Title Page

The first naval shipyard on the West Coast was established September 16, 1854 at Mare Island, California. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the first commander was Commander David Farragut. The yard operated continuously until March 31, 1996 when Defense budgeting closed the shipyard as part of the base conversion process. Over 500 ships were built at the yard during the 142 years of operation. 44 of these ships were submarines. These submarines made an important contribution to the war effort in the Pacific during World War II and made technology advances in the evolution of submarine design.

The purpose of this exhibit is to document the 44 submarines built at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

The material that is presented includes philatelic keel laying, launch and commissioning covers as well as non-philatelic mail to and from the submarines. Not every submarine had an on board post office or had a reported postmark. Those without postmarks are noted.

Exhibit Highlights:

Frame 1:

First Mare Island cachet, V-6 Commissioning
Rare Provisional V-6 cancel
Hand tinted Martin Aden cachets (Sturgeon and Swordfish)

Frame 2:

Rare Mare Island commissioning cachets during war years (Seahorse, Skate, Tang, Tilefish, Spadefish, Trepang, Spot, Springer)
Non-philatelic mail from Skate
Non-philatelic mail addressed to Stickleback

Frame 3:

Drum commissioning cover with officer's signatures

The pages are arranged chronologically by launch date.