| The History of
BNY |
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| 1625 |
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Sarah Rapelje, allegedly the first European born in the Nieuw Netherlands colony is delivered on this bay in the area of Brooklyn known by the Lenape Indians as "Rennegachonk". |
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| 1637 |
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Walloon Jansen de Rapelje purchases 335 acres of Rennegachonk territory from Dutch West India Trading Company. The land is renamed Waal Boght, from the dutch meaning either “Bend in the River” or “Bay of Walloons”. This later becomes Wallabout Bay. |
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| 1776-1783 |
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NEW YORK CITY’S OCCUPATION
AT THE TIME OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
As many as 11,000 die on the British prisoner
ships moored off Wallabout Bay, the most infamous
being the Jersey, where American soldiers,
merchants and traders are imprisoned for disobeying
the British embargo. |
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| 1781 |
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John Jackson and his brothers purchase from Cornelius Remsen a parcel of the Rapelje land where they build the area’s original shipyard on the muddy marshlands. |
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| 1798 |
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The US Government commissions from Jackson the 28-gun frigate USS Adams. She serves with distinction, sailing to the West Indies during the Quasi-War with France, and later patrolling the East Coast to protect American commerce. Finally, she is burnt by her crew to avoid British capture in the War of 1812. |
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| 1801 |
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NEW GOVERNMENT MAKES
THE LAND PURCHASE
The United States government purchases Jackson’s
land for $40,000. |
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| 1806 |
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Lieutenant Jonathan Thorn, US Navy, takes command of the United States Navy Yard at New York, working under verbal orders from the Secretary of the Navy Yard. He is Commandant for one year only, and in 1811 is killed with his crew on John Jacob Astor's Tonquin near Vancouver Island. |
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| 1814 |
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Congress allocates
funds for the construction of the United States’
first steam-powered warship, the Fulton Steam
Frigate, also known as Demologos and
Fulton the First. Though her trials prove
steam technology sound, the Fulton tours
only once around New York Harbor and is then
after kept at the Yard as a receiving ship. |
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| 1820 |
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The Ohio, first
ship constructed at the Yard and put to use,
is launched. |
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| 1824 |
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The Government purchases from Sarah Schenck the 25 acres of property on which the Naval Hospital now stands. |
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| 1826-1827 |
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The Yard’s existence is jeopardized during Congressional debates, some arguing that its draft is too shallow, making access difficult. |
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| 1829 |
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The Fulton Steam
Frigate suffers complete destruction in
an accidental explosion that kills 29 men. |
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| 1833 |
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Commodore Matthew
C. Perry is instrumental in founding
the Naval Lyceum to "promote the diffusion
of useful knowledge, foster a spirit
of harmony and unity of interests in
the service, cement the links which unite
us as professional brethren." The first
professional naval publication, the Naval
Magazine
is published here in 1836; frequent contributors
being Matthew C. Perry and James Fennimore
Cooper. |
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| 1837 |
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ADVENT OF STEAM ENGINEERING
The first U.S. steam warship assigned to sea
duty, the 9-gun side-wheel steamer Fulton
II is launched. |
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| 1838 |
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MARITIME MEDICINE
ADVANCES
The Goverment builds the Naval Hospital. |
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| 1841-1843 |
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Matthew C. Perry serves
as Yard Commandant. |
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| 1841-1851 |
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TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION,
DRY DOCK 1
The Government builds its third granite
dry dock, and for this project makes teh
first use of a steam-powered pile driver
in the United States.
