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at Mare Island Naval Yard, 10 April 1945.| location = Vallejo, California382412248display=inline,title}}| locmapin = California#USA| area =| built = 1854| architect =| architecture =| added = 15 May 1975| designated_nrhp_type = 15 May 1975WEB , 2008a}}| designated_other1 = California| designated_other1_date = 19607512012-10-15, }}The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean.WEB, Adams, George R., Mare Island Naval Shipyard, National Register of Historic Places – Inventory Nomination Form, National Park Service, 1 December 1974, {{NHLS url, 75002103, | format = pdf| access-date = 18 May 2012}} It is located {{convert|25|mi}} northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard (Mare Island, California) from the main portion of the city of Vallejo. MINSY made a name for itself as the premier U.S. West Coast submarine port as well as serving as the controlling force in San Francisco Bay Area shipbuilding efforts during World War II.weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20061222222052weblink">Battleship Iowa: Mare IslandThe base closed in 1996 and has gone through several redevelopment phases. It was registered as a California Historical Landmark in 1960, and parts of it were declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1975.

Beginnings

In September 1849, Lieutenant Commander William Pope McArthur was placed in command of the US survey schooner Ewing, which had been brought around Cape Horn to the West Coast by Lieutenant Washington Allon Bartlett.WEB,weblink The Frontier Coast, NOAA Central Library, 30 November 2007, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160225070628weblink">weblink 25 February 2016, dmy-all, Upon reaching San Francisco, Ewing and the other ship assigned to the survey, {{USS|Massachusetts|1845|6}}, were hampered from progress due to desertions of their crews to the gold fields, including a mutiny when crew members rowing into the city from Ewing threw an officer overboard in an attempt to desert.WEB, Gudde, Erwin G.,weblink Mutiny on the Ewing, 2 January 2008, Originally published in The JOURNAL, Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1951-12-01, Number 4 They managed to survey the Mare Island Strait before steaming to Hawaii to obtain crewmen from Hawaiian monarch King Kamehameha III.McArthur, Lewis Pacific Coast Survey of 1849 and 1850 Private history 1915 NOAA.gov retrieved 26 December 2007 They returned to San Francisco in the spring of 1850 with the coastal survey of northern California beginning on 4 April 1850 and continued up to the mouth of the Columbia River. On 1 August 1850, while still in Oregon, McArthur purchased a {{frac|1|16}} interest in Mare Island for $468.50 then returned to San Francisco later that month to prepare charts and write reports.On 15 January 1852, Secretary of the Navy William A. Graham ordered a Naval Commission to select a site for a naval yard on the Pacific Coast. Commodore D. Sloat along with Commodore C. Ringgold, Simon F. Blunt and William P.S. Sanger (former overseer of construction of Drydock Number One, Norfolk Naval Shipyard) were appointed to the commission. On 13 July 1852, Sloat recommended the islandWEB,weblink 411–12, Mare Island Navy Yard, Overland Monthly, 1908, across the Napa River from the settlement of Vallejo.The Navy purchased the original 956 acres (387 ha) of MINSY on 4 January 1853. McArthur's family share (he had died a few months after purchasing an interest in Mare Island) was $5,218.20. The Navy commenced shipbuilding operations on 16 September 1854 under the command of then-Commander David Farragut, who later gained fame during the U.S. Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay, when he gave the order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" MINSY served as a major Pacific Ocean repair station during the late 19th century, handling American as well as Japanese and Russian vessels in the course of duty.File:USS Camanche monitor at Mare Island 1866.jpg|thumb|left|MonitorMonitorIn 1861, the longest lived of the clipper ships, {{ship||Syren|clipper|2}}, was brought to Mare Island Navy Yard for $15,000 of repairs. Syren had struck Mile Rock twice while trying to sail out of the Golden Gate.BOOK, Howe, Octavius T, Matthews, Frederick C., American Clipper Ships 1833–1858, 2, Malay-Young Mechanic, Marine Research Society, 1927, Salem, MA, 653–656, Marines first arrived for duty in 1862 under the command of Maj Addison Garland, who was the first officer to command the Marine barracks on the island.Mare Island Naval Shipyard also took a commanding role in civil defense and emergency response on the West Coast, dispatching warships to the Pacific Northwest to subdue Native American unrest. MINSY sent ships such as {{USS|Wyoming|BM-10|2}} south to Central America and the Panama Canal to protect US political and commercial interests. Some of the support, logistics and munition requirements for the Spanish–American War were filled by Mare Island. MINSY sent men, materiel and ships to San Francisco in response to the fires following the 1906 earthquake. Arctic rescue missions were mounted as necessary. Ordnance manufacturing and storage were two further key missions at MINSY for nearly all of its active service, including ordnance used prior to the American Civil War.Lott, A Long Line of Ships, pages 3–134.In 1911, the Marine Corps established two West Coast recruit training depots first at Mare Island, the second at Puget Sound, Washington. Mare Island eventually became the West Coast's only recruit training facility when the Puget Sound operation consolidated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1912. Instructors trained recruits there until 10 August 1923, when they relocated to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.Mare Island was first California boot camp The Marine Barracks Mare Island remained.

