Rough and Ready Island Naval Supply Depot

The Commandant of the 12th Naval District endorsed the recommendation for use of Stockton, and added suggested that sufficient property be acquired to provide not only for the supply depot, but also for a freight-car classification yard, in-transit reclassification storage, a material redistribution center, and voyage repair facilities. The Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, in forwarding the request, requested that the number of storehouses be increased from 20 to 36 to accommodate aviation supply storage urgently needed on the West Coast. Preliminary site survey and soil investigation was authorized June 9, 1944. The 1,500 acres (610 ha) island was flat, and foundation experience on nearby structures indicated new buildings could be erected without pile support. Moreover, the presence of sandy soil assured easy earth moving. Thee highway bridges connected the island with the main land, and the Port of Stockton belt-line railroad, which served the site, connected with three large railroads, the Southern Pacific, the Western Pacific, and the Santa Fe.[2]

On July 26, 1944, the Secretary of the Navy approved the ultimate development of the island in four increments, to a total expenditure of $28,490,000. Field work on the construction of the station began August 25, 1944, with the building of a construction camp, railroad tracks, and 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) of open storage. Construction of 28 storehouses, 22 of steel frame and 6 of wood frame, began October 21, 1944. By June 30, 1945, the authorized number of storehouses was 38.[2]

At Rough and Ready Island Annex, all storehouses were built according to designs standardized for the most economical use of space needs presented by the palletization and fork-lift truck programs of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts. The pallet was standardized by the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts to consist of wooden, double-bottomed platforms, four feet square. Each pallets was loaded with packaged material to a height of approximately four feet, formed a cube, which, secured by wire, could be easily and quickly moved by a fork-lift truck and cargo from depot to ship to fighting lines without disassembling. The standard pallets were exchanged between installations, those sent overseas being chalked off as expendable. Buildings to meet this need had been constructed at the other depots, but the growth of the depots had been contemporaneous with the growth of the standardization, so that no other depot met the requirements in every building.[2]

In order to make the most economical use of warehouse space, the Bureau of Yards and Docks designed warehouses approximately 200 by 600 feet (61 m × 183 m), with a capacity of 300 carloads of palletized material. These standardized warehouses were first used at Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and then at Clearfield, Utah, but it was at Stockton that they were first used throughout the station.[2]

Seven steel-and wood-frame transit sheds, 150 by 600 feet (46 by 183 m) or 150 by 680 ft (46 by 207 m), were built along the riverfront levee, together with 6,300 feet of marginal wharf. Original plans called for nine transit sheds and a 6,000 feet (1,800 m) marginal wharf, but unfavorable soil conditions encountered during construction made the reduction necessary. Two structures, originally intended as transit sheds, were erected as storehouses on locations near the center of the island.[2]

Thirty standard-size steel-frame general storehouses, six wood-frame general storehouses, and two steel-frame heavy materials storehouses completed the wartime development of major buildings at Stockton. Forty-four miles of railroads and 32 miles (51 km) of roads and streets were built.[2]

The site offered 7,800 feet (2,400 m) of water frontage available. The Navy built a continuous concrete wharf, at 6,500 feet (2,000 m), able to berth 13 ships in a line. It also allowed sufficient space to provide for the needs of the sub-depot, and berthing space for a minimum of five ships requiring voyage repairs.[2]

The original plan called for the purchase and development of 824 acres (333 ha), but by the end of the first year, 1,419 acres (574 ha) were included in the station, and the remainder of the island—about 79 acres (32 ha)—was to be turned over to the Navy as soon as two oil companies, already established there, were able to develop facilities elsewhere.[2]