That base was open from World War II through the Dotcom Boom.
When I was younger, my dad used to tell me all about it. There wasn’t much to
say about it than another office job that needed to be done. The base served as
the home of many ships for when it was active. Carriers, Destroyers, Cruisers
and variety of other ships to support the USMC in amphibious assaults. The most
significant ships that ever sailed through that base were both USS Hornet
Carriers (CV-8 and CV-12), the USS Hancock (CV-19), the USS Midway (CV-41), the
USS Coral Sea (CV-43), USS Oriskany (CV-34) and the first Atomic Powered
Carrier USS Enterprise (CV-65). But when the Cold War came to a close, the base
was shut down in 1998 and transferred back to the county to do what they wanted
to do with it.
It is now Home to the CV-12 USS Hornet for which the Essex
Carrier sits at the former base as a Naval Aviation Museum. The Carrier
returned to its home when Veterans who served aboard it fought a lengthy battle
with the Navy to save the ship for preservation. When it returned to its home
dock, the spirits of the former crew returned to the vessel to remind everyone
where it has been.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Zc3xuyIRgCQXtb1-_Ux8iEHCA2yxGBh3CIePGSRd4RvpMtYVvnlT0obDQrgjnBU51NxidRlxVGzlJ_zzzJ7iy24taQsLtb_ty8Hc7cXQZ6JBp3cX6Eh_LzD8pbwfd5fK5EN6143MCH4/s320/3273608215_f580f7ab21_z.jpg)
Most of the surrounding facilities that were once the base
have either fallen into mass disrepair or are still in a state of clean up.
Like the Presidio Base in San Francisco, the Alameda Base has gone through its
own turbulence. Alameda is still cleaning up the hazardous waste that is still
at the site.
The plan so far is to make it a residential area once the
clean-up is complete. As for the piers, they are still being used by the city
for its own purposes.