Watching for submarines….. in north Idaho !

Happyflowerlady

Vagabond Flowerchild
Location
Northern Alabama
Many people have not heard that one of the most secret submarine-testing areas is located in North Idaho, hundreds of miles inland from any kind of ocean. Farragut military training camp was located near Lake Pend Oreille, (pronounced Pon-der-ay) at Bayview, Idaho; but the navy also built a submarine testing base nearby on the lake.
The lake is well over 1,000 feet deep in some areas, and a lot of it is in fairly remote places where not a lot of people would be going.
The Naval Base was built during the Second World War, and is still in use today.

Since I grew up in Sandpoint, right next to the lake, we had heard about submarine sightings from people, and whenever we crossed over the bridge, I always watched for submarines.
There used to be big logs floating down the river and into the lake, and as we were driving across the lake/river, I can remember seeing one such log make its way almost up to what was called “The Long Bridge”, and then it suddenly vanished. I didn’t ever see it re-emerge, so I always thought that I might have seen one of the submarines.

More information about the naval base and the submarines:

https://jalopnik.com/the-navys-most-vital-and-secretive-submarine-base-is-in-1590794426

Here is a picture of Lake Pend O’reille, and you can see where Farragut Naval Station was located, and the submarine base would have been somewhere near there along the waterfront. Sandpoint was where the designation changed from Lake to River. West of the bridge, it was river, and east of the bridge was considered to be lake.

AFD35902-087F-4102-BFD8-5C9FEDEBB9C0.jpeg
 

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The link is not opening however I don't know much about military assets in Idaho except Gowen and Mountain Home.
 
Fast Trax, I went to the 404 link, we are having our legs pulled.
The only thing they have in Idaho are Preppers, Survivalist, lots of Big Foots, lots of trees...

Now Post #4 has an actual link, Ha, True of False?
 
Fast Trax, I went to the 404 link, we are having our legs pulled.
The only thing they have in Idaho are Preppers, Survivalist, lots of Big Foots, lots of trees...

Now Post #4 has an actual link, Ha, True of False?

Quite a few. I enjoy reading the prepper magazines and forums where they scare you with the usual SHTF yap then try to convince you to send them thousands of dollars to ship you the same stuff you can buy at Walmart and Home Depot for half the price.
 
I enjoyed your post, it's good to see you @Happyflowerlady !
animals-submarine-whale-whaling-flirting-flirts-gra070509_low.jpg
 
The navy hired Big Foot (is plural Big Feet of Big Foot's) as security-have not had any attempts of unauthorized people
trying to gain entry.
A Bird Colonel toured the outside perimeter, wanted to know why all the femurs were laying around 🤫
 
Many people have not heard that one of the most secret submarine-testing areas is located in North Idaho, hundreds of miles inland from any kind of ocean. Farragut military training camp was located near Lake Pend Oreille, (pronounced Pon-der-ay) at Bayview, Idaho; but the navy also built a submarine testing base nearby on the lake.
The lake is well over 1,000 feet deep in some areas, and a lot of it is in fairly remote places where not a lot of people would be going.
The Naval Base was built during the Second World War, and is still in use today.

Since I grew up in Sandpoint, right next to the lake, we had heard about submarine sightings from people, and whenever we crossed over the bridge, I always watched for submarines.
There used to be big logs floating down the river and into the lake, and as we were driving across the lake/river, I can remember seeing one such log make its way almost up to what was called “The Long Bridge”, and then it suddenly vanished. I didn’t ever see it re-emerge, so I always thought that I might have seen one of the submarines.

More information about the naval base and the submarines:

The Navy's Most Vital And Secretive Submarine Base Is In... Idaho?!?

Here is a picture of Lake Pend O’reille, and you can see where Farragut Naval Station was located, and the submarine base would have been somewhere near there along the waterfront. Sandpoint was where the designation changed from Lake to River. West of the bridge, it was river, and east of the bridge was considered to be lake.

View attachment 171345
Okay, so is Blackfoot in that area? My brother was a career Naval Officer in the nuclear sub program. At one time he was teaching nuclear systems at Blackfoot. He was 17 years my senior and seemed more like an uncle than a brother at times. I defer to him with pride because he entered the Navy as an enlisted man and rose through the ranks to retire as a Lt. Commander. Without a college degree he certainly acquitted himself well. With his passing I truly lost a mentor in my life.
 
Farragut is located in the northern part of idaho, between Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint (where I grew up at), about 50 miles south of the Canadian Border. Blackfoot is further to the southeast, closer to the Pocatello area of Idaho.
Since they had the submarine base at Farragut, it would make sense to also have a training facility in the same region, and Blackfoot is not that far away.

When I worked on the US census in 1990, they would not let us go anywhere near one of the test facilities located further north in the lake. The military just sent whatever information they wanted the census bureau to have. I was able to talk to them through the intercom at the main gate, and that was as close as we were allowed.

Here is another link that shows more pictures of the base and the surrounding area.

Idaho Has An Underwater Area 51 And It's Fascinating
 
I guess it's not a secret anymore.
I read an article about people migrating from very liberal areas into northern Idaho. I guess when you have your fill of high taxes, laws that are not enforced and myriad other social issues you finally say it's time to leave. The point of the article was that the natives of the area welcome new people but not if they want to bring the problems with them. I can see that as a real concern. I don't want to live in Oregon, California, or Washington. If I had been raised there I would be considering the idea of moving elsewhere for sure.
 


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