The Brooklyn Navy Yard

[USS ALASKA]

Sirs, an interesting article with pics on the Brooklyn Navy Yard from Harpers written in 1870...

1800BrooklynNavyYard

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[DaveBrt]

Articles like this were published in various newspapers, detailing Tredegar Iron Works and several railroad shops and yards. They are sometimes the only description of an establishment that was later deserted or rebuilt in new form.

 

[Lubliner]

Sirs, an interesting article with pics on the Brooklyn Navy Yard from Harpers written in 1870...

1800BrooklynNavyYard

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

That was an absorbing article of the utmost interest. Thanks Alaska.
Lubliner.

 

[USS ALASKA]

The Brooklyn Navy Yard: the heart of the Union Anaconda
William Whyte

"It is beyond question to be the great naval depot of the nation, and therefore the country will not stop to count the cost of making the necessary improvements to answer the important ends the service requires."
Commodore Joseph Smith - chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, 1863, in reference to the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The yard was imperative to Union naval operations during the Civil War: fifteen ships were constructed there, and at least half of the 418 vessels purchased during the conflict were acquired in New York with a majority of them being provisioned at the yard itself. The facility also served as a ship repair terminal, naval receiving station, ordnance and supply depot, and a naval hospital. The New York yard was the most important Union naval station. It epitomized the evolution of U.S. naval operations that occurred during the Civil War, and the myriad of problems that went along with it. This paper does not intend to render the services of the other navy yards and stations irrelevant, for each played an important role, but a focus on the New York navy yard provides an excellent case study to exhibit its significant contribution to the remarkable feats achieved by the Union Civil War navy.

Full article can be read here - https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol22/tnm_22_393-407.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Fairfield]

One of the ACW vets from my area worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for many years. During a downturn, he lost his job. But when things were better, the Yard declined to rehire him--choosing instead "strapping young foreigners". Disillusioned to be cast aside after his military and working service, he penned a long letter of complaint to one of the NY newspapers and walked into Times Square where he killed himself. My grandfather, an immigrant, worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in the 1900's. Perhaps he was one of the "strapping young foreigners".

The Yard still thrives--bustling and mammoth. According to its web site, it now covers 300 acres and employs 11,000 people.