Historic California Posts, Camps,
Stations and Airfields
Maritime Shipyard
US Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles
District History (1993)
Location: The property is located in National City, west
of Interstate 5. One portion of the property is located between
13th and 15th Streets, and Cleveland Avenue and Harrison Avenue.
The second portion of the property is located between 14th and
19th Streets, west of Tidelands Avenue.
Site History: The Maritime Shipyard consisted of 100.32
acres of tideland property along San Diego Bay. The shipyard
facility was responsible for the construction and repair of concrete
and steel ships. The shipyard was commissioned in 1941 by the
Defense Plant Corporation (Plancor) as an agent of the United
States (U.S.) Government. Records indicate that the U.S. Maritime
Commission, Inc. supervised the construction and Tavares Construction
Company, Inc. was the contractor responsible for the shipbuilding
activities.
Limited data was available concerning the types of improvements
constructed at the shipyard. Records of improvements were only
available for 2.47 acres of the 100.32 acre facility. According
to records (consisting of historical maps and Real property Classification
Forms), this portion of the shipyard facility, located between
13th and 15th Streets and Cleveland and Harrison Avenues, primarily
contained a concrete silo and three aggregate bunkers. Details
relating to specific improvements made to the remaining 97.85
acres were not available. However, at least 50 acres of the remaining
property is beyond the bulkhead line. Therefore, the interpretation
is that a major portion of this property was used to dock ships.
The concrete ship building activities reportedly continued through
World War II. By 1945, the facility was used to repair Navy ships.
In 1945, documents indicated that the Navy Deprtment was interested
in purchasing the property and that the buildings and structures
had already been purchased by the Navy Department. The property
transfer of the 100.32 acres to the Department of the Navy was
completed 20 December 1945. During the late 1940s, the Department
of the Navy relinquished 20.15 acres of the facility and kept
the remaining acreage.
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