Existing comment:
Naval Base San Diego becomes Headquarters, 11th Naval District:
As the Navy acquired one property after another in San Diego in 1919, it became clear that the Navy Department needed to organize its command and control of the growing naval presence around the bay. The Chief of Naval Operations officially established the position of Commandant of Naval Base San Diego at the end of 1919. Rear Admiral Roger Welles, a battleship squadron commander who would much rather have remained at sea, took the post for the sake of his wife's fragile health -- her doctor deemed San Diego the best place in the US to recover from surgery.
Another huge event occurred at almost the same time: the Secretary of Navy split the unified Battle Fleet into Atlantic and Pacific divisions. In order to gain a sufficient grasp of these sweeping changes, Welles suggested that a new naval district be created with its headquarters at San Diego. This came to pass early in 1921 with the establishment of the 11th Naval District, with Welles its first Commandant. The new District encompassed the six southern counties of California, Arizona and New Mexico. In August 1922 Welles moved his headquarters office from North Island's Administration Building to the new naval warehouse building at the foot of Broadway. |