Ex-shipyard chief addresses base closings

KITTERY – A former commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard sees a positive side to the base-closing criteria that could help get the yard through the next round of military base closures in 2005.

Capt. William McDonough said the criteria, broken up into eight conditions, are almost identical to those in past closure rounds, including current and future capabilities, cost and manpower, location availability, economic impact on communities and environmental impact.

But he said a slight change from previous criteria placed more emphasis on multiservice bases, which he called a positive for the shipyard located on an island in the Piscataqua River that separates Maine and New Hampshire.

The shipyard is a major employer and economic factor in the two-state area.

He said the shipyard prides itself on being the home port to three Coast Guard cutters and having the potential to house other military branches.

“Naval shipyards are also logical candidates to take on additional defense work from other maintenance depots,” McDonough said.

For example, a military base in Kansas would be unable to re-create the shipyard’s deep-water port, nuclear capability and dry dock, he said.

“We can’t lose those; you can’t build another dry dock, and none of those things are portable,” McDonough said. “You can’t replicate it someplace else.”

But McDonough said “there is a cause for alarm,” noting the work the shipyard does.

He said the shipyard specializes in the overhaul and repair of 688-Class submarines, a class that will begin to be phased out by 2008.

He said the shipyard could be facing a shortage of work, and should begin taking on other work from other services.

“We could be facing a shortage of work,” he said. “That’s why we need to begin taking on other work from other services.”