The last US Navy container ship to leave Marginal Wharf set sail for Norfolk, Virginia this morning.

Left at the dock was a crew of Bermudians who have been loading and unloading goods for the American Base at St. David's for up to 40 years.

After using fork trucks to load boats, vehicles, 40-foot containers, and other items onto the Strong Cajun , container operations supervisor Mr. Lloyd VanPutten and his crew loaded the fork trucks onto the ship as well.

The US Naval Air Station closes on September 1. For more than a year the ships have been arriving nearly empty and departing full.

"Since October of 1993 we've backloaded almost 1,000 containers,'' Mr.

VanPutten said.

Lt. Brian Martinez, the US Navy stores officer, commended the civilians who work on the dock.

"The benchmark is that we've shipped three times our normal volume in one year, and we've done it with half as many people,'' Lt. Martinez said.

Mr. Brian C. Fleming, 59, started at Marginal Wharf in 1955, when the Base was still under the control of the US Air Force. "Rain or shine, I was here,'' he said.

Mr. Fleming and others remembered the sinking of the container ship Rio Haina as she arrived at the dock and struck a rock about 13 years ago.

Mr. Leslie Swan, 65, who retired in 1994 after 42 years, came back to see the Strong Cajun loaded. "I said that I'd like to see the last ship, because I worked here so long,'' he said. It was "a sad occasion.'' The container ship dock at the US Naval Air Station is surrounded by warehouses and cold storage sheds. No future use has been announced for Marginal Wharf, but Mr. VanPutten said he hopes it will continue as a container ship port.

"To break the congestion (in Hamilton), it would be nice to have,'' he said.

"They might have to dredge a little bit.'' NAVY SHIPS OUT -- With the St. David's Base closing on September, the last US Navy container ship was to sail this morning. At the dock, from left, is Mr.

Brian C. Fleming, Navy stores officer Lt. Brian Martinez, Mr. Alexander Burchall, container operations supervisor Mr. Lloyd VanPutten, Mr. William Pitt, and Mr. Leslie Swan.