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DRY DOCK 101 |
           
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ARCO's History ARCO was placed in service on June 23, 1986, home ported at the Naval Submarine Base Point Loma, San Diego, California. She is the first ARDM (Auxiliary Repair floating Drydock Medium), built by Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation, Seattle, Washington, and is the second Naval drydock to bear the name ARCO. Construction of the all steel floating dry dock began in June 1983. The ARCO measures 492 feet long and 98 feet wide, has a height of 61 feet and a lifting capacity of 7,800 long tons. The dry-dock is equipped with two 25 ton Gantry Cranes and can operate independently from shore power with electrical power provided from an onboard diesel generator. ARCO's Namesake Floating drydocks in service of the United States Navy are named after towns or communities which have a nuclear generating plant or facility. ARCO (ARDM-5) is named for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Lost River Atomic Reactor Testing Station located in Arco, Idaho. The testing station was established in 1949 by the Federal Government to provide an isolated area where various kinds of nuclear reactors and support facilities could be built and tested, primarily to demonstrate that atomic power could be safely harnessed for generating electricity and other peaceful uses. On December 20, 1951 the first usable electric power was generated at Experimental Breeder No.1. On that date Electricity generated by Boiling Water Reactor No.3 was fed over the electrical power lines serving the town of Arco, eighteen miles to the east. Today the testing station has been renamed the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy. As the drydock's sponsor, the town of Arco is involved in the drydock's events. Below is a picture of the sail of the USS Hawkbill SSN-666 outside of the Idaho Science Center in Arco, Idaho. |
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This site was last updated 07/30/09 |
