Naval Base San Diego Naval Base San Diego , sometimes called 32nd Street Naval Station , is the largest base of the United States Navy on the west coast of the United States , in San Diego , California . Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet , consisting of 54 ships and over 120 tenant commands . The base is composed of 13 piers stretched over of land and of water . The total on base population is 20 , 000 military personnel and 6 , 000 civilians . History . The of the land on which the Naval Base sits today was occupied in 1918 by a coalition of concrete ship building firms known as the Emergency Fleet Corporation , under the single company name Pacific Marine Construction . But Pacific Marine began to lose profits with the conclusion of World War I , and negotiated a return of the land back to the City of San Diego . Meanwhile , the Navy was exploring the small tract of land to establish a west coast ship repair facility and moved on the opportunity to acquire the land . By 1920 , the Navy and the Emergency Fleet Corporation had negotiated the transfer of land improvements to the United States Navy . Still , three obstacles stood in the way of a Navy repair facility : the coalition company , Schofield Engineering Co . , still retained an option to purchase the existing plant , a local shipping board had not granted permission for more construction and finally the Navy had not yet passed an appropriations bill to authorize funds to begin work . Nevertheless , by June 1920 , Congress passed the appropriations bill - $ 750 , 000 of which was earmarked for the navy repair base . With the money appropriated , Schofield still delayed in releasing their option on the land . At the time , Admiral Roger Welles , then Commandant of the 11th Naval District , had grown weary of Schofield ' s delaying tactics and threatened to pull stakes and establish a repair base in San Pedro , California . His threats worked . On 21 February 1921 , Welles assumed formal custody of the property . In May 1921 , Commander H . N . Jensen , Commanding Officer of the repair tender USS " Prairie " , was directed to moor at the site to establish repair operations . On 23 February 1922 , acting Secretary of the Navy , Teddy Roosevelt Jr . issued General Order 78 establishing the facility as the U . S . Destroyer Base , San Diego . The base has been officially renamed almost half - a - dozen times during its lifetime . During its first years in commission , the base grew rapidly as repair facilities expanded , torpedo and radio schools were established and more shops were constructed . During 1924 , the base decommissioned 77 destroyers and commissioned seven . By 1937 , the Destroyer Base had added two additional tracts of land and by then its 29 buildings and other improvements amounted to a cost of more than $ 3 . 2 million . The base then expanded heavily during World War II and by 1942 , the Navy had added expanded fleet training schools , and an amphibious force training unit . By the following year , it was determined the scope of operations exceeded the base ’ s basic function as a Destroyer Base . The base was re - designated the U . S . Repair Base , San Diego , a title it retained throughout World War II . Between 1943 and 1945 the newly named base performed conversion , overhaul , maintenance and battle damage repair to more than 5 , 117 ships . Central to this maintenance were the Navy ’ s construction and delivery of 155 new floating dry docks deployed to various bases , including three 3 , 000 - ton , three 1 , 000 - ton and one 900 - ton floating docks remaining at the San Diego Repair Base . The floating dry docks became the central repair and training facilities on the base which were crucial to the World War II mission . After World War II , base operations were again reorganized , with a post - war mission to provide logistical support ( including repair and dry - docking ) to ships of the active fleet . On 15 September 1946 , the Secretary of the Navy re - designated the repair base Naval Station , San Diego . By the end of 1946 the base had grown to 294 buildings with floor space square footage of more than , berthing facilities included five piers of more than of berthing space . Land then totaled more than and of roads . Barracks could accommodate 380 officers and 18 , 000 enlisted men . More than 3 , 500 sailors could be fed in the galley at a single sitting on the base . Later , in the 1990s , the Naval Station became the principal homeport of the then U . S . Pacific Fleet when the Long Beach Naval Shipyard was closed for the final time on 30 September 1994 . Naval Station San Diego was realigned under Commander , Navy Region Southwest and became one in a triad of metropolitan Navy bases that now make up the bulk of the metro area Navy ’ s presence . With that change , the base became the hub of all Navy port operations for the Region , assumed logistical responsibility for both Naval Medical Center San Diego and the Region headquarters and was re - designated Naval Base San Diego . Because of its geographic location , and the positioning of its main entrance , the Naval Base has been known as the 32nd Street Naval Station not only by the local community , but Sailors and veterans around the world . Operations . Naval Base San Diego is home port to approximately 54 ships , including 46 U . S . Navy ships , two Littoral Combat Ships two U . S . Coast Guard cutters and eight ships of the Military Sealift Command , as well as research and auxiliary vessels Ashore , the base has approximately 120 separate tenant commands and other Navy support facilities , each having specific and specialized fleet support missions . The base is a workplace for approximately 26 , 000 military , civilian and contract personnel . Additionally , the base has rooms to house more than 4 , 000 men and women in modern apartment - like barracks , including newer state - of - the - art residential towers . Support services on base includes less direct and indirect fleet support : waterfront operations , force protection ( security ) , supply , Navy Exchange and Commissary shopping centers , bachelor quarters , food services , public affairs , administration , transient personnel administration fiscal management , equal employment opportunity , civil engineering , family services , recreation on the base and near various military family housing areas , medical and dental care , religious services , transportation , utilities , legal support , counseling and assistance , facility maintenance , fire protection , educational services , and child care for more than 300 children daily at the base Child Development Center . The base has a plant value of $ 2 . 1 billion .