Naval base in Florida, United States
Naval Station Mayport
(
IATA
:
NRB
,
ICAO
:
KNRB
,
FAA
LID
:
NRB
) is a major
United States Navy
base in
Jacksonville, Florida
. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military
airfield
(Admiral David L. McDonald Field) with one
asphalt
paved
runway
(5/23) measuring 8,001 ft × 200 ft (2,439 m × 61 m).
[1]
Base history
[
edit
]
The station was commissioned in December 1942. It was reclassified as a
Naval Sea Frontier
base in 1943.
[3]
A new naval auxiliary air station (NAAS) was established in April 1944. The naval section Base and the NAAS supported the
Atlantic Fleet
during
World War II
. Both were closed after the war. In June 1948, Mayport was reestablished as a naval outlying landing field. The base area was increased to 1,680 acres (680 ha) and the runway was extended in the mid 1950s.
USS
Tarawa
became the first
capital ship
to use the new
aircraft carrier
basin in October 1952. The Base was renamed back to a Naval Auxiliary Air Station in July 1955. The naval station was extended to accommodate more ships, sailors and their families and the airfield redesignated as a separate
naval air station
in 1988. As part of post-Cold War force reductions and staff consolidations, NAS Mayport was merged back into NS Mayport in 1992.
[4]
NS Mayport has grown to become the third-largest naval surface fleet concentration area in the United States. The station has a busy harbor capable of accommodating 34 ships and an 8,001-foot (2,439 m) runway capable of handling most aircraft in the Department of Defense inventory.
Naval Station Mayport is also home to the Navy's
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command
/
United States Fourth Fleet
, reactivated in 2008 after being deactivated in 1950.
The base has historically served as the homeport to various conventionally powered aircraft carriers of the United States Atlantic Fleet, including
Shangri-La
(1960?1971),
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1956?1977),
Forrestal
(1977?1993),
Saratoga
(1957?1994), and, most recently,
John F. Kennedy
(1995?2007). With the decommissioning of all conventionally-powered aircraft carriers by the U.S. Navy, no carriers are presently assigned to Mayport. However, both houses of
Congress
have passed legislation authorizing about US$75 million for dredging and upgrades at NAVSTA Mayport to accommodate a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
[5]
[6]
On 29 January 2010, the
Quadrennial Defense Review Report
stated that a nuclear aircraft carrier would be homeported at NS Mayport. The action will help protect the fleet against a potential terror attack, accident or natural disaster, because all east coast aircraft carriers are currently based at
Naval Station Norfolk
, Virginia, according to the report. West coast aircraft carriers are split between
Naval Air Station North Island
in
San Diego, California
,
Naval Base Kitsap
and
Naval Station Everett
in Washington state and one carrier assigned to the Forward Deployed Naval Force (FDNF) homeported at
Naval Base Yokosuka
, Japan.
In 2009,
Robert Gates
,
Secretary of Defense
, stated, "Having a single (nuclear carrier) homeport has not been considered acceptable on the west coast and should not be considered acceptable on the east coast."
[7]
The decision was opposed by elected officials in Virginia,
[8]
who would lose 3,500 sailors and their dependents, $425 million in revenue each year, and most importantly, 6,000 support jobs.
[9]
The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce estimated the loss at 11,000 jobs and $650 million per year.
[10]
Infrastructure changes and facility construction at Mayport were estimated to take five years and cost over half a billion dollars. The 2011 budget committed $590 million during the fiscal years from 2011 to 2019, so a carrier may not move to Mayport until 2019.
[9]
[11]
An amphibious group was assigned sooner. The
USS
Iwo Jima
Amphibious Ready Group
(ARG), consisting of
Iwo Jima
,
USS
New York
and
USS
Fort McHenry
relocated to Mayport between December 2013 and August 2014.
[12]
[13]
The Virginia congressional delegation fought the loss of even one of
Naval Station Norfolk
's aircraft carriers boost to their economy by citing other areas such as shipbuilding to spend the Navy's tight budget.
[14]
On 5 September 2018, the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier,
HMS
Queen Elizabeth
and escort frigate
HMS
Monmouth
, arrived at Mayport for resupplying, on her first deployment to the United States for "Westlant 18".
[15]
Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two
[
edit
]
A 2013 report from the Navy revealed that they are considering basing as many as 14
littoral combat ships
at NS Mayport.
[16]
Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two (LCSRON2) was established at the base on 7 November 2014.
[17]
All
Freedom
variant LCSs, with the exception of the
Fort Worth
are assigned to LCSRON2. Currently
Wichita
,
Billings
,
Indianapolis
,
St. Louis
,
Minneapolis-Saint Paul
,
Cooperstown
, and
Marinette
are assigned to the squadron, with upcoming ships
Nantucket
,
Beloit
, and
Cleveland
expected to be added as they come into service.
