George Bancroft Sail

USS GEORGE BANCROFT SSBN-643
SAIL EXHIBIT DEDICATION APRIL 2000

(click on picture to see full size)

USS GEORGE BANCROFT SAIL EXHIBIT was dedicated with a very outstanding ceremony on 7 April 2002. Kings Bay Subase conducted a very emotional ceremony for the George Bancroft Dedication & Submarine Force Centennial Ceremony. If you missed it, you missed a very wonderful service. Over 1,500 attended the event. I believe we had over 100 crew members attending the dedication, social room & crew reunion, plus many of their families. Cumberland Island Inn & Suites provided the center of operations for the crew. Many stayed at this hotel, some starting Wednesday till Sunday. We had a very good time meeting the crew for the first time, and believe they had a very good time attending the weekend events. I can assure no one went home Saturday night hungry.

KINGS BAY SUBASE has started the next addition to the George Bancroft Sail Exhibit. For those who remember there is a security building at the Franklin Gate. It will be still be security and in the lobby area there will be an indoor display area. The Museum will be responsible for installing the displays, which means we get to pay for the displays. We still have some money left over in the exhibit restricted fund. We have discovered four foundations that may want to help support us.

HOW TO GET TO THE ST. MARYS SUBMARINE MUSEUM. From the George Bancroft Sail Exhibit parking lot. Turn left onto Spur 40, Charlie Smith Sr. Highway. Go the red light at the Wal-Mart Shopping Center, Route 40. Turn left on to Route 40 and go to the end of the road, in Historic St. Marys. The road ends at the St. Marys River. Turn right & park the car. We are the second building on the right & the only building with a submarine periscope sticking out the roof. Though we don't have a submarine on public display we are one of the largest submarine museums in the country. The official submarine museum in the U.S. Navy is located in New London, CT. The closest submarines, WWII, on general public display are located in Charleston, SC & Mobile, AL. For those traveling I-95 there are several submarines, memorials & museums along the Atlantic Seaboard. In addition to the museum Gift Shop in the museum.

TO THE CREW OF THE USS GEORGE BANCROFT. Museum Manager is collecting information for two projects. The first is the CREW DATA BASE, which many of you saw at the reunion. There is no record maintained by the Navy listing all crew members of a Navy vessel. To-date I've collected over 1,400 names of the George Bancroft crew. I'm looking for listings with crew names between 1971 to 1991, as I only have about 20% listing for this time period. Have the names for the commissioning, inactivation & decommissioning crews. Data base to include mailing address, email #1, email #2, highest rank on board, highest rank in Navy, present employer, position, spouse name, 643 nickname, phone numbers & other information. I'm also collecting SHIP'S HISTORY information for the history file that we have started.

HOW TO GET TO FRANKLIN GATE, KINGS BAY SUBASE. For those flying into the area we recommend you land at Jacksonville International Airport. You are about a 35 minute ride from the SUBASE. Recommend you arrange for ground transportation, as there is no bus service to St. Marys and only a couple of Taxis. Take I-95 North from the airport. When entering Georgia take Exit 1, St. Marys Road, which ends directly at the Franklin Gate. Look for the submarine surfacing. Exit 3, Kingsland & Route 40, is the main road into St. Marys. There are several hotels at Exit 3. Take Route 40 east to St. Marys. Those traveling from the North on I-95 I recommend Exit 3. The submarine museum is at the end of Route 40 as it ends at the St. Marys River, about 10 miles from Exit 3. Spur 40, Charlie Smith SR Highway, intersects Route 40 at the Wal-Mart Shopping center, about 7 miles from Exit 3. Cumberland Island Inn & Suites is located 100' just before the intersection on the left. Turn left at the red light at Spur 40. This road passes along the front of the SUBASE and intersects St. Marys Road at the Franklin Gate. Cumberland Kings Bay Lodges is also on this road between the light & Franklin Gate. You can't miss the corner, as it is the only intersection in George, let alone SE USA, with 180' of submarine surfacing. For you Quarter Masters & Navigators, just call for chart coordinates and additional navigation aids.

Bancroft crew members who send me their e-mail will receive updates from the museum.

Stan Bice's Web Page
John Kill's Web Page
Kings Bay Subase Web Page

USS GEORGE BANCROFT SSBN 643 ASSOCIATION

Ahoy Shipmate!! The first newsletter of the USS GEORGE BANCROFT SSBN 643 ASSOCIATION is now out and it is on the web page on BANCROFT's on site which is http://subvet.com (notice the lack of www). Log onto that site and you can read the latest info about the next ship's reunion. In later issues you will also find a list of those veterans magazines that are listing info about our reunion. If for some reason you cannot get onto the site and you want to see the Newsletter, just email me and I will send a copy to you by email. Enjoy!

Bill Badalucca
Secretary, USS GEORGE BANCROFT ASSOCIATION
email: ncbill@earthlink.net

LOCAL TOURISM INFO. Subase also has a Navy Lodge on base. RiverView Hotel is the 3rd hotel in St. Marys, located next door to the submarine museum. Old hotel, with restaurant & bar. There are 3 B&B's located in St. Marys, GoodBread House, Spencer House & Bel Tarra. Many hotels, including Holiday Inn, are located in Kingsland, about 8 miles away, along I-95 at exit 3. Other local tourist information may be found in our local links. Many local hotels get fully booked for major subase events. St. Marys is a small town with limited taxi service, so we recommend you plan for your own transportation.

SUB MUSEUM FUND RAISING CO-CHAIRMEN
For questions about the George Bancroft Sail Project please contact us.
John Crouse (Primary e-mail)submus@tds.net &
Sheila McNeill smcneill@eagnet.com

St. Marys Submarine Museum
102 St. Marys Street
Saint Marys, Ga. 31558
ATTN: MUSEUM MANAGER

John Crouse, Museum Manager, MMCM(SS), USN, RET, SSN-613, 652 & 713.

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