二次世界大戰資料庫 (WW2DB)

Contributor: David Stubblebine

ww2dbaseThe Mare Island Navy Yard opened in 1854 as the first United States Naval base on the Pacific coast. It remained in operation for 142 years until its closure in 1996. Mare Island is located in Vallejo, California at the extreme northern edge of the San Francisco Bay complex. Despite its name, Mare Island is considered a peninsula but its connection to the land is through a series of marshes and sloughs so it is effectively an island in terms of accessibility. Mare Island is separated from the City of Vallejo by the Napa River which offers the shipyard a naturally sheltered waterfront.

ww2dbaseThe Navy purchased the original 956 acres (3.9 km²) in 1853 and the base expanded to 5,200 acres (21 km²) by the time of its closing. Shipbuilding operations began on Sept 16 1854 under the command of then-Commander David Farragut. Mare Island served as a major Pacific Ocean repair station during the late 19th century, handling American as well as Japanese and Russian vessels. Ordnance manufacturing and storage were also two key functions at Mare Island for nearly all of its active service. In 1901, the Holland Torpedo Boat Company contracted with the iron works at Mare Island to build two Adder-class submarines, the USS Grampus (A-3) and USS Pike (A-5), which were the first United States Navy submarines built on the West Coast.

ww2dbaseDuring the early 20th century, Mare Island Navy Yard dispatched warships to the Pacific Northwest, Central America, and the Panama Canal to protect US political and commercial interests. Some of the support, logistics, and munitions requirements for the Spanish-American War were filled by Mare Island. Mare Island also sent men, materiel, and ships to San Francisco to assist following the 1906 earthquake. By 1912, Mare Island was home to the West Coast's only Marine Corps recruit training depot, until it was relocated to San Diego in 1923.

ww2dbaseIn March 1917 Mare Island suffered a major explosion of munitions barges. The blast killed 6 people, wounded 31, and destroyed some port facilities. The blast was linked to the German saboteur Lothar Witzke, who was caught and imprisoned in 1918.

ww2dbaseMare Island saw major shipbuilding efforts during World War I. Mare Island holds a shipbuilding speed record for a destroyer that still stands, launching the USS Ward (DD-139) in just 17½ days in May-June 1918. The only US dreadnought battleship built on the West Coast, the USS California (BB-44), was launched at Mare Island in 1919. Noting the power of underwater warfare shown by German U-boats in WWI, the US Navy doubled their Pacific-based submarine construction program at Puget Sound Navy Yard by founding a submarine program at Mare Island in the early 1920s.

ww2dbaseJust as World War I was ending, the Spanish influenza pandemic struck, the 20th century's worst public health disaster until the HIV-AIDS crisis. Unlike many other public health officials at the time, the medical staff at Mare Island Naval Hospital aggressively prepared for the flood of expected influenza cases before the onslaught hit. As a result, the epidemic was managed at the Navy Yard so much better than in the surrounding areas that the civilian community essentially drafted the Navy's medical staff to take over their public health programs over the objections of their own civilian leaders. Once involved, the Navy staff operated with great alacrity and success allowing the impact of the crisis in the surrounding areas to be dramatically reduced.

ww2dbaseLeading up to and throughout World War II, the Mare Island Navy Yard specialized in submarines, and except for a few submarine tenders, no more surface ships were built there. During World War II, Mare Island base facilities included a hospital, ammunition depot, paint and rubber testing laboratories, and schools for firefighters, opticians, and anti-submarine attack. 17 submarines, 4 submarine tenders, 31 destroyer escorts, and 300 landing craft were built at Mare Island during the war and hundreds of vessels were serviced or overhauled at Mare Island. With up to 50,000 workers, the facility reached peak capacity for shipbuilding, repair, overhaul, and maintenance. Many different kinds of seagoing vessels, including both surface men-of-war and submarines and even Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers and Soviet Navy subs, were serviced or overhauled during the war.

ww2dbasePatriotism and esprit de corps among the workers ran very high. Mare Island's military and civilian workforce raised almost $76 million in war bonds; enough to pay for every one of the submarines built at Mare Island during the war.

ww2dbaseAfter World War II, many decommissioned naval ships and submarines were placed in a reserve fleet at Mare Island. Mare Island continued building non-nuclear subs through the Cold War. In 1955, the shipyard became one of the few to build and overhaul nuclear submarines, including several missile submarines. The last nuclear submarine built in California, the USS Drum, was launched in 1970. In 1972, the Navy stopped building new nuclear submarines at Mare Island, though overhaul of existing vessels continued. During the Vietnam War, the US Navy transferred their Brown Water Navy Riverine Training Operations from Coronado, California to Mare Island. Navy Swift Boats and River Patrol Boats trained in the sloughs of the Napa River delta adjacent to Mare Island.

ww2dbaseDuring its 142 years of operation, Mare Island Navy Yard was responsible for the construction of over 500 naval vessels and overhauling thousands of other vessels. Mare Island was identified for closure in 1993 and the facility was decommissioned on April 1, 1996.

ww2dbaseSince the closing, a wide range of private sector tenants have occupied some of the Mare Island spaces but the majority of the former facility is vacant and the long term future of the property remains uncertain.

