10 Historical Facts about the Charleston Naval Shipyard in North Charleston, South Carolina

The Charleston Naval Shipyard is about to undergo another massive transformation. Whether you have been here a year, several decades or are both and raised, we can all agree, this region of North Charleston has taken on a whole new look and feel since it began naval operations in 1901.

Here are 10 historical facts about the Charleston Naval Shipyard in North Charleston, South Carolina you should know about:

1. On 29 July 1900 John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy, appointed a military board to determine the feasibility of changing the location of the Port Royal Naval Station to Charleston. Less than one year later, the Naval Shipyard began operations in 1901 as a drydock along the Cooper River, originally designated as the Charleston Navy Yard. By World War I, employment peaked at 5,600.

2. The first ship placed in the new drydock, the largest on the East Coast at the time, was in 1909.

3. Peak employment of 25,948 workers was reached in July 1943 during World War II.

4. After WWII, the shipyard was responsible for repairing and altering captured German submarines. 

5. The first submarine for overhaul, USS Conger, arrived in August 1948 as the yard transitioned to a submarine overhaul facility.

6. During the Korean War from 1950-1953, the yard reactivated many mothballed vessels for service.

7. Employment peaked again at 9,220 workers in 1952 during the Korean War.

8. The yard became a center for testing and refitting nuclear submarines during the Cold War era.

9. It built a total of 21 destroyers, with the first being USS Tillman in the 1930s.

10. The Charleston Naval Shipyard officially closed on April 1, 1996 after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended its deactivation in 1993.

Feel like learning a little more? Here are some great articles:

Charleston Naval Shipyard – Wikipedia 
Naval Base History – City of North Charleston 
Charleston Naval Shipyard – South Carolina Encyclopedia 
HISTORY OF CHARLESTON NAVAL SHIPYARD – NSL Archive