World War I

(File:Mare Island Naval Shipyard 1911.jpg|thumb|left|Mare Island Naval Shipyard, in 1911.)In July 1917, MINSY was the site of a major explosion that killed six people. On July 9, a gunpowder magazine containing 127,600 pounds of black powder blew up, damaging a number of surrounding buildings, and leaving a mystery as to what had caused it. Suspicion settled on an identified German agent and possible saboteur, Lothar Witzke, but the investigation proved inconclusive and the official verdict was that the cause was unknown. Stephen C. Ruder has suggested in a 2022 article that it may not have been an act of German sabotage but suicide by a civilian, Neil Damstedt, who was the principal victim and only individual inside the magazine at the moment of explosion.Stephen C. Ruder, "Who Really Blew Up Mare Island?" Naval History (June 2022): 40-45.Spencer Tucker and Priscilla Mary Roberts, ed. World War One: A Student Encyclopedia (ABC-Clio, 2005): 1606MINSY saw major shipbuilding efforts during World War I. MINSY holds a shipbuilding speed record for a destroyer that still stands, launching {{USS|Ward|DD-139|6}} in just {{frac|17|1|2}} days in May–June 1918.Mare Island History. Vallejo Convention & Visitors Bureau website. Accessed 22 August 2007 Mare Island was selected by the Navy for construction of the only US West Coast-built dreadnought battleship, {{USS|California|BB-44|6}}, launched in 1919. Several pre-dreadnought battleships had previously been launched at San Francisco and Seattle. Noting the power of underwater warfare shown by German U-boats in World War I, the Navy doubled their Pacific-based submarine construction program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard by founding a submarine program at MINSY in the early 1920s.Lott, A Long Line of Ships, pp. 161–180.

Mare Island Marines Football Team

During this period, the Marines stationed at MINSY fielded a college football team which competed against teams in the Pacific Coast Conference and other military service football teams. After the United States entered WWI during April 1917, many college athletes joined or were drafted into the military. Enrolments diminished at universities around the country, with many schools cutting back their sports programs as a result. Consequently, military academies and training bases established football teams composed mostly of college players who had been recruited for service. This was further encouraged by officials who considered football to be excellent war training, with its themes of leadership, teamwork, and discipline.WEB, Camp Lewis 91st Division football team plays the Mare Island Marines in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1918. - HistoryLink.org,weblink 2023-10-22, www.historylink.org, The 1917 Mare Island Marines football team strung together an impressive first season, going 8–0, shutting out six opponents, winning the 1918 Rose Bowl against the Camp Lewis 91st Division football team, and outscoring all of their opponents by a combined total of 200 to 10. This was despite only 500 Marines being stationed at the base when the team was formed.WEB, Brown, Timothy P., 1917 Mare Island Marines Football Team,weblink 2023-10-22, www.footballarchaeology.com, en, The 1918 Mare Island Marines football team fielded an entirely new roster, which achieved a similar level of success as the previous year. They finished the season with a 10–1 record, losing only in the 1919 Rose Bowl to the Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets.

