World War II Database

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.

Ships Constructed at Philadelphia Navy Yard

Philadelphia Navy Yard Interactive Map

Philadelphia Navy Yard Timeline

Photographs

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