United States Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

Wikipedia's account of Naval Station Orange says it became the Texas Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, in 1945 with 250 ships, and the Navy built twelve piers in the Sabine River for it. The group held 197 ships when it was disestablished on October 1, 1966, and the site became the maintenance facility. After the facility closed on December 28, 1975, removing every ship took five years. The Navy kept 18.5 acres as a reserve center, and other land went to American Bridge, U.S. Steel, Lamar State College and the Orange port district.

What the plaque says

United States Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility At the termination of World War II, the United States had the largest naval force of any country in history. Prudent military leaders decided against scrapping surplus vessels, in favor of preserving them so they could be activiated quickly in case of emergency. In August of 1945, the Department of the Navy announced that Orange would be one of the locations for the storage of reserved vessels. The abundant fresh water supply of the Sabine River made Orange an ideal location for such a facility, because of the necessity to minimize marine growth and corrosion. Also, the existing shipyard adjacent to the site could be used for repair and maintenance of the "mothballed" fleet. However, it was still necessary to construct a berthing area for the inactive ships, and a permit for the construction of twelve piers was obtained.The facility was named the U.S. Naval Station, Orange, Texas, in November of 1945. The first vessel to report for inactivation was the USS Matagorda, which arrived on November 5. When the Korean War began in 1950, the facility reactivited over thirty ships, after which many were returned for storage. The facility at Orange was one of fifty-two to be chosen in 1961 by the Department of Defense to be closed or phased down. The facility remained operable, but the military presense was reduced to twenty-five officers and enlisted men, and large numbers of civilians were hired to continue operations. On December 28, 1975, the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Orange was closed. By 1980 all remaining vessels were transferred to other locations, sold to foreign nations or sold for scrap. (2008)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stark Museum of Art — 0.6 mi
  A white-marble museum in Orange built by the Stark Foundation and opened in 1978, holding Western art, American Indian art, Audubon's Birds of America and Steuben glass, free to enter.
• Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center — 1.5 mi
  More than 250 acres on Adams Bayou, begun by H. J. Lutcher Stark in 1937, with garden rooms, a cypress-tupelo swamp, a heronry blind and free pontoon tours in season.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 20 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 22 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.

More markers nearby

• Weaver Shipbuilding — steps away
• Riverside Addition: World War II Housing in Orange — steps away
• U. S. S. Aulick — steps away
• Levingston Shipbuilding Company and Edward T. Malloy — steps away