Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Norfolk Naval Shipyard. . , . On Nov. 1, 1767, Andrew Sprowle, a merchant and shipbuilder, purchased part of this site from Col. William Craford, founder of Portsmouth, and established the Gosport Shipyard, under the British Flag. In 1775 Sprowle was appointed British Navy Agent., . At the outbreak of the American Revolution the Commonwealth of Virginia confiscated and operated the shipyard for the Virginia Navy under the Virginia Flag., . In May 1779, the British forces occupied Portsmouth and burned the shipyard, the largest yard in America., . At the close of the Revolution the Virginia Navy was disbanded, and the shipyard was inactive until Mar. 27, 1794, when Congress passed an "Act to Provide a Naval Armament." The yard was loaned to the United States and operated under the Secretary of War and the United States Flag., . On April 30, 1798, the United States Navy Department was created and the shipyard became known as the Gosport Navy Yard. On June 15, 1801, the site was purchased by the United States from the State of Virginia., On June 17, 1833, the 74-gun ship Delaware entered the newly completed Dry Dock No. 1 to be the first vessel drydocked in the United States., . On Apr. 20, 1861, the Navy Yard was evacuated and burned by the United States forces. The recreated Virginia State Navy immediately reoccupied the yard and operated it under the Virginia Flag. On July 1, 1861, after Virginia united with the Confederate States, the yard was transferred to the Confederate States Navy under the Confederate Flag. During this period the famed C.S. ironclad Virginia was constructed from the frigate Merrimac, in Dry Dock No. 1., . On May 10, 1862, the yard was again burned by the evacuating Confederate forces, and immediately reoccupied by the U.S. Navy., . In 1892, the U.S. Navy's first battleship the U.S.S. Texas was built and launched at this yard, and in 1919-1922 the yard converted the collier Jupiter into the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Langley., . In World Wars I and II the yard rendered meritorious and effectual service to the fleets of the United States and her allies, and up tot he present date has expanded in area to 806 acres., . On Feb. 13, 1929, the yard was designated The Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia., . On Dec. 1, 1945, the name was changed to The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia., This plaque was erected by , The Norfolk Naval Shipyard Historical Association , 1950