Iconic Williamsburg: The Brooklyn Navy Yard

YS GOLD
On the outskirts of Williamsburg sits the enormous Brooklyn Navy Yard where ships used to be built for the United States Navy, but it has more recently become transformed into a massive commercial center.
Established in 1801, the Brooklyn Navy Yard served as America’s premier naval shipbuilding facility for 165 years, and launched America’s mightiest warships, including the USS Monitor, the USS Arizona, and the USS Missouri. Peak activity occurred during World War II, when some 70,000 people worked at the Yard.
Here, we bring a brief timeline of the Navy Yard history.
In 1637, Dutch settler Jansen de Rapelje purchases 335 acres of land on Wallabout Bay from Lenape Indians. Between 1841- 1851, the government builds its third granite dry dock, using a steam-powered pile driver for the first time in the United States.
In 1852, deeply committed to improving medical care, young naval surgeon E.R. Squibb seeks assignment to the Naval Hospital where he perfects the manufacture of anesthetic ether. In 1857, he founds his own pharmaceutical company outside the Yard, which provides the majority of medical supplies for the Union Army during the Civil War.
In 1858, the Yard-built USS Niagara and the British HMS Agamemnon meet mid-ocean to lay the first undersea telegraph cable. On August 5, Queen Victoria transmits the first Morse code message to the U.S.
Between 1907 – 1909, The Yard-built USS Connecticut serves as President Theodore Roosevelt's flagship of the Great White Fleet, 26 vessels that sail the globe on a 2-year tour ushering in the U.S. as a global power.
In 1960, when a forklift pierces a fuel tank of the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64) during construction, fuel spills on welders below deck, igniting a fire that claims 50 lives and injures 323. The repair costs $75 million and delays the ship’s commissioning by seven months, seriously tarnishing the Yard’s reputation.
In 1966, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara closes the Yard, along with over 90 other military bases and installations. At the time of its closing, the Yard is the employer of more than 9,000 workers and the oldest continually active industrial plant in New York State.
The Yard was in continuous operation until 1966, when it was decommissioned and then sold to the City of New York. Today, the spirit of innovation again abounds on the 300-acre site, where business is booming, employment is soaring, and the Yard is undergoing its largest expansion since WWII.



