I have always heard that Arizona has some incredible sunsets and this evening definitely proved that theory to be true.
I photographed these two NAVY planes in an airplane boneyard outside of Tuscon, Arizona during a night photography taught by TakenPictures and Joe R. Reed.
Cot inside an emergency shelter at a former Northern California Navy fuel depot in use from 1941 through 1995.
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Building 521, Mare Island Naval Shipyard
This large 1940's era building connects with the original 1800's Administration Building and is significant in its architecture as it was the most successful 'modern' building on the base.
(Print - http://smu.gs/1eMHtjJ )Since TheSouthern1800 trip to a few Southern states in May, I haven't explored too many abandoned buildings. I miss the asylums and hospitals, waking up at 3am to be in the buildings for blue hour and dawn, the hours spent in the car listening to music and getting to know your travel companions.
A few weeks ago, some of that longing was fulfilled when a friend invited me to this old shipyard to photograph a few of the buildings I hadn't yet explored.
This is an old military barrack at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard, which housed around 100 military personnel when the base was in operation from the late 1800's to the late 1990's.
Around California, most of the abandoned historical locations once belonged to the military. Land is so expensive here that when most things become abandoned, they are torn down and replaced by something new. The old shipyard and military bases are typically the longest standing abandonments in the area.
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On Wednesday, August 21, the USS Mount Hood was removed from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet and transported to Mare Island to receive a hull cleaning before making the long trek through the Panama Canal to be recycled in Texas.
The USS Mount Hood, a Kilauea-class ammunition ship, was the second ship to be named after the Oregon volcano. Her hull was laid down in May 1967 by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Sparrows Point, Maryland and commissioned in 1971. Her homeport was Concord, California, a short distance from where her hull is being cleaned.
She was decommissioned in Bremerton, Washington in 1999, and transferred to MARAD and placed in Suisun Bay shortly thereafter.
The USS Holland, the second Hunley class submarine tender, was removed from the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on Thursday, July 10, 2013. She was transported to Mare Island where her hull will be cleaned, by Mare Island Ship Yard, prior to her final journey to Brownsville, Texas to be recycled.
For me this is a big moment, as USS Holland was the first ship I ever visited in Suisun Bay back in 2010. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to wander her corridors a few more time over the years, exploring the memories and artifacts left behind by the men and women who served aboard her.
Docked at Mare Island Ship Yard, taken during twilight
Just before the workers arrived to begin work on the hull
The bow of USS Holland in the Mare Island Ship Yard dry dock
USS Holland was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Company in Mississippi and commissioned in 1963. Her mission was to service submarines, replenish food supply, fuel and weapons. She carried a machine shop and was capable of repairing any portion of a submarine.
Her first major mission began in 1964 across the Atlantic Ocean in Rota, Spain where she took over for U.S.S. Proteus, restocking missiles and supplies to the Polaris Submarines.
During her thirty three years in service, USS Holland was recognized ten times for battle efficiency.
She was decommissioned in 1996, while in Guam, and placed in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet shortly thereafter.
Looking towards Mare Island, from Vallejo, at the dry dock
The ship name has faded since being moored in the Fleet
Read more about the USS Holland here.
