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The Kittery yard receives accolades and is thought of as the best, but that might not be enough to keep it open.

By SETH HARKNESS, Staff Writer August 5, 2007

KITTERY — If being the best at what it does were enough to ensure a prosperous future, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard would be around for a long time.

But since politics, the changing nature of national defense and geography also play a role, no one can be sure what the future holds for the nation's oldest continually operating naval shipyard.

In the summer of 2005, these factors seemed likely to be the undoing of the shipyard near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, which specializes in refurbishing nuclear submarines. Citing excess capacity, the U.S. Navy recommended closing Portsmouth, the smallest of the nation's four naval shipyards, and transferring most of its work to the yard in Norfolk, Va.

Thousands of workers and supporters rallied in Portsmouth's defense, however, pointing out that the shipyard had a record of completing its work ahead of schedule and below budget. In fact, the Navy commended the Portsmouth yard for these accomplishments when it gave the facility one of its highest awards, just weeks before a meeting of the commission that would decide the shipyard's fate.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission ultimately disregarded the Navy's request and chose to keep the yard open. In announcing the decision, BRAC Commission Chairman Anthony Principi called the Portsmouth facility "the gold standard by which we should measure shipyards."

"It's a national resource and it would be tragic for this nation to lose it," he said.

Two years later, the yard is at work on five submarines, and nearly 400 workers have joined the payroll since the closure was averted. Nevertheless, several close observers say that the long- term future of the yard, which has been building and repairing naval ships for more than 200 years, is by no means secure.

Even though the Navy has recognized the Portsmouth yard as the most efficient facility of its kind, Loren Thompson, who analyzes defense issues for the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said changing defense priorities still weigh against it.

"I would say the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is emblematic of the entire Navy shipbuilding sector in the Northeast," he said. "There's a good work ethic, good management and good productivity, but it's largely been overtaken by history, and as a result, it has few defenders in Washington."

Not everyone believes the Portsmouth yard's best days are behind it, even though it can claim a storied past.

The center of the yard on Seavey Island is a village-like setting of small parks and 19th-century naval buildings. A 200-year- old home built at this location for the yard's commanding officer still serves its original function.

Nearby is the old warehouse where Japanese and Russian delegations met at the invitation of President Theodore Roosevelt and signed a historic peace treaty ending the Russo- Japanese war in 1905.

The Portsmouth yard began building wooden fighting ships with lumber floated down the Piscataqua. It transitioned to steam ships later in the 19th century and became the first naval shipyard to build a submarine in 1917.

The yard produced half the submarines in the U.S. fleet during World War II, at times turning out as many as three per month, when its work force swelled to 20,000 people. Since the 1950s, the yard has focused on refurbishing and refueling nuclear submarines.

This work takes place in large industrial sheds along the edge of the island, where visitors are rarely allowed to go because of security restrictions.

The work also is highly specialized. Former shipyard commander Capt. William McDonough of Kittery said the subs are "as complex or more complex" than the space shuttle.

Nevertheless, Loren, a former professor of security studies at Georgetown University, said the Portsmouth shipyard's strategic importance began to wane with the end of the Cold War.

Throughout most of its history, the U.S. Navy had been focused...