Coast Guard Base Port of New Orleans, Louisianna

[USMC5831]

Ready Reserve Force, or RRF, ships help to offset the shortage of militarily useful US -flagged ships. RRF ships are maintained in four-, five-, 10- or 20-day readiness status by the US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration. When activated, these ships are under the operational control of Military Sealift Command. Ships with four- or five-day readiness status are berthed at ports throughout the United States allowing them to remain close to potential military load-out sites.

Naval Support Activity is located in New Orleans on the Westbank of the Mississippi River. Take I-10 to US-90 Business West and cross the Crescent City Connection Bridge to the WESTBANK. Exit at Gen. de Gaulle South. At the traffic signal turn left onto Shirley Drive, continue straight ahead to the main gate.

For more than 125 years the Navy has called the west bank of the Mississippi River in New Orleans home. In February 1849 acerb on which the Naval Support Activity now stands was purchased for an intended Navy yard. The Navy yard was not built, however, and the land was leased for farming. In May of that year additional ground was purchased by the Navy to enlarge the original site.

In November 1901 the Naval Dry Dock (YFD#2) arrived and the U.S. Navy Station was formally established. In 1902 the Commandant, Eighth Naval District received almost $4 million for new buildings and improvements to the station. Additional property was obtained giving the Navy almost three fourth of a mile of valuable river frontage.

The original buildings, some of which still stand, were completed on the site in 1903. Also located on the grounds is a plantation home, built in 1840. Today that home is known simply as Quarters "A" and is occupied by the area's senior Naval flag officer. Quarters "A", an Antebellum Creole style country home, was placed on the National Register in 1993. Quarters "A" sits on what was once Bienville's personal concession.

The Naval Station remained open until September 1911. Following four years of inactivity, it was reopened in 1915 as an industrial Navy yard for repair of vessels. The station continued in full operation until June 1939 when it was placed in a maintenance status. In December 1939 the station was reactivated and eventually became a base to handle transient naval personnel.

In September 1944 the station was designated the U.S. Naval Repair Base. However, just three years later it was redesignated as the U.S. Naval Station, a name it held until January 1962 when it became the Headquarters, Support Activity, New Orleans. This latter name came about to reflect the fact that the Headquarters, Eighth Naval District was aboard the station as a regular tenant.

Located on the east bank of the Mississippi River are the three largest buildings of the Naval Support Activity. The three giant buildings that tower six floors above the river each contain over one-half million square feet of floor space and house a major part of NAVSUPPACT tenants.

The 30 acres of land and the three buildings have a history that began in June of 1919 when the buildings were constructed for the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps for use as a general depot during World War I.

These buildings were partially used by the QM Corps after completion until February 1931 when Buildings 601 and 602 were leased to the Board of Commissioners, Port of New Orleans.

With the advent of World War II the lease was canceled and the installation reverted to complete use by the military. After the QM Corps gave up the buildings the official title became the New Orleans Port of Embarkation. In 1955 the tract of land was known as the New Orleans Army Terminal. In 1965 the name was changed to the New Orleans Army Base.

There was an expanding naval presence in the lower Mississippi Delta in the middle 60's. In June 1966 the New Orleans Army Base was transferred to the Navy. July 1966 saw the disestablishment of the Headquarters, Support Activity and the establishment of the Naval Support Activity to reflect the changing mission of the station. With this change in mission and designation both sides of the river began serving as the Naval Support Activity for the first time.

Facilities at Naval Support Activity, New Orleans are located near mile 92.8 on the river where the Navy maintains a 374-ft pier on the west bank. With a deck height of 20 ft and an alongside depth of 35 ft, the pier is normally occupied by the USS William C. Lawe (DD-763). Several US Navy small craft utilize facilities located on the shore (south) side of the east end of the main pier structure. The US Government also owns and operates the Poland Street Wharf on the east bank of the river opposite the Naval Support Activity pier just described. The Poland Street Wharf has a 2,193-ft face with alongside depths of 32 to 75 ft, and a deck height of 25.5 ft. It is used primarily by the Military Sealift Command, but a section of the pier is leased to a private steamship corporation.

New Orleans is the largest port in the United States and the third largest in the world. It is an extremely busy shipping terminal that handles vessels with drafts to 40 ft as well as a multitude of smaller vessels engaged in a variety of marine transportation and service activities. River barge traffic is particularly evident as New Orleans is the southern terminus of the Mississippi River navigation system.

The Port of New Orleans has more than 180 piers and wharves located on both sides of the Mississippi River, the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, and the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal. In addition, over 100 additional facilities for small vessels and barges are located on adjacent waterways. Approximately one-half of the deep-draft facilities are for public use and operated by the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. Alongside depths on the Mississippi River facilities generally equal or exceed 30 ft. and deck heights average 22 ft. Some alongside depths and deck heights are less. The primary reason for the unusually high deck heights is the variation in water levels of the river. At New Orleans the extreme difference between high and low stages of the river is 20 ft with the mean difference near 14 ft. The average dates of high-river stage and low-river stage occur in April and October respectively. Zero on the Carrollton river gage (near mile 103) is Mean Sea Level.

Alongside depths and deck heights for facilities on the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal, and adjacent waterways have little uniformity. Complete details of berthing facilities at the Port of New Orleans are to be found in Port Series No. 20 published in 1981 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The publication also provides details of 55 diesel-operated tugs, ranging from 750 to 4,000 horsepower, used for docking and undocking vessels on the Mississippi River.

The Port of New Orleans is located on both banks of the Mississippi River in the southeast section of Louisiana. The lower and upper limits of the Port are approximately 81 and 115 miles above Head of Passes, a common reference point on the Mississippi River which is located at the junction of Southwest Pass and South Pass, the two main channels leading to the Mississippi River. Head of Passes is 20 miles above the seaward entrance to Southwest Pass. The banks of the Mississippi River comprise the highest terrain in the area, with much of the developed land area along the river actually being below sea level. An elaborate levee system has been constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers to protect low lying areas from flooding.

The Port of New Orleans can be reached from the Gulf of Mexico by two main routes. The first, and primary, route is via the Mississippi River, which may be accessed by ships using Southwest Pass or South Pass. A Federal project provides for a 40-ft channel over the bar and through Southwest Pass, and a 17-ft channel over the bar and through South Pass, to Head of Passes. The project further provides for a 40-ft channel from Head of Passes to New Orleans. A second route to the Port of New Orleans is via the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal, a 66-mile channel that extends northwest from deep water in the Gulf of Mexico to the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal at New Orleans. The Federal project provides for channel depths ranging from 36 to 38 ft. Final access to the Mississippi River is via a 640-ft lock at New Orleans. Sill depth at the lock is 31.5 ft at low water. There are no bridges or cables across the Mississippi River below New Orleans, but two bridges cross the river at New Orleans. A high level fixed highway bridge connecting Algiers and New Orleans, 0.6 mile above Canal Street, has a clearance of 150 ft over a central 750-ft width. The Huey P. Long Bridge, a combined highway and railroad bridge crossing the river 9.6 miles above Canal Street, has a clearance of 135 ft for a channel span width of 500 ft. One bridge and two cables cross the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal below the junction with the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal at New Orleans. The Paris Road Bridge, a fixed bridge with a clearance of 135 ft. is located about 4.3 miles east of the junction with the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal. The overhead power cables across the canal near the Paris Road Bridge have a clearance of 170 ft