Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908

Historical Exhibit

by Stacey Carter

DECOMMISSIONED: The History of Hunters Point Shipyard was curated by Stacey Carter at Building 101 at the HP shipyard, June 5 - August 2, 2025

Great White Fleet steams out of San Francisco Bay, July 7, 1908, after a two-month stay in the bay for repairs and R&R for the sailors.

Photo: courtesy Naval War College Museum

Great White Fleet Gets Record-Setting Service

In May 1908, the U.S. Navy’s Great White Fleet arrived in San Francisco during its historic circumnavigation of the globe. The fleet required urgent repairs, but the shallow waters at Mare Island Naval Shipyard couldn’t accommodate the deep-draft battleships. Instead, the Navy turned to Hunters Point. With its deep-water access and large-capacity drydocks, Hunters Point rose to the challenge—repairing 23 ships in just 28 days.

USS Ohio, Hunters Point drydock, 1904.

This record-setting achievement stood for decades and became a lasting point of pride for shipyard workers. The rapid repairs allowed the fleet to resume its global tour on schedule—without revealing the Navy’s logistical vulnerability in Northern California.

USS New York in drydock at Hunters Point, 1907.

Photo: NARA Pacific Region

FROM PRIVATE INDUSTRY TO NAVAL COMMAND 1909-1939

Between 1909 and 1939, the shipyard at Hunters Point was owned and operated by a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel. During this time, it served as a major site for both commercial and military ship repair. The U.S. Navy regularly negotiated lease agreements with Bethlehem for priority access to the drydocks.

In the 1920s, the Navy subsidized the construction of Drydock No. 3, one of the largest drydocks on the West Coast, to support its growing fleet.

By 1939, with global tensions escalating, the Navy moved to secure the site. It purchased the Hunters Point facilities from Bethlehem Steel, allowing the company to continue operating the yard under a three-year lease.

However, following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into World War II, the Navy acted swiftly. It terminated Bethlehem’s lease in October 1941, and on December 18, 1941—11 days after the U.S. declared war on Japan—the Navy assumed full control of Hunters Point, transforming it into a critical base for wartime ship repair.

Drydock, Hunters Point Shipyard
Stacey Carter
20x26"
Ink, pigment and acrylic on paper mounted on wood panel
2024

USS New York in drydock at Hunters Point, 1907
Stacey Carter
10x8"
Ink, pigment and acrylic on paper mounted on wood panel
2010

THE BAY THAT BACKED THE FLEET

During WWII The Bay Area was the largest shipbuilding complex in the world. The primary shipyards of the San Francisco Bay Area included: Basalt Rock Company in Napa, Bethlehem in San Francisco and Alameda, Barrett and Hill, Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, Marinship in Sausalito, Moore Dry Dock in Oakland, Kaiser’s Richmond Yards, United Engineering in Alameda, and Western Pipe and Steel in South San Francisco. Of these facilities, Mare Island and Hunters Point produced warships.