The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was the first

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

and was historically important for nearly two centuries. Construction of the original Philadelphia Naval Shipyard began during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

in 1776 at Front and Federal Streets in what is now the Pennsport section of Philadelphia. In 1871, it was replaced by a new, much larger yard developed around facilities on

League Island League Island was an island in the Delaware River, part of the city of Philadelphia, just upstream from the mouth of the Schuylkill River. The island was developed as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Since the late 20th century, it has been re ...

, at the confluence of the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and Schuylkill rivers. The Navy Yard expansion stimulated the development over time of residences and businesses in

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west."." ''City of Philadelphia''. Retrieved November 8, ...

, where many shipyard workers lived. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, some 40,000 workers operated on shifts around the clock to produce and repair ships at the yard for the war effort. The U.S. Navy ended most of its activities at the shipyard in the 1990s, closing the base after recommendations by the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) was a process by a Federal government of the United States, United States federal government commission to increase the efficiency of the United States Department of Defense by coordinating the realignment and ...

commission. In 2000, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, acquired it and began to redevelop the land. First called Philadelphia Naval Business Center, it is now known as The Navy Yard. It is a large mixed-use campus where nearly 15,000 people are employed by more than 120 companies representing a mix of industries, including cell therapy production facilities, global fashion companies, and a commercial shipyard. The U.S. Navy still operates a Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility and a few engineering activities at the site.

History

18th and 19th centuries

The yard has its origins in a commercial shipyard founded in 1776 on

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

's Front Street on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

; it was designated an official

site in 1801. From 1812 until 1865, it was a large ship production center. The first ship launched to the water was the USS ''Franklin''. This event was watched by more than 50,000 spectators. The rapid development of other shipbuilding companies pledged Philadelphia to improve production processes. This was the first shipyard in the world to use floating dry docks in the building process to improve an operating time of the ships. After the advent of ironclad warships made the site obsolete, new facilities were built in 1871 on

at the confluence of the

and Schuylkill rivers. Beginning in the early 19th century, many Philadelphia workers agitated for a reduction in the arduous twelve-hour workday. Prior to 1835, the workday in the Philadelphia Navy Yard was sunrise to sunset, with time off for breakfast. In the summer of 1835 Philadelphia Navy Yard shipwrights, joiners and other workers led the effort to reduce the workday by combining the direct action of a strike, with political pressure to the executive branch. After first seeking workday reduction by a request to the Secretary of the Navy via shipyard Commandant Commodore James Barron, on 29 August 1835 they appealed directly to President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

. Commodore Barron endorsed his workers' request with the following acknowledgment "I would respectfully observe – Seems to be inevitable, sooner or later, for as the working man are seconded by all the Master workmen, city councils etc. there is no probability they will secede from their demands." Their petition was granted and on 31 August 1835 the president ordered the Secretary of the Navy to grant the ten-hour work day, effective 3 September 1835. However, the change was applicable only to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. On 29 August 1836, a committee of Philadelphia Navy Yard mechanics appealed to President Andrew Jackson to extend the law,

"The Committee are sure that if the example is set in Philadelphia it will be llegiblerequired in other places and they will not attempt to disguise the pleasure it would give them as Citizens and as Workingmen to see a reformation taking place under the auspices of the Government."

It was five years before the ten-hour day was extended to all government employees engaged in manual labor; this was accomplished via an executive order by President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

on 31 March 1840.

20th century

The

Naval Aircraft Factory The Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) was established by the United States Navy in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created to help solve aircraft supply issues which the United States Department of the Navy, Navy Department faced upon the ...

was established at the League Island site in 1917. Just after of the end

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a 350-ton capacity hammerhead crane was ordered for the yard. Manufactured in 1919 by the McMyler-Interstate Company in Bedford, Ohio, the crane was called the League Island Crane by its builder. Weighing 3,500 tons, the crane was shipped to the yard in sections. At the time, it was the world's largest crane."McMyler-Interstate Co.." Bedford Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2010. . For many years, the "League Island Crane" was the Navy's largest crane.

Mustin Field Henry C. Mustin Naval Air Facility , also known as NAF Mustin Field, is a former military airfield located at the United States Navy Naval Aircraft Factory on board the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was in service fr ...

opened at the Naval Aircraft Factory in 1926 and operated until 1963. The shipyard's greatest period came in

, when the yard employed 40,000 people who built 53 ships and repaired 574. During this period, the yard built the famed battleship ''New Jersey'' and its 45,000-ton sister ship, ''Wisconsin''. In the Naval Laboratory,

Philip Abelson Philip Hauge Abelson (April 27, 1913 – August 1, 2004) was an American physicist, scientific editor and science writer. Trained as a nuclear physicist, he co-discovered the element neptunium, worked on isotope separation in the Manhattan ...

developed the liquid thermal diffusion technique for separating

uranium-235 Uranium-235 ( or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exists in nat ...

for the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

. The memorial chapel to the Four Chaplains is located on the grounds. After World War II, the workforce dropped to 12,000, as the Navy stabilized its fleet. In the 1960s, the Navy began to contract with private companies to construct new ships. The yard built its last new ship, the command ship ''Blue Ridge'', in 1970. Because of foreign competition and reduced needs due to the end of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the defense

Commission recommended closure of the yard in 1991. The city and state struggled to keep the facility operational, and the planned closing was unsuccessfully litigated to the US Supreme Court in '' Dalton v. Specter''. When the yard finally closed in 1995, it cost the region 7,000 jobs. This followed years in which the region had lost industrial jobs to restructuring and movement of manufacturing overseas. US Senator

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican fr ...

charged that the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

did not disclose the official report on the closing. This resulted in a controversy that led to further legal disputes, but no actions. Since its transfer from the government to the City of Philadelphia, the west end of property has been leased to

Aker Kværner Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

, a tanker and commercial shipbuilding firm.

