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Long Beach Naval Shipyard - History

In 1943, the Secretary of the Navy established the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. This shipbuilding and repair facility was located on the south side of Terminal Island in California. The facility was initially constructed on land that was acquired by the U.S. government in 1935, but received a great deal of additional construction and renovation in later years, especially during World War II.

In the years prior to World War II, government authorities became aware that additional capabilities would soon be needed at the site, such as the space and capability to anchor and command a fleet from this region of the United States. An act of legislation passed in 1940, known as Public Law 667, that authorized the Navy to establish a fleet in the San Pedro and Long Beach region of California. Another bill passed granting the Navy several million dollars in order to update the facility and better accommodate an entire fleet of naval vessels. Following this bill, the Navy began construction on the facility, which became known as the Terminal Island Naval Facility.

Eight years later, in 1948, the facility was renamed the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Despite the name change and its implied change in military culture, the facility was only open for four years before it was rendered inactive in 1950. However, the United States involvement in the Korean War began only a few months later, and the facility's active status was reinstated the next year. Following the reinstatement, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard served as a center of fleet support for the west coast of the United States during times of war, working to build, repair, and overhaul naval vessels.

Long Beach Naval Shipyard was vital to the military's ability to repair and build Naval ships. The facility was equipped with the space and technology to perform all of the functions necessary to build and repair non-nuclear ships, including rigging, electrical work, insulating, lagging, sandblasting, welding, woodworking, pipe fitting, and other work pertaining to the repair of Navy ships.

During World War II, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard was a hub of military activity, where desperately needed ships were repaired and built to support the major war effort. In the early 1940s, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard docked over 400 naval vessels, and performed over 300 major repairs, including work on destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and other types of important sea vessels. At the end of the war, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard served as a demobilization center for ships coming back from the war. Following the ceasefire, ships brought to the facilities at Long Beach were repaired and overhauled, deactivated, or converted before being dry-docked or put into storage.

In the years following the war, the facilities at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard were used in a variety of scientific projects, including the famous POLARIS, POSEIDEN, and SEALAB projects. In 1974, reorganization of west coast naval bases resulted in the demotion of status for the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. This change was later repealed in 1979, and the facilities were upgraded to the Naval Base status. Throughout the 1980s, the facilities were used to renovate at least two large battleships.

In the early 1990s, thousands of shipyard workers and sea vessels stationed at the facility were deferred to other various bases along the west coast of the United States. As the middle of the decade approached, the facilities at Long Beach Naval Shipyard were renovated as a preventative measure against pollution of the surrounding environment. With a yearly payroll of nearly $145 million and a responsibility for over 100 acres of property, it was only a matter of time before the facilities closed down in 1997.

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