pa philadelphia pennsylvania reserve fleet in philadelphia in 1955 type shipyard site information controlled by united states navy site history built 1917 league island facility in use 1801 1995 battles wars philadelphia naval shipyard historic district u.s. national register of historic places u.s. historic district show map of philadelphia show map of pennsylvania show map of the us location s. broad st. philadelphia pennsylvania coordinates 39 53 28 n 75 10 43 w 39.89111 n 75.17861 w 39.89111 ; 75.17861 coordinates 39 53 28 n 75 10 43 w 39.89111 n 75.17861 w 39.89111 ; 75.17861 area 1 200 acres 490 ha built 1876 architect robert e. peary ; karcher & smith architectural style modern movement late victorian nrhp reference 99001579 1 added to nrhp december 22 1999 commandant s quarters u.s. national register of historic places u.s. historic district contributing property location philadelphia pennsylvania built 1874 architect us department of the navy architectural style italian villa nrhp reference 76001661 1 added to nrhp 03 june 1976 the navy yard formerly known as the philadelphia naval shipyard and philadelphia naval business center was an important naval shipyard of the united states for almost two centuries . 2 it is now a large industrial park that includes a commercial shipyard aker philadelphia shipyard . philadelphia s original navy yard begun in 1776 on front street and federal street in what is now the pennsport section of the city was the first naval shipyard of the united states . the new much larger yard grew up around facilities begun in 1871 on league island at the confluence of the delaware and schuylkill rivers . the united states navy ended most of its activities there in the 1990s and in 2000 the city of philadelphia took over and began to redevelop the land . the navy still has a naval inactive ship maintenance facility and a few engineering activities at the site . contents 1 history 1.1 naval use 1.2 post naval use 2 notable ships 3 see also 4 notes 5 external links history edit naval use edit the league island crane with the destroyer uss lamson in the foreground . the yard has its origins in a shipyard on philadelphia s front street on the delaware river that was founded in 1776 and became an official united states navy site in 1801 . from 1812 till 1865 it was a big production center . the first ship which was launched to the water was vessel franklin . this event watched more than 50000 philadelphians . the rapid development of other shipbuilding companies pledged philadelphia to improve production processes . it was the first shipyard in the world which used floating dry docks in the building process to improve an operating time of the ships . 3 after the advent of ironclad warships made the site obsolete new facilities were built in 1871 on league island at the confluence of the delaware and schuylkill rivers . citation needed the naval aircraft factory was established at the league island site in 1917 . just after world war i a 350 ton capacity hammerhead crane was ordered for the yard . manufactured in 1919 by the mcmyler interstate company in bedford ohio the crane was called the league island crane by its builder . weighing 3 500 tons the crane was shipped to the yard in sections and it was the world s largest crane at the time . 4 the league island crane was for many years the navy s largest crane . citation needed mustin field opened at the naval aircraft factory in 1926 and operated until 1963 . citation needed the shipyard s greatest period came in world war ii when the yard employed 40 000 people who built 53 ships and repaired 574 . during this period the yard built the famed battleship new jersey and its 45 000 ton sister ship wisconsin . in the naval laboratory philip abelson developed the liquid thermal diffusion technique for separating u 235 for the manhattan project . citation needed after the war the workforce dropped to 12 000 and in the 1960s new ships began to be contracted out to private companies . the yard built its last new ship the command ship blue ridge in 1970 . citation needed guns from battleships being scrapped in philadelphia navy yard in december 1923 . uss south carolina being dismantled in the background . the yard s closure was originally recommended in 1991 by the base realignment and closure commission as a result of foreign competition and reduced needs due to the end of the cold war . the planned closing was unsuccessfully litigated to the us supreme court in dalton v. specter . although local politicians tried to keep the yard open it finally closed in 1995 with a loss of 7 000 jobs . senator arlen specter charged that the department of defense did not disclose the official report on the closing . this resulted in a controversy that led to further legal disputes to no avail . since its transfer from the government the west end of property has been leased to aker kv rner a tanker and commercial shipbuilding firm . citation needed in the 1990s the u.s. navy reduced its activities there and ended most of them on september 30 1995 by decision of the base realignment and closure commission brac . citation needed post naval use edit the city of philadelphia became the landlord and owner of the navy yard in march 2000 when the philadelphia authority for industrial development paid took title to roughly 1 000 acres from the navy . currently the philadelphia industrial development corporation pidc manages the planning operation and development of the navy yard on behalf of paid and the city of philadelphia . a comprehensive master plan was developed in 2004 to turn the former industrial yard to a mixed use campus . citation needed as of 2010 navy activities there include naval support activity philadelphia the naval surface warfare center ship systems engineering station naval facilities engineering command mid atlantic public works department pennsylvania navfac midlant pwd pa and the naval inactive ship maintenance facility nismf which stores decommissioned and mothballed warships and auxiliary naval vessels . citation needed the navy yard is home to 120 companies with 10 000 employees as the campus continues to expand and develop . clothing manufacturer urban outfitters consolidated its philadelphia headquarters on the site while tasty baking company makers of tastykakes has moved their bakery to the 26th street side of the yard . other companies there include rittenhouse ventures iroko pharmaceuticals aker philadelphia shipyard rhoads industries philadelphia industrial development corporation pidc energy efficient buildings hub eeb hub revzilla.com and mark group inc. citation needed in january 2013 company announced about increasing the number of apartments for employees near 1 000 and infrastructure development . this is made possible by the public financing of shipyards and investments of private companies . according to the plan for 2013 the number of employees at the shipyard amount to around 30 000 people . 5 in april 2013 pharmaceutical giant glaxosmithkline opened a 205 000 square foot building in the navy yard s corporate center . 6 the memorial chapel to the four chaplains also sits on the grounds . 7 the athletic base ball club of philadelphia hosts the annual philadelphia base ball fair & exhibition on the navy yard marine parade grounds . citation needed notable ships edit aerial view namc philadelphia mustin field and the shipyard in the mid 1940s new jersey wisconsin last keel laid for a completed battleship of the united states navy 25 january 1941 8 the final ships built were lst 1179 lst 1180 and lst 1181 starting in 1969 and completed in early 1971 . citation needed see also edit philadelphia portal united states navy portal military of the united states portal wikimedia commons has media related to philadelphia naval shipyard . league island commandant s quarters philadelphia pennsylvania marine barracks philadelphia pennsylvania notes edit a b national park service 2007 01 23 . national register information system . national register of historic places . national park service . http www.philly yardbird.com the navy yard philadelphia . retrieved 8 july 2016 . mcmyler interstate co. . bedford historical society . n.p. n.d. web . 19 june 2010 . http www.bedfordohiohistory.org build mcmyler.php . business booms at old naval shipyard in philadelphia . retrieved 8 july 2016 . the navy yard welcomes glaxosmithkline . the navy yard . retrieved october 7 2013 . grills matt january 20 2015 . more than a story . american legion magazine . retrieved march 30 2016 . bb 64 was launched and commissioned before bb 63 in spite of a later keel laying . citation needed external links edit official website historic american engineering record haer no . pa 387 naval base philadelphia philadelphia naval shipyard yeoman barry may june 2001 . subsidies at sea . mother jones . v t e us national register of historic places in pennsylvania topics 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