Pond Naval Island Shipyard

Mare Island Naval Shipyard is important a center of construction and naval repair of the US Navy, located at the North-East of the Baie of San Francisco, with Vallejo (California). The history of this building site extends from its official creation, in 1854, with its closing, in 1996. Island pond, or island of the Mare, is the English translation of the Spanish name , Isla of Yegua.

Origins

After the annexation of California, in 1847, the building site of Island Pond was the first establishment of the marine of the United States on the west coast. Mare Island was bought in 1853. The following year, arrived the commander David G. Farragut, charged to establish a building site naval. The first ship, the US Saginaw was launched the March 3rd 1859. It was about a Canonnière with hull out of wooden, driven by a side paddle wheel actuated by the vapor.

The Shipyard of Island Pond carried out many “first”. The building site was the first of the west coast to have a Cale dries permanent. Built with blocks of Granite, the dry, long hold, 155 meters was completed in 1891, after 19 years of work. In 1910, the building site accepted the mission of building a platform of landing out of wood on the cruiser Pennsylvania , which became thus the ancestor of the Porte-avions. In 1912, it launched the coaler Jupiter , first ship of the U.S. Navy to electric drives. After the First World War, the Jupiter was converted into Porte-avions in Mare Island: the US Langley .

The building site built warships, which took share with the combat of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865), of the Guerre Spanish-American (1898) and of the First World War. After the entry in war of the United States, in 1917, the personnel of the building site passed from 3 500 with 10 000.

The destroyer US Ward , built in Mare Island, in 1918, in only 17 days and half - a record at the time - is especially known to have drawn the first shots from the Second world war for the the United States, and run a Japanese pocket submarine in front of Pearl Harbor, a few hours before the Japanese December 7th 1941 attacks.

The Second world war

During the Second world war, the Shipyard of Island Pond was one of most important centers repair of the fleet of the Pacifique. The American ships damaged during the Campaigns of the Pacific, as well as ships of the allied nations, were repaired there before turning over to the combat. On the whole, 1 227 ships were repaired in Mare Island.

In addition, the building site built during the guerre :

17 submarines

4 supply craft

31 escort ships

33 small ships

more than 300 landing barges.

During the Second world war, the building site employed until 46 000 soldiers and civilians, who accepted the visit of many artists of variety, film stars and musicians, thus taking part in their manner with the effort of war.

The cold war

During the years of the Cold war, the Shipyard of Island Pond built ships with nuclear propulsion, at the conclusion of an intensive programme of staff training and adaptation of his installations to new technologies. Between 1958 and 1970, seventeen submarines with nuclear propulsion were launched to Mare Island. Seven of these submarines were launchers of ballistic missiles. In 1965, the submarine US Vallejo , thus named in the honor of the town of Vallejo, was launched, decorated with immense a Sombrero. Of 1970 with 1996, the Shipyard of Island Pond did not build any ship, but continued its missions with the service of the US Navy. The revision, the setting in the hold dries and the maintenance of the nuclear submarines continued, like their preparation with the secret missions of espionage against the Soviet Union.

The reduction in the Budget of Defense led to the permanent closure of the Shipyard of Pond Island in April 1996. It still employed 9 000 civilians before his closing.

Inheritance

The town of Vallejo has ambitious projects to emphasize Mare Island, a 5 km length island located in the Baie of San Francisco. But the old shipyard is a zone seriously contaminated by many waste and residues generated by the industrial activity: lead, hydrocarbons, solvents (PCB), asbestos, mercury, explosives, etc

Mare Island offers a remarkable monument, the multiconfessionnelle vault St Peter, open in 1901. It has plated bronze walls, a formed ceiling of carved wood panels and especially 29 stained glasses. Sixteen of these stained glasses were carried out by Louis Comfort Tiffany, and constitute a whole of a completely exceptional artistic value.

See too

External bonds

Pond Naval Island Shipyard National Landmark (photographs)
Naval Vallejo and Historical Museum
Pond Island Historic Park Foundation
Island Pond on Google Maps
Island Pond on Wikimapia

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