Established in 1854, the Mare Island Naval Shipyard became the first U.S. Navy base established on the Pacific Coast of the United States. The shipyard played an important role in the development of America's eventual two-ocean navy forces, especially during World War II when its workers repaired and produced hundreds of ships, including 17 submarines and 31 destroyer escorts. The base closed in 1996 and ownership has been transferred to the City of Vallejo for redevelopment. The historic site contains a small museum as well as hundreds of buildings, including mansions from the early 1900s that served as homes to the base's commandants.
This coastal site's original Ordnance Supply Depot (later renamed the Benicia Arsenal in 1852) was part of a military reservation established by Charles P. Stone in 1851. The arsenal was primarily used for storage and issuance of military materials. Several prominent American Civil War generals, including Ulysses Grant, Edward Ord, and Joseph Hooker, among others were stationed at the Benicia Arsenal in the years between the Mexican War and the Civil War. The arsenal is most famous for supplying munitions to Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle for the first bombing raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942, launched from the USS Hornet (CV-8). Seeing use into the 1960s, the Arsenal was in active service much longer than many military facilities of its kind.
The largest stateside disaster of World War II occurred at this location on July 17, 1944. Port Chicago was a munitions base where Black seamen under the watch of white officers loaded munitions onto ships before they traveled to ships and munitions depots throughout the Pacific. The seamen were not always provided with adequate training or time to complete the dangerous work, and on that fateful day, an explosion aboard two cost the lives of a total of 320 men. 202 of those who died were African American enlisted men tasked with loading ships while the 118 white men were sailors aboard the ships and officers tasked with supervising the Black sailors in an era of racial segregation. An additional 390 men were seriously wounded in what became the worst homefront disaster in World War II. The Black seamen were ordered to continue loading ships shortly after the disaster. Citing the need for a review of loading procedures to prevent future accidents, the 328 Black seamen who survived the disaster decided to refuse their orders until greater safety procedures were in place. In response, the US Navy charged and convicted fifty of those men of mutiny as a "lesson" to any other Black men who might refuse their orders. The incident exposed the unequal and often unsafe conditions that resulted from segregation and revealed a gulf in the way white and Black Americans interpreted the incident. It also led to the largest trial for mutiny in the history of the US Navy.
Broadly representing the millions of American women who stepped into industrial roles during World War II to support the Allied war effort against Germany and Japan, this unique National Park preserves not only the historic status of these “Rosie the Riveters,” but also the legacy of the Henry J. Kaiser Company’s Richmond Shipyards. Springing into life almost a year before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to this day the Kaiser Shipyards still hold the record for shipbuilding speed--roughly 745 vessels in four years, including a Liberty cargo ship in less than 5 days. The accompanying massive influx of workers forever changed the landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. Rosie the Riveter Park includes a museum and memorial dedicated to female war workers, the yard’s original central warehouse, a Ford Motors assembly plant, Kaiser field hospital, a housing development and nurseries for workers and their children, and the SS Red Oak Victory, the last surviving Victory ship.
Designed by legendary architect Albert Kahn and built in 1929-30 as the largest automobile assembly plant on the West Coast, Ford’s Richmond plant was the final assembly point for record-breaking numbers of tanks, jeeps, and other military vehicles when it was mobilized for World War II. Located next to the equally prolific Kaiser Shipyards, Ford’s operation was largely responsible for saving Richmond from economic disaster when the U.S. government shut down Kaiser’s yards (and the accompanying 100,000 jobs) in 1945. Ford Assembly was shuttered in 1955. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, but heavy damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake prevented its reuse until the 2000s, when it was incorporated into the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Park, for which it serves as a visitor center and event space (known as the Craneway Pavilion).
Located in the former Air Terminal building at Alameda Point--formerly known as Naval Air Station (NAS) Alameda--this museum features a variety of exhibits, photographs, and archived newspapers preserving nearly a century of landmark achievements. The airfield and its accompanying facilities have hosted a stunning array of historical figures and events, including admirals and presidents, the first trans-Pacific airline, the loading of B-25 bombers for Colonel Doolittle’s famous air raid on Tokyo, and even the climactic highway chase scene from “The Matrix Reloaded” film. Though the base closed in 1997, the Naval Air Station Museum opened in its current location in 2004. Economic recession stalled further redevelopment of the former base for over a decade, but as of 2015 plans have been approved for the construction of new residential and commercial sites on the site’s 878 acres.
A museum ship preserving the eighth U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name "Hornet," the USS Hornet Museum opened to the public on October 17, 1998. Located on Pier 3 of the former Alameda Naval Air Station, the museum allows visitors to tour the actual USS Hornet (CV-12), an aircraft carrier that served with distinction from World War II to the Vietnam era, and whose breadth of service encompasses not only military service but involvement with NASA's Apollo space program. In addition to Navy aircraft and interactive exhibits and simulations, the museum also features a collection of 8,500 artifacts related to the ship and the men who served on board, plus an extensive research library.
The USS Pampanito is a World War II Balao Class Fleet Submarine built in 1943 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire. The USS Pampanito currently serves as a museum that is operated by the Maritime Parks Association at Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf. The USS Pampanito attracts over 100,000 visitors a year who can tour the World War II era submarine.
Officially named in 1882 Fort Mason (1797-1960), located on a hilltop promontory, was an excellent location for harbor defenses because the promontory commanded not only the cove but the passage between the mainland and Alcatraz. Over the past 200 years, it has been fortified by the Spanish, the Mexican and the United States military. Through its long history of wartime defense and logistical supply, Fort Mason played a pivotal role in keeping supplies moving to the Pacific Theatre. Today Fort Mason is enjoyed by families all across the San Francisco Bay Area for many recreational activities.
When travelling down the road on Lincoln Boulevard, in the Presidio of San Francisco, you can stop at one of the best preserved machine gun nests of WWII. The fact of the matter is that all along the San Francisco Bay are dozens of trenches and foxholes where the army once stood ready to defend our country from an attack out of the Pacific Ocean.
Built between 1902 and 1910 Fort Baker is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Fort Baker is one of the best examples of the army’s “Endicott Period” military construction. Playing a vital role in coastal defense positions on the west coast and logistic support facilities in the Golden Gate. During its time of use during the war, Fort Baker was home to the Coast Artillery Corps, the 91st Infantry Division, and the Sixth ARADCOM Region. Fort Baker was included in a historic district listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.It is home to several recreational and educational facilities, including the Bay Area Discovery Museum, a conference center, and a lodging facility. Some former military buildings have been repurposed for new uses, including housing for park staff and a restaurant. “Future plans for Fort Baker call for a new waterfront center in the old boat shop, where visitors will be able to rent bikes, get trail maps and snacks, and learn about park activities.”
Completed in 1941, Fort Cronkhite would be one of many temporary military posts around the country for the wartime training and housing of soldiers. Fort Cronkhite would be home to the Coast Artillery soldiers who would train and eventually defend the vital harbor of the San Francisco Bay during World War II. These soldiers defending the harbor would be tasked in manning gun batteries, radar sites, and other fortifications on the high ridges overlooking the fort. Fort Cronkhite was named after the deceased Major General Adelbert Cronkhite, a West Point graduate who commanded the 80th Division in France during World War I. By 1974, the fort would no longer be of use to the U.S. Army and was left with nothing.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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A general overview of factories, bases, and fortifications surrounding this crucial harbor during the Second World War. With massive facilities in San Francisco, Richmond, Oakland, Alameda, and Vallejo, the Bay Area was unequaled as a point of embarkation for troops and a naval port on the West Coast. By no means a complete list--will add more as entries become available!
