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Norfolk Naval Shipyard Famous Ships

Throughout its history, Norfolk Naval Shipyard built, repaired and outfitted tens of thousands of ships. Many of their names are recognizable. Others have earned special distinction for the shipyard.

USS Chesapeake

The USS Chesapeake was ordered in 1794 and launched in 1799. It was one of six naval ships commissioned as part of "An Act to Provide a Naval Armament," passed by the U.S. Congress in 1794. Each of the ships was ordered from a different shipyard. The USS Chesapeake was officially commissioned in 1800, and captured by the British in 1813. It was dismantled in 1820.

USS Delaware

The USS Delaware was built in Philadelphia and purchased by the United States Navy in 1798. It has the distinction of being the first ship to be dry-docked in the Western Hemisphere at the Norfolk Shipyard, which was the site of the first dry dock on the continent.

CSS Virginia

When the federal navy abandoned the Norfolk Naval Yard at the start of the Civil War, they torched 11 ships that were berthed at the yard. Among them was the USS Merrimack. But the Merrimack only burned to water level, and when the Virginia Navy and the Confederate Navy occupied the yard, they raised the scuttled ship and used it as the base for the CSS Virigina, the first ironclad ship to be built by the Confederacy. The CSS Virginia engaged the USS Monitor in a spectacular and historic Civil War battle - the Battle of Hampton Roads.

USS Texas

The USS Texas was the first battleship to be commissioned by the U.S. Navy. It was authorized by Congress in August 1886, and her keel was laid on June 1, 1889 at the Norfolk Navy Yard. She was launched on June 28, 1892. The USS Texas acquired a reputation as being unlucky because of a series of ill-fated incidents involving the ship, as a result, it was nicknamed Old Hoodoo.

USS Raleigh

The USS Raleigh (C8) was a Cincinnati Class cruiser, regarded as the first modern cruiser to be completely built by the U.S. government. Her keel was laid on December 19, 1889, and she was launched March 31, 1892. The Raleigh remained in service from April 1894 to April 1919, which included service during the First World War. She was struck in 1921 and sold for scrap a year later.

USS Langley

The USS Langley became the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier in 1920 when she was converted from the collier USS Jupiter, the first electrically propelled U.S. Navy ship. She fought in World War II and was sunk by her escorts on February 27, 1942 after being heavily damaged by Japanese bombing attacks. She was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley, the American aircraft pioneer.

USS Shangri-La

The USS Shangri-La was the only U.S. aircraft carrier paid for entirely by U.S. war bonds and subscriptions. Her hull was laid on January 15, 1943 and she was launched on February 24, 1944. She served in World War II, and was in service to the Navy until she was decommissioned in 1971. Her name was unique among U.S. carriers and was a reference to Roosevelt's response to a question about a recently lost aircraft carrier. The president jokingly noting that the attack on the ship "came from Shangri-La."

USS Alabama

The USS Alabama was ordered in 1939, and her keel was laid at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1940. Commissioned in 1942, the Alabama served in World War II and Korea and remained in commission until 1962 when she became a museum ship.

These are only a handful left of the thousands of ships built at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. During World War II alone, the shipyard built more than 100 ships in five years. In addition to the ships that were laid down and built at Norfolk, there were literally thousands each year that were outfitted, repaired, converted, and retrofitted at the Navy's shipyard at Norfolk.

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