USS Wahoo (SS 238)

On this date in 1942 the submarine USS Wahoo (SS 238) was launched at Mare Island. Wahoo was the first sub launched at the Shipyard following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Vallejo Times-Herald reported on the launching:

“Mare Island Navy Yard wrote new history [today]. A very dramatic history, too, with the launching of its first submarine since the declaration of war – the first submarine launched from the new building ways – the first submarine in the U.S. Navy to bear the name USS Wahoo.

“Nor did the sturdy Wahoo’s ‘firsts’ escape the notice of Rear Admiral W. L. Friedell, commandant, who told assembled guests and workmen during the launch-ing ceremonies: ‘With so many firsts to her credit, we may rest assured that Wahoo’s officers and men will see to it that she is first in the performance of her missions and first in her credits for enemy craft.’

“It was another perfect launching for Mare Island. One second, gay flags flying over her decks, the Wahoo was poised high on the ways beside her sister ship, the Whale… another second and beautifully, down sailed Wahoo to the waters of Mare Island channel.”

Vallejo: A Place of Rare Beauty

Perhaps it's true that some things never change. In 1883 the Vallejo Evening Chronicle described Vallejo as "a place of rare beauty," but cautioned that "there is room for a vast amount of improvement." Here is the complete article:

A Place of Rare Beauty

"There are few places in the world so finely situated as Vallejo. The town itself adds little to the lovely scenery that surrounds it. This is a pity, for a clean town with white cottages and church spires enhances the landscape. Still Vallejo is much superior to many of the towns of California and the West. Its yards are trimmer, its shade trees more numerous and the architecture of the cottages and the more pretentious houses more refined and varied. Before the doors of many workingmen's houses geraniums and tea roses are blooming and evergreen trees are carefully trimmed. Indeed the model home for the workingman might be found here in Vallejo, the product of the taste of some mechanic with fine artistic nature. There is a great deal of art displayed in the structure and setting of many of the cottages that cling to the hills. Although there is a great deal of beauty shown in some cottages such instances are too isolated, they are too infrequent. There is room for a vast amount of improvement. Some houses are slatternly kept and their untidiness mars the beauty of the town. Let a generous rivalry spring up between cottagers in the matter of improving their places. In doing this they would be cultivating art, which can find expression in a garden as well as on a canvas. It is a pity that anything is neglected which would add to the beauty of the town, for its location is perfect. The hills, the water, the Island and the colors over them are as beautiful as the most favored spots of Italy."

Vallejo Loses Historic Ship to L.A.?

The recent announcement by the Navy that the World War Two battleship USS Iowa would go to Los Angeles instead of Vallejo is not the first time that Vallejo faced the possibility of losing a historic ship to southern California. Nearly 100 years ago, in September, 1914, the Vallejo Evening Chronicle published an article about the fate of the Receiving Ship Independence, a historic vessel that had been a landmark on the Mare Island water- front since 1857:

"Would Save Independence: Los Angeles Starts Movement to Secure Old Relic From the Navy"

"If Vallejo and other cities in this vicinity do not want the old Independence as a relic there are cities farther away that do. Los Angeles has decided that the frigate would be of value at their port as shown by the following clipping taken from the Los Angeles Examiner."


"By resolution the City Council yesterday requested Mayor Rose to enter into into communication with Secretary of the Navy Daniels urging that official to donate the United States Steamship Independence, the historical craft built at the Boston Navy Yard in the early part of the last century, to Los Angeles as a relic. The resolution was presented by Minute Clerk Carroll at the request of Councilman Betokuski, who is now out of the city."

"The vessel is now at the Navy Yard at Mare Island."

"The resolution calls attention to the fact that the city's acquisition of this historical craft would be acceptable, as forming the nucleus of a naval museum at the Los Angeles harbor."

USS Independence was launched in 1814 at the Boston Navy Yard as the first ship-of-the-line in the U.S. Navy. After more than 40 years of service she was transferred to the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1857 where her upper decks were roofed over and she was converted to a receiving ship. The vessel was a well known landmark on the Mare Island waterfront for many years, but eventually time took its toll on the old wooden-hulled ship.In 1912, Independence sank at her moorings. Efforts to pump out and refloat the vessel were unsuccessful, and the Navy finally decided to scrap the old relic.

Ultimately, the plan put forward by Los Angeles did not come to fruition. Independence was towed out to the mudflats of the Bay and burned. Today, only photographs and a handful of artifacts from the ship survive.

