New navy ammunition pier opens in Seal Beach

YEARS IN THE MAKING

Asignificantmilestonewasreached at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach April 9 as the guidedmissile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) became the first ship to pull in to the installation’s newly constructed ammunition pier.

“This project was well over a decade in the making,” said base commanding officer Capt. Jessica O’Brien. “I’m incredibly proud of all the Navy and contractor personnel who took part in the design and construction of this great new pier, and I’m especially proud and humbled to be here today and see it all come together.”

The new pier replaced an older ammunition wharf originally built in 1954, and brings new and improved capabilities to the fleet.

“This new expanded pier facility provides destroyers and other fleet assets with expanded logistical capacity to arm faster and more efficiently,” said O’Brien. “This shore infrastructure is vital for the warfighting readiness of the Surface Force and our Navy.”

The previous ammunition wharf was only able to support one destroyer-sized ship at a time. The new pier will allow dual ship operations, along with the ability to support much larger vessels such as general purpose amphibious assault ships (LHDs and LHAs) nearly three football fields long.

“Our new LHD and LHA capabilities will be significant,” said Roosevelt Simmons, executive director of Navy Munitions Command Pacific, CONUS West Division Unit Seal Beach. “We should see an increase in the volume of ships coming in, and we will also see an improved flexibility to support the fleet.”

The planning process for the project started back in 2011, with construction starting at the end of 2019, according to Jazmin Atencia, station plans, programs and readiness integrator, adding that all aspects of construction should be completed by this summer.

“We still have a little bit of work to do, including some final pile driving and support building construction,” she said.

Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach is the primary munitions installation for the Navy’s Pacific Fleet surface ships. Its primary role is to store and maintain Navy and Marine Corps munitions and load and unload Navy ships and larger Coast Guard vessels with the weapons they need to conduct their missions.