Naval Station Pascagoula was a base of the United States Navy, in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The base officially closed November 15, 2006. The base's property, on Singing River Island in the Mississippi Sound at the mouth of the Singing (née Pascagoula) River, was formally transferred to the Mississippi Secretary of State's office July 9, 2007.
NS Pascagoula began in 1985 when the Navy selected the Singing River Island location as one of the new Gulf Coast strategic homeport sites. Base construction began in 1988, and the station became an operational homeport of Perry-class guided-missile frigates in 1992 with the arrival of the first ship, USS Gallery.
NS Pascagoula’s support mission increased sustantially in subsequent years due to the BRAC-93 realignment of ships and other units from closing or downsized bases, the reorganization of the Naval Surface Force, Atlantic, which homeported Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided-missile cruisers in Pascagoula, and the relocation of both the Pascagoula Coast Guard Station and a Reliance-class (210’) Coast Guard cutter to the naval station.
NS Pascagoula provided support not only to personnel stationed onboard the station and its homeported ships, but also to pre-commissioning crews of surface combatant ships that were being constructed at Ingalls Shipbuilding. The base also provided support to the Navy community at large, most notably through the Fleet and Family Support Center, the Housing Referral Office, and the Morale Welfare and Recreation Department.
By 2005, NS Pascagoula supported approximately 2,000 active duty military, including those assigned to ships and tenant commands on the station. It employed more than 200 civilian workers; supported 4,100 family members of active duty military; approximately 850 reservists who live in Jackson County; and approximately 4,000 Jackson County retirees and their family members. Total annual economic impact was estimated at $100 million, including payrolls, contracts, goods and services.
Tenant commands at NS Pascagoula included * Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity, Pascagoula, * Destroyer Squadron 6, and * USCG Station Pascagoula.