[18]
[17]
[19]
Commander Naval Surface Group Southeast
[
edit
]
Mayport had been the home of
Destroyer Squadron 14
for years. On 31 July 2015, the squadron was merged with
Cruiser-Destroyer Readiness Support Detachment Mayport
to form Naval Surface Squadron Fourteen (NAVSURFRON14). In 2024, the SURFRON was turned into Commander Naval Surface Group Southeast (CNSG-SE). Currently, the surface group (surfgru) consists of the destroyers
Carney
,
The Sullivans
,
Lassen
,
Farragut
,
Thomas Hudner
,
Paul Ignatius
,
Delbert D. Black
,
Carney
,
Donald Cook
, and
Winston S. Churchill
.
[20]
Iwo Jima
Amphibious Ready Group
[
edit
]
The
Amphibious Ready Group
is no longer based in Mayport.
Iwo Jima
shifted homeports to
Naval Station Norfolk
in December 2021,
New York
shifted in November 2021, and
Fort McHenry
was decommissioned in March 2021.
[21]
[22]
Homeported ships
[
edit
]
- Cutters (USCG) (1)
- Destroyers (11)
- Littoral Combat Ships (7)
Adm David L. McDonald Field
[
edit
]
On 1 April 1944, the air facility at Mayport was commissioned as Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Mayport. Following World War II, the NAAS was decommissioned and placed in a caretaker status. The
United States Coast Guard
took over the base and operated a small "Boot Camp" there for several years, but they vacated Mayport in late 1947 due to budget cuts. Mayport was reactivated again in June 1948 as a Naval Outlying Landing Field under the cognizance of the Commanding Officer,
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
. As helicopter aviation evolved during the
Cold War
, Mayport became the
East Coast
home for the Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) MK III squadrons. As a reflection of growth, Naval Air Facility Mayport was re-designated as a naval air station in 1988.
[25]
Aircraft wings and squadrons
[
edit
]
Helicopter wing
- Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing, U.S. Atlantic Fleet
Helicopter squadrons
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
FAA Airport Form 5010 for NRB
PDF
, effective 2007-10-25.
- ^
Naval Station Mayport
Archived
2004-03-20 at the
Wayback Machine
(official site)
- ^
military-technology.com
- ^
https://www.navysite.de/homeports/mayport.htm
- ^
"Congress okays plan to upgrade Mayport",
Jacksonville Transportation Examiner
, October 23, 2009.
- ^
"Senate Passes Mayport Upgrade Bill: Bill To Go To President Barack Obama For Approval"
. News4jax.com. 22 October 2009. Archived from
the original
on 26 October 2009.
- ^
"ISSUE: Aircraft Carrier Presence at Naval Station Mayport, FL"
(PDF)
. Camden County Chamber of Commerce. 13 April 2009.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Mayport To Get Nuclear Aircraft Carrier"
(PDF)
. WJTX-TV. 29 January 2010. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 26 July 2011.
- ^
a
b
Bacon, Lance M. (28 April 2010).
"Mayport carrier move not delayed, Navy says"
. Navy Times.
- ^
"Carrier move to Mayport dead in the water?"
. Navy Times. 20 May 2010.
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on 2 March 2013
. Retrieved
9 January
2013
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"USS New York Changes Homeport to Naval Station Mayport"
. Archived from
the original
on 30 December 2013
. Retrieved
29 December
2013
.
- ^
"USS Iwo Jima and USS Fort McHenry arrive at Mayport"
. Archived from
the original
on 23 August 2014
. Retrieved
23 August
2014
.
- ^
Pershing, Ben (16 May 2011).
"Two states, one aircraft carrier and no end in sight"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
@HMSQNLZ (5 September 2018).
"Hello #USA Delighted to announce we have safely transited the pond and are proceeding alongside Mayport Florid…"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
"Fleet Forces Recommends Stationing 14 Littoral Combat Ships in Florida"
. 9 September 2013.
- ^
a
b
"Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 2 Established"
. Archived from
the original
on 19 January 2018
. Retrieved
20 June
2015
.
- ^
"Mayport officials get glimpse into future first 2 Littoral Combat Ships"
. jacksonville.com. 30 December 2016
. Retrieved
25 February
2018
.
- ^
"Mayport welcomes new LCSs to basin"
. mayportmirror.jacksonville.com. 4 January 2017. Archived from
the original
on 26 February 2018
. Retrieved
25 February
2018
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on 31 August 2018
. Retrieved
14 June
2019
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
"USS New York Shifts Homeport to Norfolk"
. 23 November 2020.
- ^
Mongilio, Heather (13 December 2021).
"USS Iwo Jima Arrives in New Homeport at Naval Station Norfolk"
.
USNI News
. Retrieved
13 December
2021
.
- ^
"USS Arleigh Burke Prepares for Home Port Shift to Rota"
.
DVIDS
.
- ^
"USS Jason Dunham arrives at new homeport of Mayport"
. 13 February 2021
. Retrieved
17 February
2021
.
- ^
"History"
. Archived from
the original
on 19 December 2014.
- ^
a
b
c
"Tenant Commands"
. CNIC
. Retrieved
29 October
2021
.
- ^
AirForces Monthly
.
Stamford, Lincolnshire
,
England
:
Key Publishing Ltd
. November 2021. p. 20.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Naval Station Mayport
at Wikimedia Commons
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30°23′31″N
081°25′25″W
/
30.39194°N 81.42361°W
/
30.39194; -81.42361