STANDING AT 250’ TALL AND WEIGHING 2,400 TONS, Crane 28 can lift 125 tons on each of its two hoists for a combined total of 250 tons. The crane was completed in April of 1933. She was painted in standard, anti-corrosive green. The old Manette Bridge, which opened a mere three years before the crane was finished, shared this paint scheme. They must have looked like a matched set, between the paint and all those criss-crossed steel trusses.
It’s an industrial look, but I’m fond of it, having grown up in the shadows of these giants.
Crane 28 was built with that sweet, sweet post-depression money that FDR was pumping into the economy. She cost $500,000. The inflation calculator tells me that would be close to 12 million dollars in modern money! A team of men came from the steel company to build our crane but only once they had finished work on the Empire State Building. I can’t help but imagine those iconic photos of men lined up on steel trusses, eating their lunches in mid-air… but with a beautiful view of Sinclair inlet behind them instead of NYC.
That view was so nice that some of the men decided to stay for good. Funny how Bremerton does that to people.
Crane 28 was operational for 61 years and cost about $100 an hour to run. She served in WW2, repairing battleships damaged on the front lines and each war thereafter. When the Navy officially retired battleships and aircraft carriers became the standard, Crane 28 worked on those too. She was officially retired in 1994. She still gets rotated for ship movements and regular safety inspections. A full rotation takes six minutes to execute. Crane 28 used to have a historical designation but that status has been removed.
It’s not just the crane that’s old, you see. The pier she stands on, Pier 6, is old. The drydocks are old. The old system isn’t working anymore. Every naval shipyard in the country used to have a hammerhead crane but they’ve all been torn down… except ours.
PSNS is an operational shipyard and in desperate need of updates. They are in a hiring boom right now, gearing up for the renovation period. If you landed a job at the shipyard in the last year, congratulations, you are part of the renovations that will carry our shipyard into the future. Sadly, the walk into the future means leaving behind some of the past. There are three proposed plans for renovations. Only one of three suggests the crane could stay and it’s the least likely option.
The Navy will be making it’s final decision in spring of 2024.
Some people love the crane. It reminds them of their dad or their grandad who worked at the yard before them. Some people hate the crane and think it’s an eyesore. Tourists point and snap photos of it from the ferry. A sailor coming back into port after deployment knows when they see the crane, they are finally home.
I wonder what our skyline will be without it // DEENA TAYLOR
CHECK OUT DEENA’s Bremerton History Podcast Bremelore. Find it wherever you podcast. And at bremelore.wtf. And for historical reference on this story, check out the 1991 book “Nipsic to Nimitz: A centennial history of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard” by Helen L. Ross and Louise M. Reh.