USS Tunny (SS 282)

Seventy years ago today, on November 10, 1941, a keel laying ceremony was held at Mare Island for the Gato-class submarine USS Tunny (SS 282). The United States' entry into World War Two was less than a month away, but already Mare Island was gearing up its production to meet wartime needs that seemed inevitable. Tunny was the 12th submarine built at Mare Island, but many more would follow once the U.S. entered the War. This is how the Vallejo Times-Herald covered the keel-laying ceremony:

"In a dramatic salute to Armistice Day, which the yard is observing tomorrow, Mare Island Navy Yard laid the keel of the submarine USS Tunny at 12 o'clock today"

"The keel laying of the Tunny marks the third submarine to occupy ways No. 3 during 1941 and the fifth submarine keel to be laid down during this year. The USS Gudgeon was launched from this spot on January 25 and the USS Trigger on October 22. Submarine keels laid during 1941 include the USS Trigger, laid February 1; the USS Wahoo and USS Whale, laid June 28; the USS Sunfish, laid September 25, and this, the USS Tunny, laid today."

"The brief formal program was void of speech-making or fanfare - it was a short, businesslike procedure - another job in the process of being done. Commencing at noon with a selection by the yard band, the actual keel laying commenced at 12:05 when Captain F.G. Crisp, U.S.N., yard manager, gave the order and the riggers hoisted the keel into position. Robert F. Cooke, foreman, electric shop, and W.N. Simons, chief quarterman, electric shop, acted as honorary welders by putting the first weld on the Tunny keel."

"At 12:15, upon completion of the welding, Lieut. Comdr. Leverett S. Lewis, U.S.N., acting hull superintendent, inspected the welds and reported: 'The keel is well and truly laid.' The national anthem by the yard band closed the ceremony."

USS Tunny was launched on June 30, 1942 and commissioned on September 1 of that same year. The submarine made nine war patrols in the Pacific during World War Two and survived the War, returning  to Mare Island for decommissoning in December 1945. The sub was later recommissioned and modified to serve in the Navy's experimental Regulus missile program. Tunny served through much of the Cold War and was decommissioned for the last time in 1969. She was sunk in 1970.

Celebrate Vallejo!

Prohibition Comes to Vallejo

Founded by German immigrants Charles Widenmann and Peter Rothenbusch, the Solano Brewery was renowned for its Solano Steam Beer. By 1891 the Marin Street facility had a brewing capacity of 6,000 barrels a year and boasted its own malting house. Charles Widenmann later bought out his partner and continued operating the brewery until 1918. Members of the Widenmann family were prominent in the area's political, educational, business, medical, and civic affairs for many years.

When Prohibition put the Solano Brewery out of business, the company's enterprising owners closed the Marin Street brewery and reinvented their business around the corner on York Street as the Solano Ice Cream Company. Nationwide Prohibition took effect in 1919, but in Vallejo taverns and breweries within five miles of Mare Island Naval Shipyard were ordered closed by the Secretary of the Navy in 1918 due to military restrictions imposed during World War I.

The Delightful Miss Carrie

      Please join us at the Museum on Tuesday, August 30 at 6:30 p.m. for a very special program and book signing with author Sonja Bartimus. The author’s recently released biographical novel is “The Delightful Miss Carrie,” which recounts the true-life adventures of Carrie Watson Dinsmore, born in Vallejo in 1889, who had summed up her experiences as a “life tapestry of gold and gray threads.”

     After her mother’s death in 1897 when Carrie was just 8, her father came   to her and said, “I’ve discovered a gold mine! We’re rich!” Carrie’s adventures then unfold, taking her from the mines of California and two major fires at the family’s lumber ranch in Calaveras County, through the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Great Depression that robbed her of her fortune, and her eye-witness account of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Along the way,  her life was punctuated with London tea parties, ocean voyages, and the heart-rending losses of the two men she loved. “A story of an ordinary person living in extraordinary times –  a story well worth telling,” says the book’s editor.

     The author grew up on a northern Missouri farm, and as a teenager in 1956 had met Miss Carrie. Several years ago Bartimus had a chance to read her memoir, being safe- guarded by Miss Carrie’s granddaughter Carol Borchers, of Kansas City, Mo. They decided to honor Miss Carrie’s wishes by turning   her story into a book. Bartimus has worked as a reporter and written freelance articles for several magazines. “The Delightful Miss Carrie” is her first book.