Mare Island Naval Shipyard - National Historic Landmark
The Mare
Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY)
was the first United
States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean .[4] It is located 25 miles
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
Today, the Mare Island Navy Shipyard is mainly abandoned and
its old buildings, cranes and ship dock structures offer a beautiful subject
for photography. However, my first visit
on Mare Island
The History:
The Navy purchased the original 956 acres (387 ha) of MINSY
in 1853 and commenced shipbuilding operations on September 16,
1854 under the command of then-CommanderDavid Farragut, who
would later gain 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.
During World War II, base facilities included a hospital,
ammunition depot, paint and rubber testing laboratories, and schools for firefighters,
opticians, and anti-submarine attack during World War II.[12] 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.[13] Mare Island even received Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers and four Soviet Navy subs for service.[5] 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.
But see for yourself:
Til next time,
Meggi
PS.: I'd love to hear your comments, pl email me at mraeder33@gmail.com
