Mare Island Naval Shipyard

Mare Island Naval Shipyard
USS Wadleigh at Mare Island Naval Yard, 10 April 1945.
Mare Island Naval Shipyard is located in California
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard is located in the United States
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
LocationVallejo, California
Coordinates38°5′24″N 122°15′48″W / 38.09000°N 122.26333°W / 38.09000; -122.26333
Built1854
NRHP reference No.75002103[1]
CHISL No.751[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP15 May 1975
Designated NHLD15 May 1975[3]
Designated CHISL1960

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY or MINS) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean[4] and was in service 142 years from 1854 to 1996. It is located on Mare Island, 23 miles (37 km) northeast of San Francisco, in Vallejo, California. 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.[5]

The naval base was closed on 31 March 1996, with more than 7,500 civilians on its payroll,[6] and has gone through several redevelopment phases. It was registered as a California Historical Landmark in 1960,[2] and parts of it were declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1975.[3]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 15 April 2008.
  2. ^ a b "First U.S. Naval Station in the Pacific". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Mare Island Naval Shipyard". National Historic Landmarks Quioklinks. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  4. ^ Adams, George R. (1 December 1974). "Mare Island Naval Shipyard" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places – Inventory Nomination Form. National Park Service. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  5. ^ Mare Island Naval Shipyard: A brief history of a west coast icon (2002)
  6. ^ Pedroncelli, Rich (October 1996). "Good-Bye Mare Island". usni.org. Retrieved 7 July 2024. On Sunday, 31 March, before more than 3,000 people, Cavender, the commanding officer of the Mare Island Navy Yard, closed the base and ended both his career and an era in naval history.