September 29, 2024
After acquiring the sail & rudder of SSN-708 a couple of years ago and transporting it from the Bremerton Naval Yard to Camp Ripley, the MN Military & Veterans Museum has initiated an extensive restoration expected to take at least 6 months. Photos of the restoration can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mnmilitaryandveteransmuseum/sets/72177720320291343/
Primary partners in this process are C4 Welding (Sauk Rapids), Central Sandblasting (Mounds View), and Anderson Trucking Service (St Cloud).
Once complete, the sub's sail and rudder will be installed on the museum's new 32-acre site at the intersection of Highways 371 and 115. The grand opening is planned for summer of 2026. In the interim, the museum is seeking SSN-708 artifacts and oral histories from those who served on-board.
The museum has produced the first in a series of short videos to raise awareness of the new museum. View it here.
The story of the Navy veterans at the heart of this restoration effort will be chronicled in a documentary to be produced by Lakeland Public Television.
The Minnesota Navy League is partnering with MMVM on this restoration. To donate go to Donation-2024 — Navy League of Minnesota (navyleaguemn.org)