World War II

File:1945 Mare Island bond rally.gif|thumb|The AJC Band, from Hamilton Field, plays at a war bond rally held at Mare Island on 26 June 1945. Behind the band, caricatures of Benito Mussolini and Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerBase facilities included a hospital, ammunition depot, paint and rubber testing laboratories, and schools for firefighters, opticians, and anti-submarine attack during World War II.WEB,weblink U.S. Naval Activities World War II by State, Patrick Clancey, 19 March 2012, MINSY reached peak capacity for shipbuilding, repair, overhaul, and maintenance of many different kinds of seagoing vessels including both surface combatants and submarines.Up to 50,000 workers were employed.Kern, James & Vallejo and Naval Historical Museum Images of America: Vallejo. Arcadia Publishing, 2004. Mare Island even received Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers and four Soviet Navy subs for service. Following the War, MINSY was considered to be one of the primary stations for construction and maintenance of the Navy's Pacific fleet of submarines, having built seventeen submarines and four submarine tenders by the end of hostilities.Before World War II the Navy established Station I at Mare Island as one of four High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) stations on the Pacific mainland to track Japanese naval and merchant shipping east of Hawaii. The other stations were: Point Arguello, California (Station Z), Point Saint George, California (Station T), and Fort Stevens, Oregon (Station S).

War bonds

Patriotism and esprit de corps among the workers ran very high. Mare Island's military and civilian workforce raised almost $76M in war bonds; enough to pay for every one of the submarines built at MINSY prior to VJ Day. More than 300 landing craft were built at Mare Island.WEB,weblink FAS Military Analysis Network: Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY), 26 December 2015, 27 December 2015,weblink dead, Lott, A Long Line of Ships, pp. 209–237.

Dry docks and slipways

{| class="wikitable" ! style="text-align: center;" | Dock No.! Material of which dock is constructed !! Length !! Width !! Depth !! Date Completed !! Source! style="text-align: center;" | 1 | Concrete and granite525m}}122m}}359m}} 1891HTTPS://TAMUG-IR.TDL.ORG/BITSTREAM/HANDLE/1969.3/29744/DRYDOCK_FACILITIES_CHARACTERISTICS.PDF?SEQUENCE=1&ISALLOWED=Y>TITLE=DRYDOCKING FACILITIES CHARACTERISTICS, ! style="text-align: center;" | 2| Concrete741m}}120m}}312m}} 1910! style="text-align: center;" | 3| Concrete6934m}}114m}}359m}} 1940! style="text-align: center;" | 4| Concrete4358m}}104m}}228m}} 1942{| class="wikitable"! colspan="4"| January 1, 1946! style="text-align: center;" | Shipbuilding ways! Width !! Length !! Source! style="text-align: center;" | 11088m}}680m}}Gardiner Fassett, Frederick, The Shipbuilding Business in the United States of America, p. 177! scope="row" rowspan=2| 2 {{convertft|m}}398m}} {{convertft|m}}! style="text-align: center;" | 393m}}488m}}! style="text-align: center;" | 496m}}450m}}! style="text-align: center;" | 596m}}450m}}! style="text-align: center;" | 696m}}450m}}! style="text-align: center;" | 796m}}450m}}! style="text-align: center;" | 896m}}450m}}

Shipbuilding

Mare Island Naval Shipyard constructed at least eighty-nine seagoing vessels. Among the more important ships & boats built were:File:USS Langley (CV-1).jpg|thumb|right|The collier {{USS|Jupiter|AC-3|6}} was later converted to become the first United States aircraft carrieraircraft carrierFile:USS California (BB-44) - NH 82114.jpg|thumb|right|California|BB-44|6}}File:USS San Francisco (CA-38) enters San Francisco Bay, December 1942.jpg|thumb|right|San Francisco|CA-38|6}}(File:USSTangSS306.jpg|thumb|right|Five of the seven top-scoring United States submarines of World War II were built at Mare Island.)

