Orange, Texas has a long association with the U.S.Navy. Its shipyards build 39 destroyers, 93 destroyer escorts, 106 landing craft, and numerous other vessels in World War II. Orange was home for 250 "Mothball" ships of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet after WWII. Forty of these ships served in the Korean War.During 1974, the Navy began phasing out the fleet berthing operation. By the latter part of that decade, all of the ships were gone. In 1975, Naval Reserve Centers located in Beaumont and Lake Charles were disestablished and the selected reservists were assigned to a consolidated site in Orange.The 18.5 acres that remain in the Navy's hands are the site of the present U.S. Navy Reserve Center, Orange, Texas.
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