Shipyards

Bethlehem Steel Shipyard
Ground was broken at the Bethlehem Steel Company in Bethlehem, PA in 1860 with the plant opening 3 years later in 1863.  Bethlehem Steel immediately became known for the excellent products it produced and many of the devices and methods used in the steel industry for decades after had their start at this plant...

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Founded by John Jackson in 1781 and purchased by the U.S. government 20 years later, the Brooklyn Navy Yard made its mark in U.S. history as a builder of ships that served in many of the wars fought by the United States throughout the centuries...

Charlestown Navy Yard/Boston Navy Yard
Along with five additional locations on the Northeastern coast of the U.S., the Charlestown (Boston) Navy Yard was established at the turn of the 19th century by mandate from the Secretary of the Navy...

Defoe Shipyard
The Defoe Shipbuilding Company was founded in 1905 in Bay City, Michigan.  The company had its beginnings building fishing boats but when the gas engine came into use shortly after 1905, Defoe began building pleasure craft.  A dozen years later, the company began accepting U.S. military contracts, first building torpedo chasers and steam mine-chasers during World War I, and later constructing ice cutters for the Coast Guard, and PC boats, tugs, minesweepers, and destroyer escorts during World War II.  After the war, Defoe continued receiving naval contracts for landing craft.  The company folded in 1976...

Federal Shipbuilding
The Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was located in Kearny Point, NJ, not far from the city of Newark and just a stone’s throw from Manhattan.  The shipyard, built for the construction of “steel ocean-going vessels”, was opened in 1917.  Owned by U.S. Steel, the facility quickly became one of the top producers of cheap yet reliable ocean transportation...

Fore River Shipyard
Located about 10 miles south of Boston, straddling the towns of Braintree and Quincy, the Fore River Shipyard was founded in the late part of the nineteenth century by Thomas Watson, famous for his role as Alexander Graham Bell’s assistant. (Remember, “Watson, come here.  I need you?”)  It would eventually become one of the largest and most prolific shipyards in the United States, supporting the country through both world wars and beyond.

Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
Established in 1868, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is located on San Francisco Bay.  Originally built for commercial use, the U.S. Navy purchased the shipyard just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Jumping directly into the war effort, the employees at Hunters Point repaired hundreds of Liberty Ships during the early 1940s.  Shortly after the war ended, Hunters Point became the site of the Navy Radiological Defense Laboratory, a division of the military that was charged with the decontamination of ships that had been involved in nuclear testing.  This shipyard reached its peak during the Korean War, employing more than 11,000 military and civilian workers...

Kaiser Shipyard
Located north of San Francisco in California’s Contra Costa County, the Kaiser Shipyard played a large role in the economy of the northern California town of Richmond, especially during the years of World War II...

Long Beach Naval Shipyard
The Long Beach Naval Shipyard (LBNS) was established just prior to World War II, when it was recognized that a major anchorage and operations area was needed in Southern California.  The location was chosen due to its protected basin on the Port of Long Beach and the fact that it was just miles from the open sea...

Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Located near the Northern California town of Vallejo, north of San Francisco, the Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINS) was founded by the U.S. Navy in 1854, with a mission to maintain, overhaul, and refuel ships.  This shipyard, the oldest on the West Coast, built more than 500 ships, large and small, including the USS California, the only battleship ever built on the West Coast of the United States...

Newport News Shipyard
Home to the first dry dock in the world, the expansive Newport News Shipyard (NNS) in Virginia was at the forefront of the shipbuilding industry for decades, from the time it opened in 1886 and produced its first tugboat to the present...

Norfolk Naval Shipyard
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) is the U.S. Navy’s oldest shipyard and, in actuality, pre-dates the Navy itself by 31 years.  Also the largest naval base in the world, Norfolk had its start as the Gosport Shipyard during Colonial times, until its name was changed in 1862...

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The oldest shipyard in the United States, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard has a long history of building and repairing some of the nation’s greatest ships.  Philadelphia, a center for Colonial politics, was thought to be the perfect location for a shipyard and, in succeeding years as the city grew, the Philadelphia Navy Yard was expanded greatly...

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Located in the Piscataqua River Estuary between New Hampshire and Maine, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) is the oldest continuously operating government-run shipyard in the United States, founded in 1800. Built by a mandate from Thomas Jefferson, this shipyard continues to operate more than 2 centuries later.  PNS’s first project was a 74-gun warship, completed in 1815.  Its claim-to-fame, however, came to light during World War I, when the shipyard began to build submarines.  During World War II, PNS built 70 submarines and later, in the 1950s, began to construct submarines and submersibles of the nuclear variety. Today, the shipyard’s primary mission is the overhaul, repair, and modernization of LOS ANGELES-class nuclear powered submarines...

