Parque de vela USS Triton
Honoring the Science That Powered It and the Sailors Who Took It to Sea
In North Richland, a towering submarine sail rises unexpectedly from the earth, a Cold War relic with roots deep in the Hanford Site’s World War II legacy. The USS Triton Sail Park offers a tangible link between wartime science and postwar military innovation.
The USS Triton was a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy submarine and the first vessel to complete a submerged circumnavigation of the globe. The enriched uranium that powered its twin reactors originated at the Hanford Site, where plutonium production for the Manhattan Project paved the way for peaceful and military nuclear technologies alike.
After its decommissioning, the Triton’s sail was installed as a public monument in Richland. Interpretive signage explains the submarine’s mission and the role Hanford’s atomic legacy played in the advancement of naval propulsion and national defense.
The park stands today as a striking symbol of how the scientific breakthroughs of WWII shaped the Cold War era. It invites reflection on the continued influence of the Manhattan Project and honors the sailors who embodied its next chapter beneath the waves.
