The U.S. Shipyard

The U.S. Shipyard. . "Without a Respectable Navy--Alas America!" , --John Paul Jones to Robert Morris , October 17, 1776, Early Beginnings of the U.S. Navy , Before the American Revolutionary War, ships in the Southern colonies were constructed using slave labor in private shipyards. In 1767, Andrew Sprowle, a Scottish immigrant, established the town of Gosport and a shipyard near Portsmouth on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. The Gosport yard was very successful, and Sprowle was appointed a British Naval Agent. During the war, Sprowle remained loyal to the British and the Commonwealth of Virginia seized his shipyard to construct its own navy., Congress established the U.S. Navy primarily to protect American merchant shipping from pirates and the British and French navies. In 1794, Congress authorized the construction of six frigates to begin the nation's fleet. Benjamin L. Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy, used money that Congress appropriated for shipbuilding to lease six navy yards, including the Gosport shipyard., The Gosport Navy Yard , On June 15, 1801, the Federal government purchased the 16-acre Gosport shipyard for $12,000. The Gosport Navy Yard was the largest of the navy's shore facilities during the Early Republic and Antebellum Eras. The Gosport Navy Yard's industrial buildings included a smithery, a rigging loft, workshops, a mast house, a boat shop, a cooper's shop, forges, rope-walks, timber sheds, building slips, sail lofts, and a variety of storehouses for construction and rigging materials. Since the Yard served as a supply point, storehouses containing ship's supplies, ammunition, raw materials and finished products were also present. In 1827 work began on Dry Dock 1, which was the first operational dry dock in the U.S. Dry Dock 1 is a National Historic Landmark., Through the Years , In 1862, the shipyard was renamed U.S. Navy Yard, Norfolk, Virginia; in 1929 it was renamed Norfolk Navy Yard Portsmouth, Virginia; and, in 1945 it was renamed Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia., Through the years, many noteworthy accomplishments occurred here including: Confederate forces using the hull of USS Merrimack to construct the CSS Virginia - one of the first ironclad wardships (1862); the first flight deck built on a ship (1910), and repairs to a staggering 6,850 U.S. and Allied ships during world war two and 1,250 vessels during the Korean War., (Photo Captions) , Benjamin L. Stoddert (1751-1813) was the first Secretary of the Navy and served from 1798 to 1801. Under authority and financial backing of the U.S. Congress he established Gosport as a U.S. naval yard and five other navy shipyards. Naval History and Heritage Command, USS Merrimack at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 1861. Naval History and Heritage Command, Oil painting of Norfolk Naval Shipyard by A.C. Muser, 1945. Inscribed on the back as "painted from memory" this scene shows a bustling shipyard. Naval History and Heritage Command, Submarine Chasers are under construction in the dry dock with a flurry of activity all around, 1917. Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Early aerial photograph of Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 1923. Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Norfolk Naval Shipyard main gate, circa 1945. Hampton Roads Naval Museum