Bath Iron Works has been a leading ship building site over 100 years. They have built over 245 military ships, mostly destroyers and frigates for the US Navy. We were able to tour the facility from the comfy confines of our bus, as it drove through the ship yard. We were able to see some of the operations to build the ships. Sections of the ships are assembled, and the sections are brought to the staging are for final assembly. They are working on the Zumwalt, a high tech US Navy Destroyer ship. We also saw the USS Michael Murphy, named after Lt. Michael Murphy, a Navy Seal killed in action in Afghanistan.
After the BIW visit, we visited the Maine Maritime Museum. The museum honors the ship building past by preserving part of Percy and Small ship building. They built the Wyoming, largest wood framed sailing vessel ever built. We had the opportunity to see several historic buildings, including the tree nail shop, the mill and joiner shop.
After the tours, the tour participants had free time in Freeport or Portland.
4 comments:
Bath Iron Works was great to visit and experience the vast history that this site has. Many operations happen in shipbuilding. There was a lot of posted signage about Personal Protective Equipment that is needed within each area/building. Housekeeping was great compared to the amount of materials and equipment is needed to fabricate a new ship. Very glad to hear Lt. Michael Murphy had a ship named after him.
Definitely wished we had gotten to see more of the ship building process and the men in action. There was a lot of heavy machinery on the site, and the process was very much like an assembly line work. Although there are plenty of hazards in shipbuilding, it was nice to hear that there have not been many STF incidents on the premises.
It is understandable that for security reasons we must stay inside the bus for the site visit, but it would be helpful if we had an introductory presentation like the one at the Paper Mill before the visit because we did not see much of the processes from the bus. However, this is a must see site for any safety professional.
Wow,great article, I really appreciate your thought process and having it explained properly,thank you!
King Iron Works
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