ww2dbaseAmong the seagoing surface ships constructed at Mare Island Navy Yard were (partial list):
1858 USS Saginaw - sloop-of-war, wood
1872 USS Mohican - sloop-of-war, wood
1875 USS Monadnock - monitor, steel
1886 USRC Cosmos - Revenue Cutter, wood
1904 USS Intrepid - training ship, steel barque
1907 USS Prometheus - collier, steel
1911 USS Jupiter - collier, steel. Later converted to aircraft carrier USS Langley
1913 USS Kanawha - tanker, steel
1913 USRC Guard - Revenue Cutter Service harbor tug, wood
1913 USS Palos - gunboat, steel
1913 USS Monocacy - gunboat, steel
1914 USS Maumee - tanker, steel
1915 USS Cuyama - tanker, steel
1916 USS Shaw, destroyer - steel
1916 USS California - battleship, steel (32,500 ton)
1916 USS Caldwell - destroyer, steel
1917 Fifteen submarine chasers - wood
1917 Fairfax - destroyer (Destroyers for Bases Agreement)
1917 Taylor - destroyer
1918 Boggs - destroyer (World War II)
1918 Kilty - destroyer (Guadalcanal campaign - Philippines campaign (1944-45) - Battle of Okinawa)
1919 Kennison - destroyer (World War II)
1918 Ward - destroyer (Attack on Pearl Harbor - Guadalcanal campaign - Philippines campaign (1944-45))
1918 Claxton - destroyer (Destroyers for Bases Agreement)
1919 Hamilton - destroyer (invasion of North Africa - Philippines campaign (1944-45))
1920 Montana - battleship (43,200-ton) (scrapped under terms of the Washington Naval Treaty)
1920 Litchfield - destroyer (World War II)
1920 Zane - destroyer (Attack on Pearl Harbor - Guadalcanal campaign)
1921 Wasmuth - destroyer (Attack on Pearl Harbor)
1922 Trever - destroyer (Attack on Pearl Harbor - Guadalcanal campaign)
1922 Perry - destroyer (Attack on Pearl Harbor - Battle of Peleliu)
1922 Decatur - destroyer (World War II)
1927 USS Nautilus - submarine (sank 6 ships in 14 World War II Pacific patrols)
1928 USS Chicago - cruiser (Battle of Savo Island - Battle of Rennell Island)
1931 USS San Francisco - cruiser (Attack on Pearl Harbor - Battle of Cape Esperance - Naval Battle of Guadalcanal - Battle of the Philippine Sea - Philippines campaign (1944-45) - Battle of Okinawa)
1934 USS Smith - destroyer (Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands - Philippines campaign (1944-45))
1934 USS Preston - destroyer (Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands - Naval Battle of Guadalcanal)
1935 USS Henley - destroyer (Attack on Pearl Harbor - Guadalcanal campaign)

Submarines:
1936 USS Pompano - submarine (sank 6 ships in 7 World War II Pacific patrols)
1936 USS Sturgeon - submarine (sank 9 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrols)
1937 USS Swordfish - submarine (sank 12 ships in 13 World War II Pacific patrols)
1939 USS Fulton - submarine tender (World War II)
1939 USS Tuna - submarine (sank 4 ships in 13 World War II Pacific patrols)
1939 USS Gudgeon - submarine (sank 11 ships in 12 World War II Pacific patrols)
1941 USS Sperry - submarine tender (World War II)
1941 USS Silversides - submarine (sank 23 ships in 14 World War II Pacific patrols (3rd highest number for a U.S. submarine))
1941 USS Trigger - submarine (sank 18 ships in 12 World War II Pacific patrols (11th highest number for a U.S. submarine))
1942 USS Bushnell - submarine tender (World War II)
1942 USS Wahoo - submarine (sank 20 ships in 7 World War II Pacific patrols (6th highest number for a U.S. submarine))
1942 USS Whale - submarine (sank 9 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrols)
1942 USS Sunfish - submarine (sank 15 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrols)
1942 USS Tunny - submarine (sank 7 ships in 9 World War II Pacific patrols; Vietnam War)
1942 USS Tinosa - submarine (sank 16 ships in 11 World War II Pacific patrols)
1942 USS Tullibee - submarine (sank 3 ships 4 World War II Pacific patrols)
1943 USS Howard W. Gilmore - submarine tender (World War II)
1943 USS Seahorse - submarine (sank 20 ships in 8 World War II Pacific patrols (6th highest number for a U.S. submarine))
1943 USS Skate - submarine (sank 10 ships in 7 World War II Pacific patrols)
1943 USS Tang - submarine (sank 24 ships in 5 World War II Pacific patrols (2nd highest number for a U.S. submarine))
1943 USS Tilefish - submarine (sank 2 ships 6 World War II Pacific patrols)
1944 USS Spadefish - submarine (sank 21 ships in 5 World War II Pacific patrols (4th highest number for a U.S. submarine))
1944 USS Trepang - submarine (sank 11 ships in 5 World War II Pacific patrols)
1944 USS Spot - submarine (sank 1 ship in 3 World War II Pacific patrols)
1944 USS Springer - submarine (sank 4 ships in 3 World War II Pacific patrols)
1945 USS Nereus - submarine tender
1945 USS Stickleback - submarine (1 World War II Pacific patrol)
1947 USS Tiru - submarine
1951 USS Bass - submarine
1951 USS Bonita - submarine
1957 USS Grayback - submarine
1957 USS Sargo - submarine
1959 USS Halibut - submarine
1959 USS Theodore Roosevelt - submarine
1960 USS Scamp - submarine
1961 USS Permit - submarine
1961 USS Plunger - submarine
1962 USS Andrew Jackson - submarine
1963 USS Woodrow Wilson - submarine
1963 USS Daniel Boone - submarine
1963 USS Stonewall Jackson - submarine
1964 Bathyscaphe Trieste II - deep submergence bathyscaphe
1965 USS Kamehameha - submarine
1965 USS Mariano G. Vallejo - submarine
1967 USS Gurnard - submarine
1968 USS Guitarro - submarine
1969 USS Hawkbill - submarine
1969 USS Pintado - submarine
1970 USS Drum - submarine

Ships Constructed at Mare Island Navy Yard

Mare Island Navy Yard 互動地圖

Photographs

Maps

Mare Island Navy Yard Timeline

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