, the Navy Yard is the U.S. Navy’s oldest shore facility in continuous use.Over time workers here built and repaired ships and their fittings,designed and developed ordnance (weapons and ammunition),and provided admin- istrative support to the fleet. Although city designer L’Enfant planned a com- mercial center for the site,it invited ship building because it was near both deep water and abundant timber.The yard’s original gate,now topped by an addition,was designed in by Benjamin H.Latrobe,second architect of the U.S.Capitol. The Navy Yard was nearly destroyed during the War of .As British troops advanced on the city, the yard’s commandant,Captain Thomas Tingey, ordered workers to set fire to buildings and ships to keep them from the enemy.They spared only the Commandant’s House,officers’quarters,and the main gate. The vessels built here from until ranged from small -foot gunboats to the -foot steam frigate Minnesota.Workers then also repaired hun- dreds of ships and manufactured equipment, including anchors and chain cables.Engineers experimented with steam-powered warships. The Navy Yard was the city’s first reliable large employer.Unlike most southern enterprises,it offered well-paying skilled and unskilled jobs to both free blacks and hired-out slaves in addition to white workers. Here African American diarist Michael Shiner worked for years,first enslaved and then free.Until aviation took precedence,ships bearing important visitors docked at the Navy Yard, making it Washington’s ceremonial gateway. Washington Navy Yard: Serving the Fleet ,
With thanks for research by Edward J.Marolda,Senior Historian, Naval Historical Center.
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