• 1858 {{USS|Saginaw|1859|6}} – sloop-of-war, wood
• 1872 {{USS|Mohican|1883|6}} – sloop-of-war, wood
• 1874 {{ship|USC&GS|McArthur|1874|6}} – Steamer
• 1875 {{USS|Monadnock|BM-3|6}} – monitor, steel
• 1886 {{ship|USRC|Cosmos}} – Revenue Cutter, wood
• 1904 {{USS|Intrepid|1904|6}} – training ship, steel barque
• 1907 {{USS|Prometheus|AR-3|6}} – collier, steel
• 1911 {{USS|Jupiter|AC-3|6}} – collier, steel. Later converted to aircraft carrier {{USS|Langley|CV-1|6}}
• 1913 {{USS|Kanawha|AO-1|6}} – tanker, steel
• 1913 {{ship|USRC|Guard}} – Revenue Cutter Service harbor tug, woodCutters, Craft & Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels
• 1913 {{USS|Palos|PG-16|6}} – gunboat, steel
• 1913 {{USS|Monocacy|PG-20|6}} – gunboat, steel
• 1914 {{USS|Maumee|AO-2|6}} – tanker, steel
• 1915 {{USS|Cuyama|AO-3|6}} – tanker, steel
• 1916 {{USS|Shaw|DD-68|6}}, destroyer – steel
• 1916 {{USS|California|BB-44|6}} – battleship, steel
• 1916 {{USS|Caldwell|DD-69|6}} – destroyer, steel
• 1917 Fifteen submarine chasers – wood
• 1917 {{USS|Fairfax|DD-93|6}} – destroyer – (Destroyers for Bases Agreement)Fahey, The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, p. 17
• 1917 {{USS|Taylor|DD-94|6}} – destroyer
• 1918 {{USS|Boggs|DD-136|6}} – destroyer – (World War II)
• 1918 {{USS|Kilty|DD-137|6}} – destroyer – (Guadalcanal campaign – Philippines campaign (1944–45) – Battle of Okinawa)
• 1919 {{USS|Kennison|DD-138|6}} – destroyer – (World War II)
• 1918 {{USS|Ward|DD-139|6}} – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign – Philippines campaign)
• 1918 {{USS|Claxton|DD-140|6}} – destroyer
• 1919 {{USS|Hamilton|DD-141|6}} – destroyer – (invasion of North Africa – Philippines campaign)
• 1920 {{USS|Montana|BB-51|6}} – battleship scrapped before completion under terms of the Washington Naval Treaty
• 1920 {{USS|Litchfield|DD-336|6}} – destroyer – (World War II)
• 1920 {{USS|Zane|DD-337|6}} – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign)
• 1921 {{USS|Wasmuth|DD-338|6}} – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor)
• 1922 {{USS|Trever|DD-339|6}} – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign)
• 1922 {{USS|Perry|DD-340|6}} – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Battle of Peleliu)
• 1922 {{USS|Decatur|DD-341|6}} – destroyer – (World War II)
• 1927 {{USS|Nautilus|SS-168|6}} – submarine (sank 6 ships in 14 World War II Pacific patrols)Blair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 945
• 1 of 6 {{sclass|Northampton|cruiser|0}} heavy cruisers
  • 1928 {{USS|Chicago|CA-29|6}} – (Battle of Savo Island – Battle of Rennell Island)
• 1 of 7 {{sclass|New Orleans|cruiser|0}} heavy cruisers
  • 1931 {{USS|San Francisco|CA-38|6}} – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Battle of Cape Esperance – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal – Battle of the Philippine SeaTillman(2005)pp. 301–306 – Philippines campaign (1944–45) – Battle of Okinawa)
• 2 of 18 {{sclass|Mahan|destroyer|0}} destroyers
  • 1934 {{USS|Smith|DD-378|6}} – (Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands – Philippines campaign)
  • 1934 {{USS|Preston|DD-379|6}} – (Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal)
• 1 of 8 {{sclass|Bagley|destroyer|0}} destroyers
  • 1935 {{USS|Henley|DD-391|6}} – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign)
• 31 of 65 {{sclass|Evarts|destroyer escort}}s
  • 1942 {{USS|Brennan|DE-13}}
  • ...
  • 1943 {{USS|Manlove|DE-36}}
  • 1943 {{USS|Lake|DE-301}}
  • ...
  • 1944 {{USS|Finnegan|DE-307}}

