View source for Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908

'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Exhibit</font></font> </font>'''

''by Stacey Carter''

[[Image:2025 ShipY035 exhibition-promo Decommissioned.jpg]] [https://www.shipyardartists.com/decommissioned/ '''DECOMMISSIONED: The History of Hunters Point Shipyard'''] ''was curated by Stacey Carter at Building 101 at the HP shipyard, June 5 - August 2, 2025''


[[Image:Naval war college museum great white fleet between SF and Alcatraz and Golden Gate SF2.jpg|800px]]

'''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 [https://navalwarcollegemuseum.blogspot.com/2014/12/on-this-day-in-history-great-white-fleet.html Naval War College Museum]''


<big>'''Great White Fleet Gets Record-Setting Service'''</big>

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. 

[[Image:Wall-3 Ohio Cropped v2.jpg]]

'''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.

[[Image:Wall-3 HPS Box DC12 14 86 1 USS NY 8bit.jpg]]

'''USS New York in drydock at Hunters Point, 1907.'''

''Photo: NARA Pacific Region''

<big>'''FROM PRIVATE INDUSTRY TO NAVAL COMMAND 1909-1939'''</big>

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.

[[Image:W3 8760 1.jpg]]

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

[[Image:Stacey-carter-warship-in-graving-dock.jpg]] 

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

<big>'''THE BAY THAT BACKED THE FLEET'''</big>

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, [[Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard|Hunters Point Naval Shipyard]], Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, [[Marinship to Marin City: How a Shipyard Built a City|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.

[[Image:W3 bomb-shelter 5113 2.jpg]]

'''Joel Z. Hobbs and William J. Greene of Shop 63 (Shipright and Joiner Shop)'''

''Drydocker Newspaper, 1943''

<hr>

[[Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908|Decommissioned: Navy Takes Notice 1908]]

[[Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947|Decommissioned: A Mighty Shipyard 1941-1947]]

[[Decommissioned: Hunters Point and the Atomic Turning Point|Decommissioned: Hunters Point and the Atomic Turning Point]]

[[Decommissioned: The Giant Crane 1947|Decommissioned: The Giant Crane 1947]]

[[Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969|Decommissioned: After the War 1946-1969]]

[[Decommissioned: Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory 1946-1969|Decommissioned: Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory 1946-1969]]

[[category:Bayview/Hunter's Point]] [[category:military]] [[category:1900s]] [[category:1910s]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1940s]]