Sail with us Tuesday July 18, 6-8pm on our next Speaker Series Sail:
R. Watterson
Rod Watterson will join us for his talk “Portsmouth: World War II Boomtown.” Portsmouth became a World War II boomtown when employment at the navy yard quadrupled to more than 20,000 workers. During the war, the yard set records for submarine production which will never be broken, including the building of thirty-two in one year (1944) and the launching of four in one day. Watterson’s presentation will focus on the yard’s remarkable wartime performance and the formidable harbor defense system that was needed to protect such a valuable national asset.
Captain Rodney K. Watterson USN (Retired) is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (BS) and MIT (MS). After a career steeped in engineering and management, he shifted disciplines at the University of New Hampshire and earned a PhD in history. He is the author of three local history books: 32 in ’44: Building the Portsmouth Submarine Fleet in World War II, Whips to Walls: Naval Discipline from Flogging to Progressive Era Reform at Portsmouth Prison, and Boomtown Portsmouth: The World War II Transformation of a Quiet New England Seaport.
Tickets are $30 adults, $15 kids under 13, and $5 for kids under 3.
