At the end of World War II, the United States possessed the largest naval force in history, and military leaders chose to preserve surplus vessels rather than scrap them so they could be reactivated quickly in an emergency. In August 1945, the Department of the Navy announced that Orange would be a storage site for reserve vessels because the Sabine River's abundant fresh water helped minimize marine growth and corrosion, and an adjacent shipyard could support repair and maintenance of the mothballed fleet. A berthing area for inactive ships was constructed after a permit was obtained for twelve piers, and in November 1945 the facility was named the U.S. Naval Station, Orange, Texas. The first vessel sent there for inactivation was the USS Matagorda, which arrived on November 5. When the Korean War began in 1950, the facility reactivated more than thirty ships, and many were later returned for storage. In 1961, the Orange facility was among fifty-two installations chosen by the Department of Defense for closure or phase-down, but it remained operable with a reduced military presence of twenty-five officers and enlisted men and with many civilians continuing operations. On December 28, 1975, the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Orange closed, and by 1980 all remaining vessels had been transferred elsewhere, sold to foreign nations, or sold for scrap.
