Brooklyn Navy Yard - History 1800-1900
After the United States government rang in the new millennium with the acquisition of John Jackson's land at Wallabout Bay, a naval yard, called the United States Navy Yard, was established at the site. After completion of construction and renovations, the United States Navy Yard was officially placed under the command of Lieutenant Jonathan Thorn of the United States Navy in 1806. Lieutenant Jonathan Thorn commanded the fleet at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for one year and was subsequently killed in 1811 aboard John Jacob Astor's ship, the Tonquin, near Vancouver Island.
A few years later, in 1814 the Navy received funding to build the first steam-powered warship in the United States, and the project was assigned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. While construction and completion of the steam-powered sea vessel was largely successful, the project was ill-fated. The Fulton Steam Frigate steam-powered warship made one grand tour of the harbor at New York City before being anchored in the harbor, after which time it was used primarily as a receiving ship for the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
In 1820, the men and women of the Brooklyn Navy Yard completed the first serviceable sea vessel constructed by the Navy at the yard. The ship Ohio, designed by Henry Eckford, was capable of sailing at an astounding 12 knots and carried a total of 77 guns. The Ohio served the United States Navy for many years before being removed from the active duty roster in 1851.
In 1824, the United States government bought a 24-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, on which they built the Naval Hospital, completed in 1838. The ensuing years were extremely difficult for the men and women of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as Congress scrutinized the viability of the shipyard as a large-scale naval base, capable of properly accommodating a fleet of U.S. Naval ships. The yard and its employees narrowly escaped being put out of commission after rumors that the yard's waters are too shallow arise and spread in political circles. Only two years after this scare, the Brooklyn Navy Yard suffers a great tragedy and loss of life when the Fulton Steam Frigate, America's first steam-powered warship, explodes, killing nearly 30 men and utterly destroying the historically-significant naval vessel.
Commodore Mathew Perry of the Brooklyn Navy Yard later distinguished himself in 1833 when he helped to found the Navy Lyceum, meant to spread and foster the spirit of knowledge and unity amongst Navy men and women. Three years later, he served as one of the contributors to the inaugural issue of Naval Magazine, published at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. These boons to the reputation of the shipyard as the United States Navy's finest were strengthened by the addition of a third honor, which came in 1837, when the workers at Brooklyn Navy Yard completed production of the United States' first serviceable steam-powered warship. Titled Fulton II in honor of the first brave exploration into steam technology, this ship was assigned to service that same year. Complete with paddle wheel and 9 guns, the Fulton II served in the Atlantic Ocean, where it aided distressed ships and facilitated ordnance experiments.
In the middle of the century, the Navy added a third large granite dock, built using the first steam-powered pile driver ever built in the United States. With this additional dock, the shipyard was able to enter into a new era of industry. During the next twenty years under the command of the United States Navy, the workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard built nearly twenty sea vessels, including the famous Ticonderoga, the Iroquois and the Algonquin. Many of the naval vessels built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during this period utilized steam-power innovations and side paddle wheels, which would ultimately prove a short-lived technology in the history of naval warfare.
In 1857, the yard launched the USS Niagara, which headed to England to aid in laying the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable. Soon after, with the advent of the Civil War, the face of operations at the Brooklyn Navy Yard changed, and the shipyard served as an important location for the distribution of rations, equipment and arms to the Union forces. During this time, the shipyard commissioned the USS Monitor and outfitted her with iron cladding. This vessel later served in a legendary naval battle against another ironclad ship, the Merrimack, this one commanded by the Confederate forces.
Following the Civil War, the workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard constructed the storied USS Maine, ushering in what would later become known as the Era of Battleships. The Maine, a 10-gun, second-class battleship, was launched in 1895 for two months of training, before moving to Havana to protect American citizens caught in skirmishes between the Spanish forces and revolutions in Cuba. Here, the Maine was sunk by a terrible explosion, killing more than 250 American seamen and marking the beginning of the Spanish-American War.
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