Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company

Newport News Shipbuilding is the only shipyard that builds aircraft carriers for the US Navy
Newport News Shipbuilding is the only shipyard that builds aircraft carriers for the US Navy
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online

Collis P. Huntington started the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in 1886, five years after he completed the extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad from Richmond to a site on the Peninsula with deep water which became Newport News. The shipyard, first named the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company, initially repaired ships attracted by the railroad's dock. In 1891, it began constructing new ships, starting with a tugboat named Dorothy.1

Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in 1891, when it constructed the tugboat Dorothy
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in 1891, when it constructed the tugboat Dorothy
Source: Library of Congress, Perspective map of Newport News, Va., county seat of Warwick County 1891

the tugboat Dorothy was restored for the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, and is a Newport News landmark in front of the shipyard's main office
the tugboat Dorothy was restored for the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, and is a Newport News landmark in front of the shipyard's main office
Source: City of Newport News, These Are A Few Of Our Favorite Things - Part 1

The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company completed the USS Virginia battleship in 1906. It was designed before the dreadnoughts. The USS Virginia sailed around the world between 1907-1909 as part of the Great White Fleet:2

The journey, ordered by President Theodore Roosevelt, was to showcase American goodwill and to demonstrate both at home and on the world stage that the U.S. had become a major sea power. The Virginia and its sister ship the ex-USS New Jersey were both sunk in 1923 during aerial bombing tests conducted by General Billy Mitchell to demonstrate the value of naval air power against capital ships.

the USS Virginia battleship was completed by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in 1906
the USS Virginia battleship was completed by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in 1906
Source: Library of Congress, U.S.S. Virginia

the USS Virginia was sunk September 5, 1923 in a demonstration of air power
the USS Virginia was sunk September 5, 1923 in a demonstration of air power
the USS Virginia was sunk September 5, 1923 in a demonstration of air power
Source: Library of Congress, Bombing VIRGINIA; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ex-USS Virginia

All aircraft carriers and half of the nuclear-powered submarines for the US Navy are built at the shipyard in Newport News. The facility has always been privately owned.

aircraft carriers were built at Newport News shipyard prior to World War II
aircraft carriers were built at Newport News shipyard prior to World War II
Source: National Archives, Virginia - Newport News

The shipyard is deeply involved in design as well as construction. The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first of a new class of aircraft carriers, was delivered to the Navy in 2017.3

aerial view of the shipyard taken by a US Navy photographer in February 1923: a car float occupies Dry Dock 1, the battleship West Virginia (BB 48) is at Pier 3 (now Pier 6), and the SS Leviathan is at Pier 1 (now Pier 5)
aerial view of the shipyard taken by a US Navy photographer in February 1923: a car float occupies Dry Dock 1, the battleship West Virginia (BB 48) is at Pier 3 (now Pier 6), and the SS Leviathan is at Pier 1 (now Pier 5)
Source: Huntington Ingalls - Newport News Shipbuilding, 132 Years of Newport News Shipbuilding (Slide 6)

Newport News Shipbuilding-built aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV 4) in 1934, first ship US Navy ship designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier
Newport News Shipbuilding-built aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV 4) in 1934, first ship US Navy ship designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier
Source: Huntington Ingalls - Newport News Shipbuilding, 132 Years of Newport News Shipbuilding (Slide 7)

September 25, 1960 christening ceremony for Enterprise (CVN 65), the first US aircraft carrier powered by nuclear reactors
September 25, 1960 christening ceremony for Enterprise (CVN 65), the first US aircraft carrier powered by nuclear reactors
Source: Huntington Ingalls - Newport News Shipbuilding, 132 Years of Newport News Shipbuilding (Slide 10)

Today Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi are both part of the same private corporation, Huntington Ingalls Industries.

The shipyard partners and competes with other private corporations, as well as with the four US Navy shipyards (Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in New Hampshire, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Washington, and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii).

Other private shipyards that bid on military contracts include Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, where the half of the nuclear-powered submarines are constructed. For new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, Newport News Shipbuilding constructs the bows, sails and sterns; the submarine components are then barged to Connecticut for final assembly.

portions of the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines are built in Virgnia, then barged to Connecticut for final assembly
portions of the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines are built in Virgnia, then barged to Connecticut for final assembly
Source: Huntington Ingalls - Newport News Shipbuilding, HII's Newport News Shipbuilding Delivers First Columbia-Class Stern

The US Navy decides whether to maintain and repair its warships at one of the four government-owned shipyards, or to contract for services from privately-owned shipyards. The Congressional Budget Office determined in 2018 that the costs for overhauling submarines at private shipyards were more than 1/3 lower than costs at the four government-owned facilities.4

Newport News Shipbuilding started construction of a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines in 2010. A dozen of the Columbia-class boats will replace the Ohio-class submarines, with the first scheduled to be operational in 2030. Electric Boat in Groton and Newport News Shipbuilding will share the responsibilities for constructing the new ballistic submarines, following the pattern used for the Virginia-class attack subs.5

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway

Military Bases in Virginia

Newport News

machine shop buildings at the shipyard (in middle right of 1920 photograph) date back to 1890
machine shop buildings at the shipyard (in middle right of 1920 photograph) date back to 1890
machine shop buildings at the shipyard (in middle right of 1920 photograph) date back to 1890
Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, A Critical Look at Langley's History: The Arrival of the Pressure Tank of the Variable Density Tunnel at Langley

Links

Newport News shipyard around 1934
Newport News shipyard around 1934
Source: National Archives, Virginia - Newport News

References

1. "About Newport News Shipbuilding," Huntington Ingalls Industries - Newport News Shipbuilding, https://nns.huntingtoningalls.com/who-we-are/ (last checked April 19, 2019)
2. "ex-USS Virginia," Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), https://monitor.noaa.gov/shipwrecks/virginia.html (last checked January 3, 2024)
3. "Video Release--Huntington Ingalls Industries Delivers Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) To U.S. Navy," Newport News Shipbuilding, June 1, 2017, https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/releases/aircraft-carrier-gerald-r-ford-cvn78-delivered (last checked September 13, 2018)
4. "Report: Private sector beats Navy shipyards on sub repairs," Daily Press, September 13, 2018, http://www.dailypress.com/business/newport-news-shipyard/dp-nws-cbo-subs-20180913-story.html; "Comparing the Costs of Submarine Maintenance at Public and Private Shipyards," Congressional Budget Office, September 12, 2018, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/54444; "Column: The ships that end the world could be built in our backyard," The Virginian-Pilot, June 29, 2024, https://www.pilotonline.com/2024/06/29/column-the-ships-that-end-the-world-could-be-built-in-our-backyard/; "HII's Newport News Shipbuilding Delivers First Columbia-Class Stern," Huntington Ingalls - Newport News Shipbuilding, January 10, 2024, https://hii.com/news/hii-newport-news-shipbuilding-delivers-first-columbia-class-stern/ (last checked July 1, 2024)
5. "At NN shipyard, business about to boom on boomers," Daily Press, May 7, 2019, https://www.dailypress.com/news/military/dp-nws-sas-day2-story.html (last checked May 8, 2019)


Source: Library of Congress, Launch, U.S. battleship "Kentucky" (1898)

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