On the first weekend of November, USS Colorado (SSN 788) paid a port visit to King’s Bay, Georgia for some routine work. King’s Bay is the site of Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, home port to several Ohio Class submarines. The visit coincided with the 30th annual Submarine Veterans of World War II Memorial held by the base. Commanding Officer, CDR Reed Koepp, and several of the crew were able to attend the ceremony. Over ten submarine veterans of the war were present and the principal speaker was retired Vice Admiral Al Konetzni who helped start the annual memorial when he was a Squadron Commander there in the ’80s.

Commissioning Committee Chairman, JJ Mackin, and his wife Florence were in King’s Bay for the Memorial and two submarine reunions. Since no Ohio Class were available for tours, COLORADO was the designated tour boat and hosted several hundred visitors on Thursday and Saturday. JJ and Florence were able to visit the boat to meet with the CO and meet the new Executive Officer, Matt Wolf, and new Chief of the Boat, “Chip” Alger.