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1841-1852 |
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The USS Somers is launched. Later, the Yard is the site of the trial of attempted mutiny on board the Somers, an incident on which Herman Melville’s Billy Budd is loosely based. |
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| 1857 |
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USS Niagara is launched and soon off to England to lay the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. |
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| 1860-1866 |
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The Yard serves as
a key depot for the distribution of stores and
supplies to the Union fleet. The Naval Laboratory
at the Yard prepares most of the medicines used
by the Union Navy during the Civil War. |
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| 1862 |
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THE CIVIL WAR IRONCLADS
The USS Monitor is outfitted and commissioned
(having been built, clad and launched at the
Continental Shipyard in Greenpoint) prior to
the famous "Battle at Hampton Roads" against
the CSS Virginia (ex-Merrimac). |
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| 1877 |
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A portion of the Yard
is sold to create Wallabout Market. |
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| 1895 |
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EXPLOSION SPARKS THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
The launch of the USS Maine begins
the "battleship era". Its sinking three years
later off Havana Harbor sparks the Spanish-American
War. "Remember the Maine!" |
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1906 |
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The USS Connecticut, built in 1904, is commissioned, and serves as flagship of the Great White Fleet. |
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| 1907 |
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Opera singer Eugenia Farrar sings the first song broadcast over wireless radio. “I love you truly” broadcasts to test Dr. Lee DeForest’s arc radiotelephones on the USS Dolphin,docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The test is successful and the Government commissions DeForest to supply the Great White Fleet with 26 of the radiotelephones. |
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| 1909 |
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Three days before leaving office, President Theodore Roosevelt approves Navy Department general Order No. 9, consolidating Navy Yard manufacturing forces. Until this time, five distinct divisions answered to the Commandant: Construction and Repair; Steam Engineering; Yards and Docks; Equipment; and, Ordnance. The Commandant is now equivalent to the “president of a large industrial plant, with the Principal Technical Assistant becoming the General Manager.” (Woodward, 1941) |
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| 1911 |
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Captain of the Yard, Captain L.S. Von Duzer proposes to move the Yard from Brooklyn to Communipaw, NJ. Brooklyn civic organizations and boards of trade protest. The Secretary of the Navy visits the proposed facility, but the ultimate decision is to maintain the Yard in Brooklyn. |
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| 1914-1918 |
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During WWI the Yard
workforce increases from 6,000 to 18,000. |
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| 1915 |
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The USS Arizona is launched. |
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| 1921 |
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President Warren G. Harding issues General Order No. 53, applying only to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and effectively canceling previous Navy orders to reinstate the Commandant as full authority for both military and industrial activities of the Navy Yard. Two principal aides assist him: the restored office of the Captain of the Yard, and the Manager. |
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| 1935 |
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues General Order No. 11, making Order No. 9 applicable to all Navy Yards. |
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| 1939-1945 |
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ACME YEARS OF WORLD
WAR II
The Yard population and size explodes when the
government reclaims Wallabout Market for development
and increases the workforce to 70,000 employees.
Women are hired for the first time to work at
the Yard as mechanics and technicians. The Hammerhead
Crane, largest in the world at the time, is
constructed at Berth 12 on Pier G. |
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| 1941 |
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CALL TO ARMS
December 7, the Japanese sink the USS Arizona,
engaging the United States in WWII. |
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| 1944 |
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The USS Missouri
is launched. |
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| 1945 |
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JAPAN SURRENDERS
September 2, Japan signs its unconditional surrender
on the USS Missouri a.k.a. "Mighty Mo",
thus ending the war. |
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| 1955-1960 |
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Aircraft super carriers
USS Saratoga, Constellation and
Independence are built here during the
Korean War. |
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| 1961 |
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December 19, USS
Constellation conflagration kills 50 and
injures hundreds. |
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| 1960-1965 |
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Near the end of its
days as an active naval base, the Yard builds
6 amphibious transport Landing Platform Docks,
the last launched being the LPD Duluth. |
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| 1966 |
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BROOKLYN NAVY YARD
CLOSES
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara closes
the Brooklyn Navy Yard along with over 90 other
military bases and installations. At the time
of its closing, the Brooklyn Navy Yard employs
more than 9,000 workers and is the oldest continually
active industrial plant in New York State. |
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| 1967 |
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THE NEW YORK CITY
PURCHASE
Two hundred and sixty acres of the Brooklyn
Navy Yard, housing nearly all of its industrial
sites, are sold to the City of New York for
$24,000,000. |
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| 1971 |
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The Yard is reopened
as a City-owned industrial park under the management
of a Local Development Corporation called Commerce
Labor and Industry in the County of Kings or
"CLICK." |
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| 2007 |
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A THRIVING INDUSTRIAL PARK
The Brooklyn Navy Yard today operates as a thriving industrial park with over 40 buildings, 230 tenants and 5,000 employees. As it undertakes the Yard’s greatest expansion since WWII, BNYDC is pursuing its mission to create and retain industrial jobs in New York City with a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and the celebration of the Yard’s rich history. |
For
more information please visit:
Brooklyn
Navy Yard Historical Center
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