


Philadelphia Navy Yard
Type | Factory, Shipyard | |
Historical Name of Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThe Philadelphia Navy Shipyard in Pennsylvania, United States dated back to 1776 as the country's first naval shipyard. It officially became a US Navy site in 1801. In 1871, new facilities began to be established for the building of modern ships. In 1917, the Naval Aircraft Factory was established at the shipyard's League Island site. After WW1, the world's largest crane, weighing 3,500 tons, was installed at the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard. In 1926, Mustin Field began operations at the Naval Aircraft Factory site. The WW2-era would represent the shipyard's most productive period. During this period, it employed about 40,000 workers, launched 53 ships, and repaired 574 ships. Among the ships the yard had launched were the large and modern battleships USS New Jersey and USS Wisconsin. It also participated in the American atomic weapons research as Philip Abelson developed the liquid thermal diffusion technique for separating uranium-235 at the Naval Laboratory at the shipyard. After WW2, the shipyard's workforce dropped to 12,000. In the 1960s, ship construction began to be contracted out to private firms. In 1963, Mustin Field ceased operations. The final ship built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard would be the command ship Blue Ridge, launched in 1970. In 1991, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the shipyard's closure, and in 1995 it was formally closed. The 1,000-acre-sized land where the navy shipyard resided were transferred to the city of Philadelphia in Mar 2000. Today the site is of mixed use, with commercial and industrial tenants (including a commercial shipyard), and a small US Navy presence.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Dec 2018
Ships Constructed at Philadelphia Navy Yard
Ship Name | Yard No | Slip/Drydock No | Ordered | Laid Down | Launched | Completed |
Minneapolis | 27 Jun 1931 | 6 Sep 1933 | 19 May 1934 | |||
Shaw | 1 Oct 1934 | 28 Oct 1935 | 18 Sep 1936 | |||
Washington | 14 Jun 1938 | 1 Jun 1940 | 15 May 1941 | |||
New Jersey | 16 Sep 1940 | 7 Dec 1942 | 23 May 1943 | |||
Wisconsin | 25 Jan 1941 | 7 Dec 1943 | 16 Apr 1944 | |||
Doneff | 1 Apr 1942 | 24 Jul 1942 | 10 Jun 1943 | |||
Engstrom | 1 Apr 1942 | 24 Jul 1942 | 21 Jun 1943 |
Philadelphia Navy Yard Interactive Map
Philadelphia Navy Yard Timeline
5 Mar 1931 | USS New Mexico began modernization work at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
30 Jun 1932 | USS R-5 was decommissioned from service at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. |
22 Jan 1933 | USS New Mexico completed her modernization work at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. She departed Philadelphia for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for refresher training. |
1 Oct 1934 | Mahan-class destroyer Shaw was laid down at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States alongside sister-ship Cassin. |
28 Oct 1935 | Mahan-class destroyer Shaw was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. |
18 Sep 1936 | Mahan-class destroyer USS Shaw was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. |
1 Jun 1940 | Battleship Washington was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. She was the first American battleship to be launched since the 1921 launching of battleship West Virginia. |
4 Apr 1943 | USS S-44 arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
23 May 1943 | USS New Jersey was commissioned into service at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
14 Jun 1943 | USS S-44 departed Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
19 Jul 1943 | The US Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States was authorized to embark on the project codenamed Gorgon to develop air-to-air turbojet-powered remotely-controlled missiles. |
2 Sep 1944 | While attempting to unclog a uranium enrichment device at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States for the Manhattan Project, chemists Peter Bragg, Douglas Meigs, and Arnold Kramish accidentally set of an explosion, which sprayed liquid uranium hexafluoride and hydrofuoric acid on them. Bragg and Meigs were killed, while Kramish and two soldliers, George LeFevre and John Tompkins, were seriously injured. |
24 Sep 1944 | USS Wisconsin departed Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania, United States. |
23 Feb 1945 | USS Permit arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
6 Sep 1945 | Destroyer USS Shaw arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard. |
11 Sep 1945 | Destroyer USS Shaw departed Philadelphia Navy Yard bound for the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. |
9 Oct 1945 | USS Bluefish arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
12 Jul 1946 | USS Portland was decommissioned from service at Philadelphia Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. |
10 Feb 1947 | Cruiser USS New Orleans (New Orleans-class) was decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philidelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The ship spent 12 years in the reserve fleet before being scrapped. |
7 Nov 1949 | USS Sea Cat arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States for upgrades. |
11 Mar 1950 | USS Sea Cat completed her upgrade work at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
3 Jan 1951 | Upon ccompletion of submarine Ray's conversion into a radar picket submarine at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, she was resignated SSR-271. |
15 Jan 1952 | USS Sea Cat arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States for conversion into a Fleet Snorkel submarine. |
26 Jun 1952 | USS Sea Cat completed her conversion work at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States and departed for Key West, Florida, United States. |
27 Mar 1953 | USS Ray departed Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States for a training cruise off eastern United States and in the Caribbean Sea. |
5 Mar 1954 | Submarine GĂĽr entered Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States for the second phase of her GUPPY I conversion. |
3 Sep 1954 | Submarine GĂĽr completed her GUPPY I conversion work at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
2 Oct 1967 | USS Sea Robin entered Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States for a scheduled overhaul. |
1 Feb 1968 | USS Sea Robin completed a scheduled overhaul at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, United States. |
Photographs
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Visitor Submitted Comments
12 Aug 2020 11:27:11 AM
I just received a pin from the Naval yard from my cousin’s estate. My grandfather’s picture is on the front, draftsman,0360-19. I gather he worked here during the war as a draftsman. He was a church architect in Philadelphia. George E. Savage. Why did they not have names on the pins? It was in a green velvet box which seemed awfully fancy.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
WW2-Era Place Name | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
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James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, 23 Feb 1945
8 Jul 2018 08:06:42 AM
FOUND A SMALL YELLOW LAMINATED CARD WITH MY DAD'S PICTURE. STATES "PHILADELPHIA DEFENSE COUNCIL, 10/09/1944. IT SATES HE WAS A "MESSENGER" (#3), EMPLOYER F.F.F. Co. PLEASE HELP POINT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE !! THANKING YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ASSISTANCE !!! SINCERELY,
ERIC WEISBLATT
ericw861@gmail.com