Dry docks and slipways

Notable ships

* ''Franklin'', a 74-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

launched in 1815, the first vessel laid down at the shipyard. It was started as part of the United States' massive construction program of ships for the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, including twelve ships completed at

Sackets Harbor, New York Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sackett (surname), Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augus ...

for use on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. * ''New Jersey'', an used in

and later * ''Wisconsin'', the last keel laid for a completed battleship of the

, 25 January 1941 * ''Blue Ridge'', an amphibious command ship. This was the last vessel built at the shipyard. It now flies the

First Navy Jack The First Navy Jack was the Jack of the United States, naval jack of the United States from 1975 to 1976 and again from 2002 to 2019. It was authorized by the United States Navy, U.S. Navy and was flown from the jackstaff of commissioned vessels ...

as the oldest actively deployed vessel in the Navy. * Aircraft Carriers ** 3 of 24 *** *** *** * Battleships ** 1 of 2 *** ** 2 of 4 *** *** * Heavy cruisers ** 1 of 7 *** ** ** 2 of 14 *** *** * Light cruisers ** 1 of 9 *** * Destroyers ** 2 of 18 *** *** ** 1 of 10 *** ** 1 of 12 *** ** 2 of 66 *** *** * Destroyer escorts ** 5 of 65 ** 1 of 32 ''Evarts'' converted to s *** ** 10 of 148 ** 2 of 22 ** 4 of 50 ''Rudderow''-class destroyer escorts completed as * APD conversions -> ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia

Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia opened at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1946 to store the many surplus ships after World War II. As part of the United States Navy reserve fleets, the fleet "mothballed" ships and submarines. Many of the ships in the fleet were reactivated for the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and some for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The control of the

reserve fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully Ship decommissioning, decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothba ...

was later transferred to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF). The was used as a barracks ship for the crew at the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia.

League Island after the naval shipyard

The City of Philadelphia became the landlord and owner of the League Island site in March 2000, when the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development (PAID) took title to roughly 1,000 acres from the Navy. Today, the site is operated as a mixed-use industrial park under the name "The Navy Yard". The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) manages the planning, operation, and development of The Navy Yard on behalf of PAID and the City of Philadelphia; its offices are now located at The Navy Yard. A comprehensive master plan was completed in 2004 to redeveloped the former industrial yard to a mixed-use campus. It proposed adaptive reuse of some Navy buildings as office space; maintenance of buildings and campus elements with strong historic interest, such as the Navy Yard Marine Parade Grounds; and construction of new buildings for offices and other purposes as needed for new tenants. This construction has been in the section called the Corporate Center. As of 2010, US Navy activities include Naval Support Activity Philadelphia, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Ship Systems Engineering Station, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic Public Works Department Pennsylvania (NAVFAC MIDLANT PWD PA), and the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF). This last stores decommissioned and mothballed warships and auxiliary naval vessels. Broad Street Navy Yard Marine parade grounds

Broad Street Navy Yard Marine parade grounds

The Navy Yard is now the site of 120 companies with 10,000 employees. New businesses continue to be attracted to the campus, and existing ones expand. Clothing retailer and manufacturer

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland, the United Arab Em ...

consolidated its Philadelphia headquarters on the site. Tasty Baking Company, makers of Tastykakes, has moved their bakery to the 26th Street side of The Yard. Other occupants include Rittenhouse Ventures, Hanwha Philly Shipyard, Rhoads Industries Inc. in Navy Building 57, Energy Efficient Buildings Hub (EEB Hub), RevZilla.com, and Mark Group, Inc. In January 2013, PIDC announced its intention to increase the number of apartments on site for employees (near 1,000) and additional infrastructure development. This is made possible by the public financing of shipyards and investments of private companies. According to the plan for 2013, the number of employees at the shipyard amount to around 30,000 people. In March 2013, the Canadian Pacific – Bulkmatic Transport transload site on Langley Ave was closed. The Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia hosts the annual Philadelphia Base Ball Fair & Exhibition at the Navy Yard Marine Parade Grounds.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1995 disestablishments in the United States Broad Street (Philadelphia) Closed installations of the United States Navy Delaware River Port Authority Front Street (Philadelphia) Infrastructure completed in 1903 Historic American Engineering Record in Philadelphia Historic district contributing properties in Pennsylvania Military installations closed in 1995 National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Shipyards building World War II warships Shipyards on the National Register of Historic Places South Philadelphia United States Navy shipyards