page_title: Mare Island Naval Shipyard
section_title: Shipbuilding
hierarchical_section_title: Mare Island Naval Shipyard / Shipbuilding
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS San Francisco (CA-38) steams under the Golden Gate Bridge to enter San Francisco Bay, California (USA), on a foggy 11 December 1942. She was en route to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for battle damage repairs.
context_page_description: The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the city of Vallejo. MINSY made a name for itself as the premier US West Coast submarine port as well as serving as the controlling force in San Francisco Bay Area shipbuilding efforts during World War II.
  The base closed in 1996 and has gone through several redevelopment phases. It was registered as a California Historical Landmark in 1960, and parts of it were declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1975.
context_section_description: Mare Island Naval Shipyard constructed at least eighty-nine seagoing vessels. Among the more important ships & boats built were:
  1858 USS Saginaw – sloop-of-war, wood
  1872 USS Mohican – sloop-of-war, wood
  1874 USC&GS McArthur – Steamer
  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
  1916 USS Caldwell – destroyer, steel
  1917 Fifteen submarine chasers – wood
  1917 USS Fairfax – destroyer – (Destroyers for Bases Agreement)
  1917 USS Taylor – destroyer
  1918 USS Boggs – destroyer – (World War II)
  1918 USS Kilty – destroyer – (Guadalcanal campaign – Philippines campaign (1944–45) – Battle of Okinawa)
  1919 USS Kennison – destroyer – (World War II)
  1918 USS Ward – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign – Philippines campaign)
  1918 USS Claxton – destroyer
  1919 USS Hamilton – destroyer – (invasion of North Africa – Philippines campaign)
  1920 USS Montana – battleship scrapped before completion under terms of the Washington Naval Treaty
  1920 USS Litchfield – destroyer – (World War II)
  1920 USS Zane – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign)
  1921 USS Wasmuth – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor)
  1922 USS Trever – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign)
  1922 USS Perry – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Battle of Peleliu)
  1922 USS 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)
  1934 USS Preston – destroyer – (Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal)
  1935 USS Henley – destroyer – (attack on Pearl Harbor – Guadalcanal campaign)
  With the prelude to, and the outbreak of World War II, the Mare Island Naval Shipyard specialized in submarines, and other than a few submarine tenders, no more surface ships were built there. MINSY continued building non-nuclear subs through the Cold War including two of the three Barracuda-class submarines and USS Grayback, an early guided missile launcher. In 1955, Mare Island was awarded the contract to build Sargo, the first nuclear submarine laid down at a Pacific base. 
  The shipyard became one of the few that built and overhauled nuclear submarines, including several UGM-27 Polaris submarines. 1970 saw the launching of Drum, the last nuclear submarine built in California. In 1972, the Navy officially ceased building new nuclear submarines at Mare Island, though overhaul of existing vessels continued. Nautilus was decommissioned at Mare Island in 1980, then rigged for towing back to Groton, Connecticut to serve as a museum of naval history.
  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 Pac
caption: Heavy cruiser USS San Francisco
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