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
In 1891, a 190-acred site was acquired on the Sinclair Inlet of Washington’s Puget Sound, earmarked as an excellent spot for a naval base.  Located in what would soon be known as Bremerton, the base began building its first dry dock in the late 1890s and by 1901, it had been elevated to Navy Yard status.  In 1913, another dry dock was added, making the yard suitable for repairs on any battleship that was currently on the seas...

San Diego Naval Shipyard and Air Station
Established in 1910 by Glenn H. Curtiss, a rival of the Wright Brothers, the San Diego Naval Shipyard and Air Station on the North Island section of San Diego has long played an important role in U.S. military history.  This 5,000 acre complex is the headquarters for 6 major military flag staffs including: Commander Naval Air Force; Commander Third Fleet, responsible for the defense of the western approaches to the US and the direction of joint, combined, intertype and fleet exercises in the eastern Pacific; US Pacific Fleet, responsible for maintenance and training of all naval aircraft and aircraft carriers in the Pacific Fleet; Commanders Carrier Group One and Seven; and, Commanders Cruiser Destroyer Group One and Five...

Todd Pacific Shipyards
Located in the waters of Washington’s Puget Sound, Todd Pacific Shipyards opened in 1916 and has, since that time, specialized in routine ship maintenance, emergency repairs, extensive overhauls, and conversions.  Todd is also the largest private sector provider of maintenance, repair, and overhaul to the US Navy for ships home ported in or visiting Puget Sound, WA.  During World War II, Todd built, repaired, or converted 23,450 ships.  Todd Pacific Shipyards has also been responsible for maintenance on the Washington State Ferries for many years and currently employs between 500 and 800 workers...

New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Despite its name, the New York Shipbuilding (NYS) Company was actually located in Camden, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.  The yard was originally scheduled to be built on Staten Island but owner Henry G. Morse changed his mind and decided Camden provided a better location.

Electric Boat
Now owned by General Dynamics, Electric Boat (EB) Corporation was established and incorporated in 1899.  From that time on, its name has become synonymous with the manufacture of submarines.

Washington Navy Yard
Situated on the banks of the Anacostia River on land that was set aside by George Washington for federal use, the Washington Navy Yard is the U.S. Navy’s oldest shore establishment.

Naval Submarine Base New London
Commissioned in 1868 and opened in 1872, the Naval Submarine Base in New London (CT) was the U.S. Navy’s first submarine base and is dubbed “Home of the Submarine Force.”  Located on Connecticut’s Thames River, the base began with 112 acres, 2 brick buildings, and a T-shaped pier.  Today, the base measures about 687 acres.  It’s also home to 530 acres of family housing, 18 attack submarines, and the Navy's nuclear research deep submersible NR-1. 

Pensacola Naval Air Station
A National Historic Landmark since 1976, the Pensacola Naval Air Station has been rebuilt several times since its opening in 1826.  Confederate soldiers destroyed most of the base in 1862, but its buildings were reconstructed after the war. A 1906 hurricane destroyed most of those newer buildings and Hurricane Ivan, which struck the Florida panhandle in 2004, caused more significant damage, causing many historic buildings to be demolished.  Still, this southern naval base, occupying 5,800 acres along the Pensacola Bay, remains an important part of American naval history and is often nicknamed the “Cradle of Naval Aviation”.

Avondale Industries
Avondale Operations, a subsidiary of Northrup Gruman Corporation, is located on the banks of the Mississippi River, approximately 12 miles upriver from downtown New Orleans.  It has been in continuous operation since its humble beginnings in 1938 and is now Louisiana's largest manufacturing employer, boasting more than 6,000 employees.

Bollinger Shipyards
Bollinger Shipyards, family-owned and operated since 1946, specializes in the repair, conversion and new construction of a wide variety of small to medium-sized offshore and inland vessels. Bollinger owns a total of 13 shipyards, located throughout South Louisiana and Texas.  All are strategically located to allow easy access to the central Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River.  In total, Bollinger Shipyards boasts 40 dry docks ranging in capacity from 100 tons to 22,000 tons.

Ingalls Shipbuilding
Situated on the Pascagoula River in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Ingalls Shipbuilding is owned by Northrup Gruman Corporation.  Opened in 1938, it’s currently the largest private employer in the state, with about 10,000 workers performing various shipyard duties.

Astoria Voyage Repair Station
Astoria Voyage Repair Station is Cascade General's Voyage and Small Vessel Repair Division.  Located in Astoria, Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River, the station serves the entire U.S. West Coast. 

Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Co.
More than 75 years old, Bender Shipbuilding has long been one of the premiere yards on the Gulf of Mexico.  Located in Mobile, Alabama, Bender has more than 7,000 feet of deep water frontage, accessed by a 42-foot deep channel from the Gulf of Mexico.

Seward Ship's Drydock
Located in the Alaskan city of the same name, Seward Ship’s Drydock opened in 1973 and immediately became vastly popular as a repair center, primarily for fishing vessels.  The drydock outgrew its location in less than a year and moved to the current home of the Seward Ship’s Chandlery in Leirer Industrial Park.  Until 1985, the company also operated a 300-ton marine railway facility. When that Lowell Point facility closed, Seward Ship's began drydocking and servicing vessels at the Seward Marine Industrial Center. 

Atlantic Drydock
Atlantic Dry Dock, located in Jacksonville, Florida, was established in 1966.  It was a by-product of Atlantic Marine (AM), which was opened in 1964 for the express purpose of building ships.  When it became apparent that AM needed room for a repair facility, Atlantic Dry Dock was built on an adjacent property and became part of the AM family. 

Mayport Naval Station
Naval Station Mayport (NSM), located in Jacksonville, Florida, was commissioned in December 1942, just a year after America became involved in World War II.  It is now the third largest fleet concentration area in the U.S.  Its harbor, with easy access to inland waterways and the open ocean, is capable of accommodating 34 ships, and an 8,000-foot runway can handle any aircraft in the Department of Defense inventory.

Pearl Harbor Shipyard
Situated on the southern shore of the island of Oahu, the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard has long played an important role in defending the West Coast of the United States.  The shipyard is located five miles from Honolulu and just a short drive from famous Waikiki Beach.  It occupies 308.3 acres and boasts 177 buildings, 32 berths, 4 dry docks, and 3.5 million square feet of covered work area.  It employs about 4,300 civilian employees and approximately 700 military personnel.

Bethlehem Shipbuilding
Bethlehem Shipbuilding at Sparrows Point was an iron and steel plant from 1889 until the time that it was sold in 1997 to Veritas Capital Fund, a New York-based merchant banking and investment firm. Veritas assumed operations at that time and changed its name to Baltimore Marine, Inc.  The company was liquidated at auction in 2003. 

Naval Station Pascagoula
Closed as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendations, Naval Station Pascagoula once occupied 187 acres on Singing River Island, which is located in the Mississippi Sound at the mouth of the Pascagoula River.  The station was commissioned in 1985, construction began in 1988, and the station became an operational homeport of Perry Class guided missile frigates in 1992.

Lyon Shipyard
Established in 1928, Lyon Shipyard is located on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia.  The early shipyard consisted of a frame machine shop with offices and storeroom on the second floor, and a carpenter shed located at the head of two marine railways.  Wooden barges, fishing vessels, and steam powered tugs were repaired there and drydocking services were available.

Carolina Shipping Company
Founded in Charleston, South Carolina in 1927, the Carolina Shipping Company has a long history of excellent service and dependability.  During the first several decades of its existence, the company was primarily concerned with performing agency and stevedoring services and operated a number of its own general cargo vessels.

Naval Station Newport
Newport, Rhode Island has long been considered an important naval town, due to its strategic geographic location on the Narragansett Bay.  Back in the 1600s, even the English considered building a naval station there, but the plans never materialized.

Portland Shipyard
The Portland Shipyard (PSY) is one of the largest repair facilities in the world.  It is situated on 40 acres on the Wilamette River and is owned and operated by Cascade General. 

Voyage Repair Station Port Angeles
The Voyage Repair Station in Port Angeles, Washington, owned by Cascade General, specializes in emergency topside repairs.  It is located in the first inbound anchorage on the Strait of Juan Fuca and provides 24-hour-a-day service at the entrance to the Puget Sound. 

Detyens Shipyards
In 1962, William Detyens opened a new ship repair facility in Charleston, S.C.  As the company continued to grow, it began servicing both commercial and military vessels.  Throughout the next few decades, the need for naval repair stations grew and Detyens added yet another site, known as Shipyard River, to handle the increasing business.

Charleston Naval Shipyard
Established in 1901, the Charleston Naval Shipyard sits on the Cooper River in the city of North Charleston, South Carolina.  Since that time, the shipyard has played a major role in each of the wars that have involved the United States Navy.

Swan Island Shipyard
Kaiser Swan Island Shipyard, now owned by Cascade General, was built as an emergency shipyard during World War II.  The United States Marine Corp paid $23 million for the space for this shipyard, located at the Port of Portland.  Swan Island was one of four shipyards constructed in response to the need for facilities to build T-2 tankers.  The employees at Swan Island built a total of 153 tankers from October 1942 through July 1945. 

