Naval Operating Base Terminal Island Explained

Naval Operating Base Terminal Island
Location:San Pedro, California
Coordinates:33.757°N -118.2481°W
Built:Founded 1941
Architect:US Navy

Naval Operating Base Terminal Island, (NOB Terminal Island) was United States Navy base founded on 25 September 1941 to support the World War II efforts in the Pacific War. Naval Operating Base Terminal Island was founded by combining Naval Facilities in cities of San Pedro, Long Beach and Wilmington, California under one command. Much of the base was on the man-made Terminal Island, and harbor in San Pedro Bay. The harbor was made through the construction of a large breakwater system.[1] [2]

Naval Operating Base Terminal Island Facilities

Naval facilities were combined under one Naval command by The US Navy Department General Order No. 154. At the end of the war, the facilities were renamed to be US Naval Bases. [3] [4]

Naval Facilities that made up Naval Operating Base Terminal Island:


Roosevelt Base Terminal Island

See main article: Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Roosevelt Base Terminal Island shipyard was founded in September 1942 as a ship repair facility. Construction started in 1939. Roosevelt Base also was the administrative and 40 acre recreational center for the Naval facilities on Terminal Island. Roosevelt Base Terminal Island was renamed Naval Station Long Beach on 15 November 1946. The Roosevelt Base had: shipyards, a Marine barracks, fuel tank foram, net depot, ammunition depot, hospital, prison, degaussing range, radio station, mess halls and recreational center, schools, and Navy barracks. The expansion of the harbor breakwater and dredging to make more land was included in the Roosevelt Base plan. The Navy contractors that oversaw the construction were the Guy F. Atkinson Construction Company of San Francisco and the George Pollock Company of Sacramento, with Allied Engineers of as architects and civil engineers. [5] [6] Roosevelt Base Terminal Island was boarded by Ocean Boulevard, Pennsylvania Avenue, Richardson Avenue and Idaho Street, on Naval Station Long Beach. Construction started in 1940 on one large drydock and two small docks. The complete construction of base was completed in 1943. The 11 buildings on the base were built in the Mediterranean Revival architecture.[7] Roosevelt Base Terminal Island shipyard was named the Terminal Island Naval Dry Docks in June 1940.[8] In August 1940 on one. In April 1942 piers were completed.[9] On 9 February 1943 the named of the shipyard change again to US Naval Dry Docks, Roosevelt Base, California. With so much activity in the peak of World War II, in 1944 a pontoon bridge was built to Terminal Island. The pontoon bridge was removed after the completion of the Gerald Desmond Bridge in 1968. With the end of World War II the shipyard was again renamed on 30 November 1945 to Terminal Island Naval Shipyard and in March 1948 renamed to Long Beach Naval Shipyard (NSY) On 15 November 1946, the adjoining Naval Station Long Beach was established.[10]

Small Craft Training Center

See main article: US Navy Small Craft Training Center. Small Craft Training Center was located on Roosevelt Base, but operated independently. Many small wooden crafts were used in World War II. These crafts were given the nickname Splinter Fleet. There was a shortage of steel and steel shipyards during World War II, so there was a need for a vast wooden fleet of crafts. The Small Craft Training Center Terminal Island housed 7,500 troops. The Small Craft Training Center had classrooms and crafts for training. To get men and craft out into the field quickly, the crafts the men training on were new ships. The new ships were at the center for about 4 weeks as part of the vessel's sea trial. [11] [12] [13] tugboats, minesweepers, Net laying ships and other crafts built in California were take to the center for testing. Crafts built at Lynch Shipbuilding in San Diego, California, were taken to the center for their sea trial. Lynch Shipbuilding built tugboats and minesweepers. Some of the craft at the school were: USS Density (AM-218), USS Waxsaw (AN-91), USS Climax (AM-161), USS Wateree (ATF-117), USS Quest (AM-281), and USS Snowbell (AN-52). Other local craft builders were: Harbor Boat Building Company, Fellows & Stewart, Hodgson-Greene-Haldeman Shipbuilders, Peyton Company, Wilmington Boat Works, Al Larson Boat Shop, Garbutt-Walsh Inc., South Coast Shipyard, United Concrete Pipe Corporation, and San Pedro Boatworks The US Navy also had Small Craft Training Centers in Miami, Florida, Santa Barbara, California and other sites.[14] [15]

Terminal Island Facilities

The Navy operated a number of Facilities on Terminal Island:[16]


San Pedro Facilities

thumb|Los Angeles Harbor Light built in 1913, on the 2.11-mile San Pedro breakwater was completed in 1911, part of Naval Operating Base Terminal Island in World War IINaval Base San Pedro at Pier No. 1:[16]

Long Beach Facilities

Long Beach Facilities:

thumb|Entrance to Camp Ross in San Pedro, supporting troop deparing at Naval Operating Base Terminal Island

Camp Ross

See main article: Camp Ross. Camp Ross was a United States Army World War II base and served as a staging area (embarkation camp) under the command of the Army's Los Angeles Port of Embarkation. The camp was located in San Pedro and Wilmington. Troops were housed, processed, and prepared before departing on a ship at Naval Operating Base Terminal Island.[17] [18]

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/historic-bases/san-pedro.html The Navy at San Pedro, Terminal Island, California
  2. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/169-TI-NOB/index.html Naval Operating Base Terminal Island
  3. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/g/general-orders-1921-1935.html Navy Department General Order No. 154
  4. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/169-TI-NOB/169-TI-NOB-1.html Founding of Naval Operating Base Terminal Island
  5. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/169-TI-NOB/169-TI-NOB-1.html The origins of the Naval Operating Base, Terminal Island
  6. https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/organization-and-administration/historic-bases/san-pedro.html San Pedro Base
  7. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca2200/ca2253/data/ca2253data.pdf Roosevelt Base Terminal Island
  8. Board of Harbor Commissioners, "Every Day is Navy Day in Long Beach." Harbor Highlights, Summer 1955
  9. Book: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940–1946 . VIII: Navy Yards and Graving Docks . Bingham, Kenneth E. . 1947 . 1 . US Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks . 201–203 . 21 November 2016.
  10. The Administrative History of the Naval Operating Base, Terminal Island San Pedro, California, by Lieutenant Commander H.T. Rouse, 1953
  11. Web site: Wooden Ships and Barges. shipbuildinghistory.com.
  12. Web site: Ghost Fleet of MallowsBay.
  13. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a218028.pdf Wood Boats
  14. http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/40/40036h.htm USS ATR-36
  15. http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/small/lynch.htm Lynch Shipbuilding shipbuildinghistory.com
  16. Web site: Historic California Posts: Major Navy and Marine Corps Installations During World War II. www.militarymuseum.org.
  17. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ca/ca2200/ca2253/data/ca2253data.pdf Roosevelt Base Terminal Island
  18. Book: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940–1946 . VIII: Navy Yards and Graving Docks . Bingham, Kenneth E. . 1947 . 1 . US Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks . 201–203 . 21 November 2016.

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