On 21 April 2005, virtually everyone on the San Diego waterfront watched curiously as a Cold War relic was towed through the harbor. Cameras snapped pictures from almost every angle as the B-39—a former Soviet submarine—passed the breakwater, submarine base, and U.S. Coast Guard base. The boat is a Project 641 (also know by its NATO name, Foxtrot-class) diesel-electric attack submarine.
Despite a noticeable starboard list, terminal rust streaks, and six feet of her stem plating missing, the black submarine with a hammer and sickle painted on her sail still aroused great interest and perhaps a bit of residual fear. To make matters worse, when the B-39 was being pushed into her berth at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, her bow tubes were temporarily aimed at either the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) or the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), two nuclear- powered carriers moored at North Island. It was irony to the 10th degree that a submarine once tasked with shadowing U.S. carrier battle groups should now be within point-blank range of two targets.
The Maritime Museum of San Diego has been a solid fixture on the North Embarcadero of San Diego Bay since 1948; it is headquartered in the former San Francisco ferry Berkeley, which was built in 1898. The Berkeley came to the museum in 1973, and hosts everything from weddings to massive naval and maritime exhibits The aft part of the main deck of the Berkeley also serves as the workshop for some of the finest shipwrights and experts on everything from rowboats to battleships. These men and women work tirelessly to maintain the museum and its fleet.
That growing collection includes the full-rigged ship Star of India, which was built in Great Britain in 1863 and acquired by the museum in 1957. Fully operational, she periodically stretches her legs by raising all sails and heading for the open sea.
The 110-foot steam launch Medea, built in 1904 in Scotland, served as a convoy escort in World War I and a barrage balloon vessel anchored in the river Thames during World War II. A familiar sight on the San Diego Bay, the Medea takes passengers on cruises, and the chuff-chuff sound of her steam power plant reminds visitors of the days when wealthy families owned steam yachts simply for summer pleasure cruises.
The state’s, official tall ship, the California, built in 1984, is also in good company at the museum and routinely sails around the bay and out to the calm blue seas off San Diego. The California is a replica of a mid-19th-century revenue cutter and was built with exacting detail. Not so for the Pilot, which served as a pilot boat in the bay from 1914 to 1996. She was completely refurbished by the shipwrights at the museum and was ready for harbor work by 2002.
Rounding out the fleet is the 18th- century frigate-like HMS Surprise, which was used as a movie set for the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Built in 1970 as HMS Rose, she was overhauled to morph her into a fighting ship of the Nelsonian era.
The 31-year-old Foxtrot submarine seems to fit in with this eclectic collection of some of the finest ships in the world. She was towed from her former home in Seattle, Washington, by the sea-going tug Island Champion, and the ships encountered heavy weather off the northern California coast. There was some concern that the B-39 might not make it, but she arrived after an eight- day voyage with only a few parts missing—plus that starboard list. She now has a new paint job and is quickly being restored to her service-era appearance. In her prime, as a long-range attack submarine, she carried 22 torpedoes, two of which were nuclear tipped. The Soviet Navy’s partiality toward mine warfare was served by each Foxtrot’s ability to carry up to 44 mines.
The Maritime Museum plays host to nautical, maritime, and naval conferences, and historians, writers, and lecturers from around the world come to view its ship collection, 4,000-volume library, as well as extensive assortment of highly detailed model ships. The museum’s mission is to preserve the maritime heritage of our nation and the historic connection to the Pacific Rim.
For more information, call the museum at 619-234-9153, or visit their website at www.sdmaritime.com.