U.S. Navy's most secret submarine base is in Idaho, 375 miles from the ocean

Daily Mail

3 October 2015

The U.S. Navy's submarine bases are some of the most high-security installations in the world, but one of the most important is located at a lake in landlocked Idaho. 

The Navy's Acoustic Research Detachment (ARD) at Bayview, Idaho, has supported every major submarine design development of the last 65 years. 

Although located some 375 miles from the ocean, it has been called ‘the U.S. Submarine force's most important body of water" by Admiral Edmund Giambastiani, who once headed the Navy's submarine warfare group. 

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Although located some 375 miles from the ocean, the Navy's Acoustic Research Detachment at Bayview, Idaho, has supported every major submarine design development of the last 65 years

ARD is located on the banks of Lake Pend Oreille, which provides the perfect conditions for testing new submarine advancements as conditions closely mimic the ocean, reports FoxtrotAlpha.

At about 1150 feet, the lake is deeper than Loch Ness, while its large size, clear water and quiet conditions - provided by steep tree-lined shores and a flat muddy bottom - mean it has been a key testing location for the Navy since WWII.