Caddell Dry Dock and Repair
Founded in 1903 by Nova Scotian John B. Caddell, Caddell Dry Dock and Repair of New York has played a significant role in U.S. maritime history during the last century.

Moore Dry Dock Company
Moore Dry Dock Company of Oakland, California was established in 1909.  The company was involved in large-scale rapid production during World War I and made a huge contribution to the war effort at that time.  During this first wave of shipbuilding, the yard built standard-design cargo ships and tankers for the U.S. Navy.

Consolidated Shipyards
In 1941, the Consolidated Steel Corporation built a shipyard in Wilmington, CA in order to accommodate the need for more locations in which to build ships for World War II.  At that time, the company was awarded a Maritime Commission from the U.S. Navy and commenced with their new job of constructing vessels for the military. During the peak years, Consolidated Shipyards of Wilmington employed about 12,000 workers. 

Ellicott International
Since its establishment in 1885, Baltimore’s Ellicott International has been producing dredge machinery.  As a matter of fact, the company manufactured all the cutter dredges used in the building of the Panama Canal.  The first was delivered in 1907.

Conrad Industries
Founded in 1948, Conrad Industries began its operations in Morgan City, Louisiana and now owns four facilities in South Louisiana and Texas, all with convenient access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Tampa Bay Shipbuilding
Tampa Bay Shipbuilding and Repair Company is a full-service facility offering overhauls, conversions, and repairs.  Conveniently located in Tampa, FL with easy access to the Gulf of Mexico, this shipyard touts itself as the largest, most complete shipyard between Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Hampton, Roads, Virginia.

Southwest Marine (formerly Bethlehem Shipyard, San Pedro)
Southwest Marine Terminal of San Pedro, California, formerly a Bethlehem Steel shipyard, was established in 1917 and is of the oldest shipbuilding and repair facilities at the Port of Los Angeles.  For years, it was one of the smallest facilities at the Port, surrounded by giants like Todd and Consolidated Shipyards, but it is currently the only one still in existence.

Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
The U.S. Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay is more than a century old.  This Baltimore, MD yard has long been the Coast Guard’s sole shipbuilding and major repair facility, and an essential part of the Coast Guard's core industrial base and fleet support operations.

Kaiser Vancouver Shipyard
Established in 1942, the Kaiser Vancouver Shipyard was one of the most prolific Pacific Coast shipyards in operation during World War II.

Naval Station Everett
Construction on Washington’s Naval Station Everett began in 1987 and concluded in 1994, with the arrival of naval personnel who were to be stationed at this modern base. 

Foss Launch and Tug Company
Foss Launch and Tug, now Foss Marine, was established in 1889 when Norwegian immigrant Thea Foss bought her first row boat from a disgruntled fisherman on the Tacoma waterfront. 

NORSHIPCO (Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corp.)
NORSHIPCO, founded in 1915, is a subsidiary of United States Marine Repair Incorporation. 

GMD Shipyard
Located within the confines of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, GMD Shipyard is the largest dry dock facility in New York City. 

Duwamish Shipyard
Duwamish Shipyard, Inc. is located on the west shore of the Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington.

Lake Union Drydock
Lake Union Drydock Company was established in 1919 and is located on the eastern shore of Lake Union near Seattle, Washington.

Sun Shipbuilding
Located in Chester, PA, Sun Shipbuilding got its start in 1917.  According to records, it launched its first ship just before America entered World War I.

Halter Marine
Headquartered in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the Halter Marine Group designs, builds, converts, and repairs offshore drilling rigs, vessels, and engineered products for both government and commercial customers.

Colonna’s Shipyard
Colonna’s Shipyard of Norfolk, Virginia was built in 1875, founded by Charles J. Colonna.  The yard is situated on the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River, convenient to all port facilities and terminals in the Port of Hampton Roads.

Naval Station Ingleside
On the northern shore of Corpus Christi Bay, in an area known as the Coastal Bend, Naval Station Ingleside (NSI) is one of three South Texas installations that comprise Naval Region South.

Little Creek Amphibious Base
Located in Virginia Beach, Little Creek Amphibious Base was created in 1942 in order to create new methods and techniques for landing troops on foreign shores.

Willamette Iron and Steel Yard
Established in 1904 in Portland, Oregon, Willamette Iron and Steel Yard played a role in both World War I and II. 

Brown Shipyard
In 1942, after spending a few decades working together in the construction industry, Texas brothers Herman and George Rufus Brown formed the Brown Shipbuilding Company.