World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe New York Navy Yard was located at Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn, New York, United States, across the East River from Manhattan. It is unofficially and commonly referred to as "Brooklyn Navy Yard". Prior to it having been established a military shipyard, the site had already hosted merchant ship building activities prior to the American Revolutionary War. The US federal government purchased the old docks and 160,000 square meters (40 acres) of land for USD $40,000 in 1801. In 1806, the property was transferred under the control of the US Navy. The first major warship launched at New York Navy Yard was USS Ohio, in 1820. By the mid-1800s, it had become the city's largest employer.

ww2dbaseHeavy ships exiting the shipyard toward the sea must follow a relatively narrow route in the East River. In the 1930s, there were incidences of civilian vessels aiming to hit US Navy ships, which had little room to dodge them, incurring minor damage on their own vessels while gaining the potential for great monetary gains by falsely claiming negligence on the part of the US Navy. According to Norman Jack Kleiss, an officer serving board USS Yarnall (DD-143) at the time, this particular destroyer was chosen as a target by one of these civilian scammers, but Yarnall's captain was able to ward off the "attack" by increasing speed and threatening to ram and capsize the smaller civilian vessel.

ww2dbaseIn 1937, around the time of the start of global hostilities, New York Navy Yard covered a site 810,000 square meters (200 acres) in area. It contained four dry docks ranging in length from 99 to 213 meters (326 to 700 feet), two large steel shipways, and six pontoons and cylindrical floats for salvage work, a power plant, a hospital, a large radio station, a railway spur, foundaries, machine shops, and other shipbuilding and military facilities. It also had housing facilities for US Navy and US Marine Corps personnel. It had about 10,000 workers on its payroll. After the American entry into the war in Dec 1941, the shipyard launched two modern battle wagons, battleship USS Iowa in 1942 and battleship USS Missouri in 1944. It saw its greatest employment in late 1944, with a head count more than 71,000 people, working around the clock. Many of these workers were women, working at stations traditionally seen as domains for men. Between 1941 and 1945, pedestrian walkways on the Williamsburg Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge were encased to prevent espionage, as these walkways provided overhead views into the shipyard. WW2-era commanding officers of New York Navy Yard were Rear Admiral Harris Laning (until Oct 1937), Rear Admiral Clark Woodward (until Mar 1941), Rear Admiral Edward Marquart (until Jun 1943, Rear Admiral Monroe Kelly (until Dec 1944), and Rear Admiral Freeland Daubin (until Nov 1945).

ww2dbaseNew York Navy Yard continued operations after WW2. In 1952, US Navy's first angled deck aircraft carrier USS Antietam was launched there. In 1964, it was announced the shipyard was to be closed for money saving purposes. At this time, it had employed 10,600 civilian workers and 100 military personnel. The closure was anticipated to save about USD $18,100,000 annually. The shipyard was decommissioned from service in 1966. Between 1967 and 1979, four very large crude carriers, eight barges, and one ice-breaker barge were launched from this location; no ships had been built at this site since that time. In 2014, the entire site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Quarters A, the former commanding officer's quarters, was made a National Historic Landmark. Several other buildings were made New York City Landmarks. Today, the firm GMD Shipyard Corporation operates the dry docks for ship repairing services.

Ships Constructed at New York Navy Yard

New York Navy Yard Interactive Map

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New York Navy Yard Timeline

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