DATE: Saturday, May 10, 1997                TAG: 9705100264

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   51 lines

NAME CHANGE IS OFFICIAL: IT'S GOSPORT

The first American ship named Gosport was christened Friday at Portside on the downtown waterfront.

Nan Klemm, wife of Capt. William R. Klemm, commander of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, cracked a bottle of champagne on the stern of the research vessel to make the name official.

``This is a significant day,'' Capt. Klemm said in his remarks during the ceremony. ``It's been a long time coming. There has been a ship named Portsmouth but never a Gosport.''

Klemm noted that the Gosport Shipyard here was started as a private business ``nine years before the nation began.''

``Right here is where maritime history really began in the United States,'' he said. ``And we have 232 years of history in this shipyard.''

History documents Klemm's claim.

The federal government leased the Gosport Shipyard as early as 1794 for the construction of the frigate Chesapeake, one of the six ships for the new nation's first navy.

The first drydock in America opened at the shipyard in 1833 and is in use today. In 1862, the first battle of the ironclads - the CSS Virginia vs. the USS Monitor - changed the course of naval warfare around the world. The first battleship, the Texas, was built here, followed by the first aircraft carrier, the Langley.

The name of the yard was changed to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard after the Civil War.

``The name Gosport is unique, and this ship is unique,'' shipyard historian Duff Porter III said during the ceremony. ``The shipyard was named for a place in England. Originally, it was `God's Port,' and I revert to the original spelling and wish all who sail on her, `Godspeed, God's Port.' ''

The 210-foot Gosport was built as a research vessel in 1965. Until 18 months ago, the Gosport was operated as the Pacific Escort by Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, Calif., which closed last year.

The ship is used by the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in lieu of full-sized ships for research as well as escort services. It has a civilian crew of 14 under the command of Capt. George Fleck, a merchant mariner who is a retired naval officer.

The ceremony was the first time Nan Klemm had christened a ship.

``It's exciting to do one so special,'' she said. To mark the occasion, she wrote a poem, which will hang on the ship.

The last verse reads:

``Gosport's my name

Proud as can be

Ready for action

Ready for sea.''

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