|
~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: NAVSTA Pascagoula, Mississippi 
Naval Station Pascagoula was a base of the United States Navy, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. This 437-acre island is man-made, having been created over the years as dredge materials from the Pascagoula federal channel and nearby Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard were deposited in the area. The base officially closed November 15, 2006. The base's property, on Singing River Island in the Mississippi Sound at the mouth of the Singing River, was formally transferred to the Mississippi Secretary of State's office July 9, 2007. 
In the early 1980s Congress approved the strategic homeporting initiative to build additional bases and disperse the Fleet from the main concentration areas. Naval Station Pascagoula was created in 1985 when the Navy selected the Singing River Island location as one of the new Gulf Coast strategic homeport sites. Base construction began in 1988, and the station became an operational homeport of Perry-class guided-missile frigates in 1992 with the arrival of the first ship, USS Gallery (FFG-26). 
NAVSTA Pascagoula’s support mission had increased dramatically in subsequent years due to a variety of actions: the BRAC-93 realignment of ships and other units from closing or downsized bases; the reorganization of the Naval Surface Force, Atlantic, which homeported Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers in Pascagoula; and the relocation of both the Pascagoula Coast Guard Station and a Reliance-class (210’) Coast Guard cutter to the naval station. NAVSTA Pascagoula provided support not only to personnel stationed onboard the station and its homeported ships, but also to pre-commissioning crews of surface combatant ships that were being constructed at Ingalls Shipbuilding.
After the USS Cole was damaged in the bombing at Aden, Cole was returned to the United States aboard the Norwegian semi-submersible heavy-lift MV Blue Marlin owned by Offshore Heavy Transport of Oslo, Norway. The ship was off-loaded 13 December 2000 from Blue Marlin in a pre-dredged deep-water facility at the Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard of Northrop Grumman Ingalls Ship Systems. 
After 14 months of repair at Ingalls, Cole departed on 19 April 2002, and returned to her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia. Cole left Norfolk on 29 November 2003 on the destroyer's first overseas deployment since the bombing. She returned to homeport of Norfolk, Virginia on 27 May 2004 without incident.
Most recently at the Ingalls Ship Systems in Pascagoula, the construction of the USCGC BERTHOLF was completed in September of 2006. 
USCGC Bertholf is the first Legend-class maritime security cutter of the United States Coast Guard. It is named for Ellsworth P. Bertholf, former Commandant of both the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard. The USCGC Bertholf is the first-in-class ship of the design termed the National Security Cutter. The NSCs are designed to replace the aging 378′ Hamilton-class cutters currently in the fleet. The Bertholf is the first large ship to begin construction in the Coast Guard's multi-year "Deepwater" acquisitions project. 
The USCGC Bertholf was the first to fire the Bofors 57 mm gun aboard a U.S. vessel on the 11th of February 2008.
Read More About The USCGC BERTHOLF HERE!
FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT~Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before.
Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. The Canteen is family friendly. Let's have fun! We pray for your continued strength, to be strong in the face of adversity. We pray for your safety, that you will return to your families and friends soon. We pray that your hope, courage, and dignity remain unbroken, so that you may show others the way. God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always |