The US Navy has strict rules that no one can sail closer than 200 yards to the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station when a ship is in port. Nash Skiles took his family out sailing in a light wind that carried us under the Coleman Bridge and well safe of that range. We watched as a guided missile cruiser that came in earlier that morning was reloaded by crane.
Nash owns a family-operated insurance business in Lancaster, Pa., and brought them to Williamsburg for a family reunion with other members. I asked if he insured boats and he doesn’t. “Our motto is that we insure people, not things,” which I thought was pretty clever branding. He insures a company that makes shell casings for munitions warfare. “I asked the owner if I could have a casing as a souvenir, but he declined for security reasons.”
People are surprised to learn that after nearly 100 years in operation, they still assemble bombs, torpedoes and all the other munitions on-site at Naval Weapons Station. Trucks deliver the unassembled parts in bulk, and in unmarked trailers as well. That way, no one can hijack a cruise missile intact.
We steered clear of the ship, with all due respect.
