POULSBO — Jack B. James, a retired Navy commander and SEAL, is the new director of the museum ship, the USS Turner Joy (www.ussturnerjoy.org).

The Turner Joy (DD-951) is located on the waterfront in Bremerton. It was one of 18 Forrest Sherman-class destroyers of the United States Navy. She was named for Adm. Charles Turner Joy, USN (1895–1956).

Commissioned in 1959, the Turner Joy spent its entire career in the Pacific. It participated extensively in the Vietnam War, and was one of the principal ships involved in the Gulf of Tonkin incident, two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin.

The Turner Joy was decommissioned in 1982 and is now maintained and administered by the Bremerton Historic Ships Association. Tours are available March 1 to Oct. 23, and Nov. 1 to Feb. 28 or 29. Veterans can tour for free on Veterans Day.

James is president of the Pacific Northwest chapter of the UDT-Seal Association. The association sponsored the creation of a model of the USS Grayback, which will be presented to the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport.

He also organized and participated in a walk across the Olympic Mountains to call attention to the America’s Mighty Warrior program.

“It is my honor to help preserve this piece of Navy combat history,” James wrote in an email to the Herald.