Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Norfolk Naval Shipyard. “World War II”. The yard’s employment peak of 43,000 workers was reached during World War II when the yard bustled with activity, building nearly 30 major vessels and repairing 6,850 U.S. and Allied ships. The shipyard also built 20 tank-landing ships and 50 medium-landing craft., The shipyard expanded from 352 acres to 747 acres with more than four miles of waterfront. Dry Dock 8 was built to accommodate the Navy’s largest ships., With the close of World War II, the shipyard resumed a peacetime role thatwas accompanied by a reduction in activity and in the number of employees., (captions) , (left) These landing craft were given a high priority when the Allies began preparing for amphibious assaults on European shores and Japanese-held Pacific islands. , (center) More than 100,00 persons watched and millions listened on the radio as the Navy launched the aircraft carrier Shangri-La on February 24, 1944. Shipyarders, who had worked 750,000 man-days building the warship were given an hour off to view the event. Given its name as a result 0f America’s first air raid on Japan from the aircraft carrier Hornet, the ship launched its own attack on Tokyo. , (right) Shift change in 1943 for many of nearly 43,000 employees of the Norfolk Navy Yard.