Naval Station Pascagoula was a base of the United States Navy, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The base officially closed November 15, 2006. The base's property, on Singing River Island in the Mississippi Sound at the mouth of the Singing (née Pascagoula) River, was formally transferred to the Mississippi Secretary of State's office July 9, 2007[1].
This 437-acre (1.8-km²) island is man-made, having been created over the years as dredge materials from the Pascagoula federal channel and nearby Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard were deposited in the area. In the early 1980s Congress approved the strategic homeporting initiative to build additional bases and disperse the Fleet from the main concentration areas. Naval Station Pascagoula was created in 1985 when the Navy selected the Singing River Island location as one of the new Gulf Coast strategic homeport sites. Base construction began in 1988, and the station became an operational homeport of Perry-class guided-missile frigates in 1992 with the arrival of the first ship, USS Gallery.
NAVSTA Pascagoula’s support mission had increased dramatically in subsequent years due to a variety of actions: the BRAC-93 realignment of ships and other units from closing or downsized bases; the reorganization of the Naval Surface Force, Atlantic, which homeported Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers in Pascagoula; and the relocation of both the Pascagoula Coast Guard Station and a Reliance-class (210’) Coast Guard cutter to the naval station.
NAVSTA Pascagoula provided support not only to personnel stationed onboard the station and its homeported ships, but also to pre-commissioning crews of surface combatant ships that were being constructed at Ingalls Shipbuilding. In that regard, beginning in FY99 station assumed ownership and operating responsibility for the Lakeside Naval Support Facility, which is located within the city of Pascagoula approximately 10 miles from the main base, which provides berthing primarily for the pre-commissioning crews. The base also provided support to the Navy community at large in a variety of ways, most notably through the Fleet and Family Support Center, the Housing Referral Office, and the Morale Welfare and Recreation Department.
As of 2005, NAVSTA Pascagoula supported approximately 2,000 active duty military, including those assigned to ships and tenant commands on the station. It employed more than 200 civilian workers; supported 4,100 family members of active duty military; approximately 850 reservists who live in Jackson County; and approximately 4,000 Jackson County retirees and their family members. Total annual economic impact was estimated at $100 million, including payrolls, contracts, goods and services.
NAVSTA Pascagoula epitomized the "clean sheet" design for a modern naval station. Waterfront support infrastructure at NAVSTA Pascagoula includes a 680-foot (205 m) double-deck pier (utilities on lower deck; upper deck free for operational support), two quayside berths, and the full range of services for "cold iron" support of homeported and visiting ships. Ship maintenance and repair support is available from the Navy’s Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity (SIMA), or by contract (there are 17 major shipyards/marine contractors located along the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, La., and Panama City, Fla.).
Tenant commands at NAVSTA Pascagoula included
NAVSTA Pascagoula was marked for consolidation under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's list of base closings in the May 2005 round. This was a blow to Mississippi Senator Trent Lott, who fought to get Pascagoula off the list in 1995. On August 24, 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure committee voted to include Naval Station Pascagoula on its final list of closures. The base officially closed November 15, 2006.