WORKING IN LONG BEACH 
The Naval Shipyard

Wikipedia tells us: “The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1997, was located at Terminal Island. On February 9, 1943, the Secretary of the Navy established the facilities as the US Naval Dry Docks, Roosevelt Base, California. The name of this facility was changed to Terminal Island Naval Shipyard on November 30, 1945. The name became Long Beach Naval Shipyard (NSY) in March 1948. During World War II, the naval dry docks provided routine and battle damage repairs to a parade of tankers, cargo ships, troop transports, destroyers, and cruisers. Peak employment of 16,091 civilian employees was reached in August 1945.”

If your ancestor worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, you might find him mentioned in the following online resources:

USS Helena website at http://www.usshelena.org/longbeachnavalshipyardindex.html. This site has 31 pages of historic photos and employee lists.

The Long Beach Naval Shipyard Employees Message Board at http://www.network54.com/Forum/2001 is a good source of information about former LBNSY personnel.

Other sources of information :

You might also find a mention of your ancestor in the book A History of the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Roosevelt Base & Reeves Field N.A.S., by Richard A. Kandgraff. This book is available for purchase at Amazon in a paperback edition.

Questing Heirs Genealogical Society member Floyd Farrar recalls the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in his article “Only Memories Remain.” Floyd served on the minesweeper USS INFLICT (MSO-456) as an Electrician’s Mate 2/c from early February 1959 through mid August of 1962. Read his memoir at
http://www.historycentral.com/navy/Inflict/LongBeach.html.

RESEARCH TIP: Use message boards to find ancestors who served on particular ships or who worked on specific bases.