{"id":22643,"date":"2025-08-07T18:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T00:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=22643"},"modified":"2025-08-07T18:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T00:12:08","slug":"celebrating-the-uss-idaho-at-hailey-rocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/07\/celebrating-the-uss-idaho-at-hailey-rocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating the USS Idaho at Hailey Rocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mike McKenna<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Idaho may seem like it\u2019s far way from the ocean, but the spirit of the Gem State has swept across the high seas for well over a century.
\nIt\u2019s an aquatic tradition that will soon continue as the fifth USS Idaho will be commissioned next year. Celebrations have already begun and will include a stop in Hailey.
\nA 27-foot-long replica of the nuclear submarine and an American flag from the last USS Idaho will be accompanied by a performance by the Victory Belles at Hailey Rocks on August 14.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s really great to have a chance to recognize the USS Idaho in Blaine County,\u201d said Bill Potter, adding, \u201cSun Valley was once a Navy town,\u201d referencing the Naval hospital here during World War II.
\nBill has been appointed to the USS Idaho SSN 779 Commissioning Committee. A local resident for more than 20 years, Bill is a Vietnam veteran, honorably retiring from the Army with the rank of 1st Lieutenant.
\nJoking about his service, he said, \u201cI learned how to build things and then blow them up.\u201d
\nBill has also served on the board of directors for Higher Ground and The Valley Club. He recently helped close out Hailey\u2019s Fourth of July parade by flying the very same American flag that the USS Idaho IV (1919\u20131947) flew when it entered Tokyo Harbor to help secure Japan\u2019s surrender at the end of WWII.
\nWhile the USS Idaho IV was a decorated battleship, including receiving seven battle stars during WWII, the USS Idaho III (1917\u20131918) was a motorboat. Perhaps the 60-foot, wood-hulled watercraft would have been better suited for Redfish Lake than the Navy, as its short history portrays.
\nThe USS Idaho II (1908\u20131914) was another battleship that was eventually sold to the Greek Navy and renamed the \u201cLemnos.\u201d She wound up getting bombed and beached in the Balkans in 1941.
\nThe USS Idaho I (1866\u20131873) was originally a wooden steam sloop, but after she failed the speed test, was converted to a full-rigged sailing ship and recommissioned. The USS Idaho then became one of the fastest ships in the Navy, hitting speeds of over 18 knots. After being battered by a typhoon, she was eventually sold to the East India Trading Company.
\nThe USS Idaho V is a Virginia-class, nuclear-powered submarine that is expected to be in service for at least 30 years. Nicknamed the \u201cGem of the Fleet,\u201d she was christened last March in Connecticut with water collected from several lakes in Idaho, including Payette Lake, Lake Pend Oreille, Henrys Lake, and Redfish Lake.
\nLater this month, the USS Idaho will serve its first meal aboard ship, \u201cIdaho-style,\u201d thanks to the help of a former chef from the Sun Valley Culinary Institute.
\nThe Commissioning Committee\u2019s biggest job is to \u201cIdaho-ize the inside of the boat,\u201d as Bill put it.
\n\u201cMorale is a huge thing on these ships,\u201d Bill said. \u201cWe need to help provide food and images that will help the crew stay positive and mentally healthy by turning to Idaho for inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out more at USSIdahocommittee.org.<\/p>\n

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By Mike McKenna Idaho may seem like it\u2019s far way from the ocean, but the spirit of the Gem State has swept across the high seas for well over a century. It\u2019s an aquatic tradition that will soon continue as the fifth USS Idaho will be commissioned next year. Celebrations have already begun and will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":479,"featured_media":10323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chamber-corner","8":"category-sponsored"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/479"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22645,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22643\/revisions\/22645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}