1st US Naval Facility on West Coast Under Attack

Dwayne Clark of the Boating Safety Law and News blog sent the following story:

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Mare Island Naval Shipyard "could face the wrecking ball under a development plan approved by the city of Vallejo that envisions a mix of housing, offices and open space."

While preservationists, including state and federal officials, are outraged by the plan, the Vallejo City Council in November unanimously approved the controversial development plan.

The Mare Island shipyard was established by the Navy in 1854 and was known as Naval Magazine, NSY Mare Island. The shipyard’s primary missions were to maintain, overhaul, and refuel ships, including nuclear-powered ships; provide logistical support for ships and service craft; and provide services and materials for other Navy functions.

During its tenure as the Navy's oldest base on the west coast, Mare Island built 512 ships and repaired hundreds more. Those ships, both great and obscure, fought in every conflict since. Mare Island's first ship, the paddle-wheeled gunboat Saginaw, was launched before the Civil War, in 1859, and its last ship, the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Drum, was launched in 1970 when our country was divided over the Vietnam war. These vessels also included the small ferryboat Pinafore, which chugged between Mare Island and Vallejo for 30 years starting in the 1890's, and the battleship U.S.S. California, the only battleship built on the west coast. Military Analysis Network

Ships of Mare Island