September Reunion

Mare Island to be a home again

In December 2010 the Navy Yard Association (NYA) of Mare Island kicked off an initiative is to save the USS Olympia and bring her back home to the San Francisco Bay Area. The focus of the current effort is raising the necessary funds to conduct a feasibility study for establishing her as a monument at any of a number of potential Bay Area locations. The President of the NYA, Ralph McComb announced that “Our initial focus is to seek endorsements that the effort is worthwhile and that the San Francisco Bay Area deserves consideration due to our historic connection to the ship and our potential to provide sufficient out-of-area visitors to support a sustainable revenue stream.” Three years before Admiral Dewey’s famous engagement with the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay the Olympia departed Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo and at 6:30 on the morning of August 25, 1895 she passed through the Golden Gate. The Olympia was steaming to relieve the USS Baltimore as flagship of the Asiatic Station, a choice assignment, but not one expected to involve sailing into harms way. Certainly no one at the time would have anticipated that Olympia would be tasked to take the offensive against the Spanish fleet following a declaration of war with Spain. A war precipitated by the sinking of the US Navy’s second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship, the USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba. Before leaving Mare Island for the Asiatic station, the Olympia had come to life in the Bay Area over the preceding three years. She was constructed in San Francisco at the Union Iron Works located on Potrero Point. Of interest, the Union Iron Works was the builder of the engines for the Saginaw, which was the first warship launched on the west coast at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1859. By the latter part of the 19th century the Union Iron Works had become renowned for mastering the technical and logistical difficulties of constructing the new armor protected cruiser designs of the Navy Department. The Navy Yard Association (NYA) of Mare Island was established in 1921 when a group of concerned shipyard employees lead the effort with other Naval shipyards and federal activities to lobby the U.S. Congress to create a federal employee retirement system. The NYA mobilized support nationwide and was successful in this effort which eventually resulted in the creation of the civil service retirement system. Since that time the NYA has remained active with a number of noteworthy achievements: · Successfully fought politically motivated efforts to close Mare Island in 1923 when a Naval Commission recommended the Shipyard operations be relocated to Alameda · Successfully lobbied for the capital improvements needed at Mare Island to maintain a high level of service on a competitive basis such as the construction of a new dry dock to construction of a new fire station built in the early 1980’s · In the 1960s was instrumental in creating the Council of Naval Employee's Groups (CONEG) comprised of all West Coast Naval shipyards. CONEG was active in obtaining the 65/35 split for new construction, the larger percentage going to the Naval Shipyards. · In 1986 organized the National Associations of Naval Shipyards (NANS) mobilizing Public Shipyards as single force capable of advancing causes in common. At the Annual meetings in Washington, DC, NANS delegates met with representatives of Navy and Congress to discuss shipyard workloads and ultimately to fight the closures of Naval shipyards. · Created the Northern California Naval Civilian Employees Council (NCNCEC) with representatives from Concord Naval Weapons Station, Alameda Naval Air Station, mobilizing northern California Naval Bases as a combined entity · In the early 1990s, took the lead to mobilize the Northern San Francisco Bay Area to work with local, county, state and federal legislators to fight the closure of Mare Island and provided key testimony before the 1993 Base Closure Commission hearings · Organized in coordination with the Navy, the City of Vallejo and surrounding communities a 3 day base closure celebration in 1996 that included multiple activities across the 5,000 acre shipyard site Highlighting and commemorating the history of the site. · Was Successful in establishing a permanent detachment of former Mare Island employees involved in environmental cleanup efforts for the Navy and other Federal agencies. · Continues to organize employee reunions and support redevelopment efforts at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard · Provide ongoing support to Mare Island Historic Park Foundation's goal to preserve Mare Island's history and make these facilities available to the public. You can learn more about the NYA and our effort to save the Olympia at [Learn More About the NYA effort to save the Olympia].

There is a new issue of the news letter for December 2010 and a new Benefits page.