Mare Island Naval Shipyard

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard is located in Solana County, which is about 25 miles northeast of San Francisco. It is most widely known for being the very first United States Naval Shipyard on the Pacific Coast. “The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard (Mare Island, California) from the city of Vallejo, California.”

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the most highly regarded port for submarines on the entire United States West Coast. During World War II, many wartime ships were built in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Mare Island Naval Shipyard was in charge of all of it.

When it all began the Mare Island Naval Shipyard was 956 acres and was purchased by the United States Navy in 1853. Less than one year after the purchase was finalized, the shipbuilding began.

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard saw ships and vessels through the American Civil War, Spanish-American War, and both World War I and World War II. The functionality of the Shipyard did not end there and it was very active from the 1950s to the 1990s. “In 1955, Mare Island was awarded the contract to build USS Sargo, the first nuclear submarine laid down at a Pacific base.” The USS Sargo was such a success, being launched in 1958, that the Mare Island Naval Shipyard got clearance to build seven more nuclear submarines. These were the USS Scamp, USS Halibut, USS Permit, USS Plunger, USS Guitarro, USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the USS Drum.

The USS Drum was the very last nuclear submarine to be launched and that was in 1970. This was also the very last one to ever be built in the state of California. “The Mare Island Shipyard expanded to over 5,200 acres in its service life and was responsible for construction of over 500 naval vessels and overhauling thousands of other vessels.”

Although the Mare Island Naval Shipyard was identified for closure in 1993, it did not completely cease all operations until April 1, 1996. The Shipyard is being used today in a variety of ways and many commercial and industrial businesses are leasing some of its property. The United States Navy continues to have an active hand in the distribution of the land and has since transferred many of its government agencies to the old Shipyard.

To receive a FREE Mesothelioma Web information packet** or to make a request, please fill out the following form :

**For a FREE information packet including treatments, clinical trials, and specialists, please complete the form above or call a Mesothelioma Web coordinator at 1-877-367-6376.

News

Resources

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here