Philadelphia's Naval Shipyard

The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was the first naval shipyard to be established in the United States. Since that time, the Shipyard has served commercial ventures as well as a working shipyard that produced numerous ships during World War II. The Shipyard is no longer under government direction; however, it is still an important symbol of the history of Philadelphia as well as our nation.

The Shipyard was authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1799 to the tune of $522,678; a record sum at the time. The funds were used to purchase the land on which the Shipyard was to be established. Originally, the Shipyard was located in Southward. As the city grew; however, it became necessary for the shipyard to be relocated to Langley Avenue.

In 1801 the yard was established on Front Street and was established as an official United States Navy site. As ironclad warships became more prominent the site was no longer necessary and eventually new facilities were constructed on League Island, along a seven mile stretch of waterfront. The entire complex spans 904 acres and includes 390 buildings. Five graving dry docks are also included in the shipyard as well as 29,044 lineal feet of berthing space.

The shipyard served a variety of uses. The primary use of the site for a number of years was conversion and new construction of ships. In 1917 the Naval Aircraft Factory was established at League Island. Following World War I, a huge 350 ton capacity crane was ordered for the yard. For a number of years, the crane was the largest in the entire Navy. The shipyard's greatest period arrived with World War II, during which time the yard employed some 40,000 people. The majority of the workers in the yard were employed at constructing 53 ships while others worked on repairing nearly 600 ships. The famed USS New Jersey was constructed by the yard during this time as well as the New Jersey's sister ship, the USS Wisconsin.

After the end of World War II, the workforce at the yard dropped significantly. The last new ship to actually be constructed at the yard was the USS Blue Ridge in 1970. During the late 1960s the new construction business was gradually phased out under direction of the Defense Secretary. As a result, new construction was outsourced to the private sector. Overhaul work and ship repair were subsequently assigned to the shipyard. Over time, the shipyard developed an expertise in electronics, high-pressure steam turbine engines and combat systems.

Due to this, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard commonly received assignments for those ships which required extensive combat and electronics systems work. At times, the shipyard also rebuilt several of the Navy's aircraft carriers.  Closure of the yard was recommended in 1991 due to reduced needs and foreign competition. Local efforts attempted to keep the yard open; however, it was finally closed in September of 1995. The property was eventually sold to Aker Philadelphia Shipyards and currently serves as a commercial shipyard.