always like to, relate to is the, shortage of water.

This goes back to one of the other submarines I served on.

The commanding officer used to tell us if you, wanted to wash your face or you wanted to shower, you walked into the bathroom and you'd see a drop of water hanging on the faucets.

And you put your left finger under the one in your right thing, and then you you you slash it in your face, and that would be your shower for the day.

Those exist.

Conditions existed probably more so on the albacore than anything else, because it was a smaller submarine.

It had a lot smaller capacities.

The bunks themselves were really were really cramped.

It was hard turning over.

And, sometimes if we carried more people than we had, sleeping bunks, then what would happen is we hot bunk.

In other words, when you went on watch, somebody else would take your bunk and it was crowded.

The majority of the crew members on the albacore were, experienced veterans from other, other submarines.

However, we did have, certain members of the crew that were right out of, submarine school, but, submariner, being the type of person that he is that he's, he's picked for the job and he, is screened mentally and also physically to accept those conditions.

We are taught this in submarine school that conditions are different from surface craft, surface, ships.

And we sort of tune our minds to that end.

Living conditions across, you know, in, in times were, harder than they are today on a submarine.

We didn't spend the deployments at sea that they do right now.

But the conditions were hard.

Water was tight.

Only the cooks and the mess cooks could shower every day.

And that's naturally for sanitary reasons, but, we survived.

I do believe that the albacore crew worked more closely together than most submarine crews that I have served with.

Due to the nature of the work, due to the, Importance of it.

The importance of everyone doing the job correctly.

To be able to make the number of dives equal, the number of surfaces.

I think that was a very important factor.

And we bring her home safely and are able to make a trip on another day.

When you go in the to an evolution, even though it's control, there's always an element of unknown, you know, things, mechanical breakdown and, and some of the things that, that you could not, recover if they did break down.

So, you know, you pay particular attention to those things and, sometimes you have mishaps.

And, of course, we always came out of it.

The ship was really smarter than we were.

It was so designed that, if you let it alone, that just about right itself.

But despite the cramped quarters and the inherent dangers of submarine duty, the crew developed a true affection for the albacore.

So much so that leaving the ship was often a difficult thing to do.

It was like leaving home.

It really was.

It was like leaving my family.

When I left there in December of 69, I really felt lost.

I think my family even felt that my wife and of course, I had two young children at that time, and it was like leaving home.

I liked the duty and the albacore.

I like the type of work that we were doing.

I've always like experimental type of type of work.

I would think that a lot of the people that that served aboard her and worked on her in the shipyard, feel the same way.

I, had a great degree of, of pride serving on her, and I still do.

I still consider it my home away from home.

And, it's, it's kind of gladdening to see that they they would make a memorial out of a ship such as this.

I am really happy about it.

As the day moved deeper into the afternoon, the albacore crept closer and closer to the cradle.

Dock master, Katie Fay remains positioned high atop the submarine sail, guided the albacore into the canal that housed the special Marine Railway line handlers on shore heavy equipment operators and even Navy scuba divers were hard at work.

While the news media covered the event from the air and the ground, Finally, after many months of preparation and hours of nervous anticipation, the albacore reached its final destination over the cradle, setting off a celebration of balloons and earning words of praise from the Undersecretary of the Navy, James F Goodrich.

Congratulations to all the people who have, put on a marvelous show you started a long time ago with a very innovative idea to pull a submarine out of the water, to put it on display for the rest of time.

And, in honor of this particular event and the moment when she was about to come out of the water, I have the honor of dedicating a plaque to this very moment, which will be with the submarine as long as she is on the ground and in in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Congratulations to all of you.

You've done a superb job.

And, there will be millions of people over time who will see this submarine and appreciate what all of you have done.

Outstanding.

Thank you very much.

And with that dedication, the USS albacore was home to stay.

Oh, there were still plenty of speeches and handshakes and even a commemorative cake.

But after an illustrious career at the forefront of submarine design and technology, the USS albacore concluded her final voyage in Portsmouth, where it began so many years ago.

Some problems with the cradle and with the diesel winch used to haul the albacore up this marine canal have caused some delays in the project, but within the next several months, the USS albacore will be placed on its permanent cradle, where visitors will be able to experience firsthand the sense of pride and achievement shared by those who built and served on her.

The USS albacore will indeed be a memorial to the past, but also a reminder of what can be accomplished in the future.

♪ Local presentation of the final voyage of the USS albacore on Channel 11 is made possible by a grant from Indian Head Banks.

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