With the prelude to, and the outbreak of World War II, the Mare Island Naval Shipyard specialized in submarines, and other than a few submarine tenders and destroyer escorts, no more surface ships were built there. MINSY continued building non-nuclear subs through the Cold War including two of the three Barracuda-class submarines and {{USS|Grayback|SSG-574|6}}, an early guided missile launcher. In 1955, Mare Island was awarded the contract to build {{USS|Sargo|SSN-583|2}}, the first nuclear submarine laid down at a Pacific base.The shipyard became one of the few that built and overhauled nuclear submarines, including several UGM-27 Polaris submarines. 1970 saw the launching of {{USS|Drum|SSN-677|2}}, the last nuclear submarine built in California. In 1972, the Navy officially ceased building new nuclear submarines at Mare Island, though overhaul of existing vessels continued. {{USS|Nautilus|SSN-571|2}} was decommissioned at Mare Island in 1980, then rigged for towing back to Groton, Connecticut, to serve as a museum of naval history.Chief of Naval Operations, Submarine Warfare Division: Submarine Chronology {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710084845weblink |date=10 July 2007 }}

• 1 of 10 {{sclass|United States Porpoise|submarine}}s
  • 1936 {{USS|Pompano|SS-181|6}} – sank 6 ships in 7 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 907
• 1 of 6 {{sclass|Salmon|submarine}}s
  • 1936 {{USS|Sturgeon|SS-187|6}} – sank 9 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 926
• 1 of 10 {{sclass|Sargo|submarine}}s
  • 1937 {{USS|Swordfish|SS-193|6}} – sank 12 ships in 13 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 939
• 1939 {{USS|Fulton|AS-11|6}} – submarine tender – (World War II)
• 2 of 12 {{sclass|Tambor|submarine}}s
  • 1939 {{USS|Tuna|SS-203|6}} – sank 4 ships in 13 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 946
  • 1939 {{USS|Gudgeon|SS-211|6}} – sank 11 ships in 12 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 919
• 1941 {{USS|Sperry|AS-12|6}} – submarine tenderSilverstone, U.S. Warships of World War II, p. 287 – (World War II)
• 1942 {{USS|Bushnell|AS-15|6}} – submarine tender – (World War II)
• 8 of 77 {{sclass|Gato|submarine}}s
  • 1941 {{USS|Silversides|SS-236|6}} – Silverstone, U.S. Warships of World War II, p. 195 (sank 23 ships in 14 World War II Pacific patrols (3rd highest number for a U.S. submarine)Blair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, pp. 953Ï…
  • 1941 {{USS|Trigger|SS-237|6}} – (sank 18 ships in 12 World War II Pacific patrols (11th highest number for a U.S. submarine)Blair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, pp. 945Ï…
  • 1942 {{USS|Wahoo|SS-238|6}} – Silverstone, U.S. Warships of World War II, p. 197 (sank 20 ships in 7 World War II Pacific patrols (6th highest number for a U.S. submarine)Blair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, pp. 913Ï…
  • 1942 {{USS|Whale|SS-239|6}} – (sank 9 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p.954
  • 1942 {{USS|Sunfish|SS-281|6}} – (sank 15 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrols
  • 1942 {{USS|Tunny|SS-282|6}} – (sank 7 ships in 9 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 953 Vietnam War)
  • 1942 {{USS|Tinosa|SS-283|6}} – submarine (sank 16 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrols
  • 1942 {{USS|Tullibee|SS-284|6}} – (sank 3 ships 4 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 918
• 1943 {{USS|Howard W. Gilmore|AS-16|6}} – submarine tender – (World War II)
• 10 of 120 {{sclass|Balao|submarine}}s
  • 1943 {{USS|Seahorse|SS-304|6}} – Silverstone, U.S. Warships of World War II, p. 199 (sank 20 ships in 8 World War II Pacific patrols (6th highest number for a U.S. submarine)Blair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 956
  • 1943 {{USS|Skate|SS-305|6}} – (sank 10 ships in 7 World War II Pacific patrols
  • 1943 {{USS|Tang|SS-306|6}} – (sank 24 ships in 5 World War II Pacific patrols (highest number for a U.S. submarine)Blair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, pp. 933Ï…
  • 1943 {{USS|Tilefish|SS-307|6}} – (sank 2 ships 6 World War II Pacific patrolsBlair, Silent Victory Vol. 2, p. 957
  • 1944 {{USS|Spadefish|SS-411|6}} – Silverstone, U.S. Warships of World War II, p. 203 (sank 21 ships in 5 World War II Pacific patrols (4th highest number for a U.S. submarine)
  • 1944 {{USS|Trepang|SS-412|6}} – (sank 11 ships in 5 World War II Pacific patrols
  • 1944 {{USS|Spot|SS-413|6}} – (sank 1 ship in 3 World War II Pacific patrols
  • 1944 {{USS|Springer|SS-414|6}} – (sank 4 ships in 3 World War II Pacific patrols
  • 1945 {{USS|Stickleback|SS-415|6}} – (1 World War II Pacific patrol)
  • 1947 {{USS|Tiru|SS-416|6}} –
• 1945 {{USS|Nereus|AS-17|6}} – submarine tender
• 2 of 3 {{sclass|United States Barracuda|submarine|||1951}}s
  • 1951 {{USS|Bass|SSK-2|6}}
  • 1951 {{USS|Bonita|SSK-3|6}}
• 1 of 2 {{sclass|Grayback|submarine}}s
  • 1957 {{USS|Grayback|SS-574|6}} – Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 473

