For generations of Cal Poly Maritime Academy students, some of their most important learning hasn't happened in a classroom.

It took place aboard the Training Ship Golden Bear.

For more than three decades, Golden Bear has carried cadets across the Pacific and around the world during Summer Sea Term, providing the hands-on experience that prepares students for careers in the maritime industry and beyond. Cadets have stood watch on the bridge, worked in the engine room, navigated international waters and learned to live and work as part of a ship’s crew.

Now, Cal Poly Maritime Academy is preparing for one of the most significant transitions in its history.

This fall, the Training Ship Golden Bear will be transferred back to the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) for eventual decommissioning as the academy begins its transition to Golden State, a new, purpose-built training ship that will provide the next generation of Cal Poly students with an advanced maritime learning environment.

“The transition from Golden Bear to Golden State represents much more than the arrival of a new ship,” said Rear Adm. Eric C. Jones (Ret.), superintendent of Cal Poly Maritime Academy. “It represents the next chapter for Cal Poly Maritime Academy and an investment in generations of cadets who will learn, lead and prepare for their professions aboard it.”

A Legacy That Continues

That connection between ship and academy dates to the very beginning. When the school that would become Cal Poly Maritime Academy was established in 1929, it began not on a traditional campus, but on board the training ship Golden State I. Nearly a century later, ships remain central to how Maritime students learn and prepare for their careers.

The current Training Ship Golden Bear, technically Golden Bear III, is part of that lineage. Its successor, Golden State II, will continue a tradition that stretches back to the academy's founding.

Few people have experienced that connection from as many perspectives as Capt. Samar B. Bannister, master of Training Ship Golden Bear and Cal Poly Maritime Academy’s director of marine programs.

Bannister first sailed on board Golden Bear as a first-year cadet during the ship’s second Summer Sea Term with the academy. A 2000 graduate of Cal Maritime, she returned to the academy in 2022 as director of marine programs and captain of Golden Bear. Last summer, she commanded the ship on its final training voyage, an experience she described as both humbling and deeply rewarding.

“As I looked across the decks of Golden Bear during this final Summer Sea Term, I couldn't help but reflect on the thousands of cadets who have stood these same watches, climbed these same ladders, and looked out over these same horizons,” Bannister wrote following the voyage.

For Bannister, the transition to Golden State is a continuation of that mission.

“A next generation training vessel, the Training Ship Golden State, will carry that mission forward, building upon the extraordinary foundation that Golden Bear has provided for more than 30 years,” she said.

A New Generation of Learn by Doing

Golden State is a National Security Multi-Mission Vessel, or NSMV, part of a new class of training ships developed for the nation’s state maritime academies. The approximately $330 million vessel will accommodate up to 600 cadets and 100 crew and faculty, featuring modern bridge, engineering, classroom and training spaces designed specifically for maritime education. For cadets pursuing U.S. Coast Guard licenses, that means learning on board equipment and technology that more closely reflect the modern commercial vessels they will encounter after graduation.

The ship will also have a second mission. Golden State can be activated by the federal government to support humanitarian assistance and disaster response, with capabilities to provide housing, meals, medical support and other services during national emergencies.

The result is both a training platform and an example of Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing philosophy on a remarkable scale.

Bridging Two Ships

The transition will take place over the next year.

Golden Bear will be returned to MARAD later this year following more than three decades of service to the academy. Cal Poly Maritime Academy will recognize the ship’s legacy throughout the fall, including an alumni reception in October and opportunities to share stories from the cadets, alumni, faculty and crew members who sailed on board it.

Golden State is scheduled to be christened in summer 2027 before beginning its delivery voyage from Philadelphia to the West Coast later that year.

At the academy, preparations for Golden State’s arrival are already underway. Construction is also progressing on a new pier at the Solano Campus designed to accommodate Golden State and support the academy's next generation of shipboard training.

During winter and spring 2027, crew members will train for the new vessel and its advanced systems. In summer 2027, Cal Poly Maritime Academy cadets will continue their at-sea training through a ship-sharing arrangement on board two of Golden State’s sister ships, Lone Star State and State of Maine. The experience will give cadets an early opportunity to train on board the same class of vessel that will soon call the Solano Campus home.

Golden State’s arrival in California will mark the beginning of the next chapter of maritime education at Cal Poly, culminating in the first Summer Sea Term on board Golden State in 2028.

One Cal Poly, a New Maritime Era

While Golden State will be based at Cal Poly’s Solano Campus, its arrival represents an important milestone for the entire university.

The new ship will strengthen Cal Poly Maritime Academy’s ability to prepare graduates for the maritime industry while supporting California’s and the nation's need for maritime professionals, engineers and other skilled leaders.

“Cal Poly and this ship are part of a broader effort to establish the Bay Area and Delta region as a national leader in maritime infrastructure and the skilled workforce needed to build, repair, crew and operate the vessels that keep our nation moving,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said.

It also opens new possibilities for collaboration across Cal Poly in areas ranging from engineering and technology to research and the blue economy.

Golden Bear leaves behind a remarkable legacy.

Golden State will carry it forward.