Call Number:

116

Repository:

Independence Seaport Museum, J. Welles Henderson Archives and Library

Extent:

8.9 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Philadelphia Naval Shipyard collection, [dates], Independence Seaport Museum.

Date:

1859-1998 (inclusive)

Form:

Ephemera

Abstract:

The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, formerly known as the Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard in the United States. The original site of the shipyard (Federal Yard) was located on Federal Street along the Delaware River, but the facility was eventually moved due to overcrowded conditions and increasing urban development. The new location at League Island was acquired by the Federal Government in the 1860s, while the old location at Federal Yard continued to operate until 1876. During the Spanish-American War and the years leading up to World War I, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard rapidly transformed into a major production facility, and the first Naval ship, the U.S.S. Henderson, was commissioned in 1917. During World War II the shipyard built 53 ships and conducted repairs, conversions, and overhauls of 1,218 other vessels. Throughout the 20th century, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard actively completed repairs, constructions, and conversions; developed new materials and methods; and built special equipment for Navy ships. The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard collection houses personnel records and memorabilia related to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. This collection, which dates from 1859 to 1998, with the bulk of materials dating from 1914 to 1998, consists of a variety of materials, including photographic prints, handbooks, manuals, printed volumes, schedules, lists of wages, notebooks, booklets, registers, ships plans, clippings, and other ephemera. These materials document various aspects of the Apprentice Training Program (including job-specific technical requirements) and daily shipyard activities such as ship repairs and construction. The celebrations of significant events such as Navy Day, Armed Forces Day, ship launchings, and retirement parties are also documented. This collection thus documents the activities of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, concentrating mostly on the period between 1950 and 1990.

The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, formerly known as the Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard in the United States. The original site of the shipyard (Federal Yard) was located on Federal Street along the Delaware River, but the facility was eventually moved due to overcrowded conditions and increasing urban development. The new location at League Island was acquired by the Federal Government in the 1860s, while the old location at Federal Yard continued to operate until 1876. During the Spanish-American War and the years leading up to World War I, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard rapidly transformed into a major production facility, and the first Naval ship, the U.S.S. Henderson, was commissioned in 1917. During World War II the shipyard built 53 ships and conducted repairs, conversions, and overhauls of 1,218 other vessels. Throughout the 20th century, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard actively completed repairs, constructions, and conversions; developed new materials and methods; and built special equipment for Navy ships.

The site's role as a U.S. Navy facility ended on September 30, 1995. Soon after, the west end of the site became a commercial shipyard, currently called the Aker Philadelphia Shipyard. The Navy still maintains a presence at the location, especially via the Naval Surface Warfare Center Ship Systems Engineering Station, and the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NIMSF), which continues to store decommissioned and mothballed ships.

Information used to write this note can be found in Box 7, Folder 6.

The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard collection houses personnel records and memorabilia related to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. This collection, which dates from 1859 to 1998, with the bulk of materials dating from 1914 to 1998, consists of a variety of materials, including photographic prints, handbooks, manuals, printed volumes, schedules, lists of wages, notebooks, booklets, registers, ships plans, clippings, and other ephemera. These materials document various aspects of the Apprentice Training Program (including job-specific technical requirements) and daily shipyard activities such as ship repairs and construction. Additionally, the collection features celebrations of significant events such as Navy Day, Armed Forces Day, ship launchings, and retirement parties. This collection thus documents the activities of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, concentrating mostly on the period between 1950 and 1990.

This collection contains four series: “I. Personnel, 1859-1995” “II. Photographs, 1950-1990” “III. Printed materials and ephemera, 1862-1998” and “IV. Measured drawings and ships plans, 1926-1974.”

Series “I. Personnel” dates from 1859 to 1995 and is arranged chronologically. This series includes materials related to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard’s employees, including wage and work schedules; identification cards; technical manuals and company handbooks (including materials relating to the Apprentice Training Program); performance reports; telephone and departmental directories; photographic prints (including employee identification photographs); records regarding unions and labor management relations; and invoices of spare parts, tools, and equipment. This series also contains several volumes, including a collection of letters documenting the Navy career of Robert Potts, a register of Navy boats, Muster books of construction and repairs, a visitors’ register from the Office of the Shipyard Commander, and a time study for United States Navy shipbuilding. Researchers should note that other materials related to personnel can also be found in Series “II. Photographs” and Series “III. Printed materials and ephemera,” including photographs of various Naval Yard employees and materials related to training.

Series “II. Photographs” dates from 1950 to 1990 and is arranged chronologically. This series contains photographic prints, negatives, and transparencies relating to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, its employees, and vessels built or repaired at this location. A majority of photographs depict construction or repair of various vessels between the 1950s and 1980s, including the U.S.S. Valley Forge, Wisconsin, and the aircraft carrier Kennedy, as well as other ships. Other photographs feature the shipyard’s drydocks and ammunition and supply depots. This series contains numerous candid photographs of Philadelphia Naval Shipyard employees, particularly Shop 72. A 1989 set of microfiche card index of Navy publications and forms is also included. A portrait of Captain Robert LeConte Halberstadt of the United States Navy Reserve is housed separately in oversized flat file drawers.

This collection will prove valuable to users interested in the daily activities of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Activities of shop workers, especially employees working in Shop 72 between 1950 and 1990, are particularly well documented through photographs and printed materials. Although many employees are not identified specifically in these photographs, researchers familiar with these personnel and their job duties would find this collection useful. While not a comprehensive history of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, the collection would be most relevant to researchers interested in the general internal workings of the shipyard rather than information pertaining to specific vessels it produced.