File:Mariano G. Vallejo 0865836.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Mariano G. Vallejo|SSBN-658|6}}

• 1957 {{USS|Sargo|SSN-583|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered) Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 472
• 1959 {{USS|Halibut|SSGN-587|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered) Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 470
• 1959 {{USS|Theodore Roosevelt|SSBN-600|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered) Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 406
• 1960 {{USS|Scamp|SSN-588|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered) Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 469
• 1961 {{USS|Permit|SSN-594|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered) Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 468
• 1961 {{USS|Plunger|SSN-595|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1962 {{USS|Andrew Jackson|SSBN-619|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered) Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 403
• 1963 {{USS|Woodrow Wilson|SSBN-624|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1963 {{USS|Daniel Boone|SSBN-629|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1963 {{USS|Stonewall Jackson|SSBN-634|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1964 {{ship|Bathyscaphe|Trieste II||2}} – deep submergence bathyscaphe
• 1965 {{USS|Kamehameha|SSBN-642|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1965 {{USS|Mariano G. Vallejo|SSBN-658|6}} - submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1967 {{USS|Gurnard|SSN-662|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered) Blackman Jane's 1970–71, p. 466
• 1968 {{USS|Guitarro|SSN-665|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1969 {{USS|Hawkbill|SSN-666|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1969 {{USS|Pintado|SSN-672|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)
• 1970 {{USS|Drum|SSN-677|6}} – submarine (nuclear powered)

Riverine training

(File:Wfm mare island aerial.jpg|thumb|right|Aerial photo of southern Mare Island and the shipyard facility)(File:Mare Island Drydock.jpg|thumb|Mare Island Drydock No. 1)In 1966, during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy transferred their Brown Water Navy Riverine Training Operations from Coronado, California, to Mare Island. Motorists traveling along Highway 37 could often see U.S. Navy River Patrol Boats, among other river assault type boats, maneuvering through the sloughs of what is now the Napa-Sonoma State Wildlife Area, which borders the north and west portions of Mare Island.U.S. Navy Reserve Units may still operate the slough portions of the State Wildlife Area for training purposes, as the navigable waters are considered public property. The U.S. Navy Brown Water Riverine Forces were inactivated after the Vietnam War, maintaining only the U.S. Naval Reserve PBRs and auxiliary craft at Mare Island, until the 1996 base closure.U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Unit 421Mare Island was also home to the Seabees CBU 421 who completed many construction projects in the bay area including renovation and restoration of St. Peter's chapel. St. Peter's is the oldest Navy Chapel in the United States built in 1901.

