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Long Beach Navy Memorial - Long Beach, CA
Posted by:
bluesnote
N 33° 45.622 W 118° 11.770
11S E 389223 N 3736229
A large Navy memorial located in the Long Beach Harbor.
Waymark Code: WMWF28
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 08/25/2017
Views: 3
The sign says: Long Beach Navy Memorial
1940s to 1990s
When Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor in 1941, a large number of U.S. military personnel based in Long Beach are on duty in Hawaii. Many never return home.
During the war, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard employs more than 16,000 people around the clock, repairing hundreds of ships damaged in battle. The largest battleships and aircraft carriers are repaired at Dry Dock #1, the Moreel. The Queen Mary is dry-docked there after it's voyage from England in 1967. In 1942, the Long Beach Naval Hospital is constructed on Seventh Street.
In 1945, Titan, the world's largest floating crane, standing at 274 fee tall, is shipped from Germany to Long Beach as a war prize and is nicknamed "Herman the German". It is used to repair Navy ships. Forty years later, it lifts the 444,000 pend Spruce Goose, setting a world's record. After the war, Shipyard workers build a pontoon bridge and a vertical lift bridge, the Heim Bridge, connection Long Beach with Terminal Island.
With the outbreak of the Korean War, once again the Long Beach Naval Station and the Long Beach Naval Shipyard are major support facilities for the Pacific Fleet.
During the Vietnam War, Long Beach is home port to 112 ships. Among them are the nuclear powered driven missile cruisers Bainbridge, Long Bach, and Truxton, the aircraft carries Bennington, Hornet, Kearsarge, and Yorktown, and Pacific mine sweepers.
As the Vietnam War concludes, thousands of Navy families establish permanent Homs in Long Beach. In the 1980s, the Shipyard modernizes the famous battleships New Jersey and Missouri (Mighty Mo) for decommissioning. In 1992, the Navy decommissions Mighty Mo in Long Beach.
Operation Desert Storm is the last chapter in the Long Beach Naval Station's and the Long Beach Naval Shipyard's long service to our country. In 1994, the Naval Station closes permanently followed by the departure of Herman the German to Panama. The Naval Shipyard closes in 1997.
List if there are any visiting hours: 24/7
![](/images/spacer.gif) Entrance fees (if any): 0
![](/images/spacer.gif) Sponsor(s): City of Long Beach.
![](/images/spacer.gif) Relevent website: Not listed
![](/images/spacer.gif) Parking coordinates: Not Listed
![](/images/spacer.gif) Date dedicated: Not listed
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