Pacific Reserve Fleet, Mare Island

Pacific Reserve Fleet, Mare Island was a large US reserve fleet that opened in 1946 to store the many surplus ships after World War II. As part of the United States Navy reserve fleets, the fleet "mothballed" ships and submarines. Some ships in the fleet were reactivated for the Korean War and Vietnam War.YouTube, The Mothball Fleetyoutube.com The USN Mothball Fleet - Storing up for a rainy day The Reserve Fleet closed in 1996 with the shipyard. The ships were scrapped or moved to other reserve fleets.ww2db.com Pacific Reserve Fleet, Mare IslandUS Navy Pacific Reserve Fleet, Mare Island

Base closure

Mare Island Naval Shipyard expanded to over {{convert|5200|acre|ha|0}} during its service life and was responsible for construction of over 500 naval vessels and overhauling thousands of other vessels. Though it remained a strong contender for continued operations, MINSY was identified for closure during the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process of 1993. Naval operations ceased and the facility was decommissioned on 1 April 1996.The California Conservation Corps, Touro University California, and numerous commercial and industrial businesses are currently leasing property aboard the former naval shipyard. In May 2000, the Navy completed the transfer of a former housing area called Roosevelt Terrace using an "economic development conveyance"; a method to accelerate the transfer of BRAC facilities back to civilian communities for their economic benefit. The Navy is also transferring property at the shipyard to other government agencies such as Fish and Wildlife Service refuge, a Forest Service office building, an Army Reserve Center, a Coast Guard communications facility, and a Department of Education school.File:Mare Island Shipyard at Night 2.jpg|Entrance to The Mare Island Naval Shipyard Industrial Area, April 2011File:Mare Island Shipyard at Night 1.jpg|The Mare Island Naval Shipyard facility, April 2011

Appearances in popular culture

The shipyard was featured by Huell Howser in California's Gold Episode 704.WEB, Mare Island – California's Gold (704) – Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University, 9 December 1996,weblink Scenes from the 2018 science fiction film Bumblebee were filmed in the industrial section of Mare Island, most notably the dry dock slipways.In 2015 FIAT shot an automobile commercial along the industrial waterside, including a chase scene on the old coal shed loading platform.

See also

• Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park
• California during World War II
• California Historical Landmarks in Solano County

{{Commons category|Mare Island Naval Shipyard by decade}}

References

Notes{{reflist|30em}}Bibliography

• Blackman, Raymond V.B. Jane's Fighting Ships 1970–71. London: Jane's Yearbooks.
• BOOK, Gardiner Fassett, Frederick, The Shipbuilding Business in the United States of America, January 1, 1948, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers,
• Lott, Arnold S., Lt. Comdr., U.S.N. A Long Line of Ships: Mare Island's Century of Naval Activity in California. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1954.
• Silverstone, Paul H., U.S. Warships of World War II. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1968.
• Steffes, James, ENC Retired. Swift Boat Down: The Real Story of the Sinking of PCF-19. (2006); {{ISBN|1-59926-612-1}}.
• Tillman, Barrett Clash of the Carriers. New York: New American Library, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-451-21956-5}}.
• 1941 Society of Naval Architects Bulletin, Harold W. Linnehan, writing as a visitor from Design section, Mare Island, California.

External links

{{Commons category}}

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20040214102551weblink">Brief history written in 1939
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20040430201726weblink">Recently written history with photos
• Mare Island Navy Yard {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419080807weblink |date=19 April 2010 }} – 1928. Elbridge Ayer Burbank pencil sketch.
• National Park Service World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area: Mare Island Naval Shipyard
• Mare Island Historic Park Foundation
• WEB, Darryl Manzer,weblink Straightening Nails: A Story of Reuse and Renewal, Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society, February 20, 2005,
• WEB, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Photographs, National Park Service, {{NHLS url, 75002103, y, |format=pdf |access-date=May 18, 2012}}
• {{HAER |survey=CA-3 |id=ca1093 |title=Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Near State Highway 37, Vallejo, Solano County, CA |photos=9 |data=2 |cap=1}}
• {{HAER |survey=CA-3-A |id=ca2543 |title=Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Structural Shop |photos=10 |dwgs=14 |data=4 |cap=1 |link=no}}
• {{HAER |survey=CA-3-B |id=ca2544 |title=Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Pattern Shop |photos=12 |data=3 |cap=1 |link=no}}
• {{HAER |survey=CA-3-C |id=ca2545 |title=Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Sail Loft |photos=8 |data=3 |cap=1 |link=no}}
• St.Peter's Chapel "http://www.mareislandmuseum.org/venues/st-peters-chapel/"

{{San Francisco Bay watershed}}{{National Register of Historic Places}}{{US Fleets}}{{US Navy navbox}}{{Authority control}}