World War II Database

Contributor: David Stubblebine

ww2dbaseIn 1877, the United States Navy assigned Lieutenant Ambrose Wyckoff to scout a location for a west coast shore facility within a deep water protected harbor above the 42nd parallel (the northern border of California). With a team of surveyors, he explored the length and breadth of the Puget Sound in the state of Washington and Sinclair Inlet, 14 miles west of Seattle, was identified as an ideal location. In 1889, Congress approved the funds to purchase the needed land.

ww2dbaseThe area around Sinclair Inlet had been the ancestral lands of the Suquamish people. Non-native residents only began settling this area in earnest about 30 years earlier following the 1859 ratification of the Treaty of Point Elliott, signed by Chief Seattle and other tribal leaders. When the Navy cast its eye on the area, Seattle businessman and German immigrant William Bremer began buying up the land. On 16 Sep 1891, when the Navy finalized the purchase of the original 145 acres, it was the Bremer family who sold it to them. Shortly afterward, Naval Station Puget Sound was formally dedicated with Lieutenant Wyckoff as the station’s first commandant.

ww2dbaseAdditional land was acquired in 1892, also purchased from the Bremer family, bringing the total to approximately 190 acres. With housing needed for the shipyard workers, William Bremer developed the land surrounding the shipyard into the community of Bremerton. In Dec 1892, the Navy broke ground on the first of six dry docks that would be built. In 1897, the first battleship entered the dry docks, USS Oregon, the Navy’s most important warship on the west coast at the time.

ww2dbaseIn 1901, the Naval Station was re-designated as Navy Yard Puget Sound. In 1912, the temporary “Sick Quarters” was replaced with a permanent brick Naval Hospital located on the hill at the northwest corner of the Navy Yard property. During World War I, Puget Sound began constructing ships, usually smaller ships such as subchasers, submarines, minesweepers, ocean-going tugs, ammunition ships, and over 1,500 small boats. Between the wars, Puget Sound’s role began shifting from building ships to an emphasis in servicing, repairing, and overhauling ships.

ww2dbaseDuring World War II, the shipyard’s primary effort was the repair and maintenance of the largest ships in the US fleet and those of its allies. Beginning in 1938, Puget Sound saw major improvements, including building 1,000-foot long Drydocks #4 and #5 which were large enough for the new Iowa-class fast battleships then under construction. New quays, piers, and shop buildings were installed. Two new double shipbuilding ways were constructed for building escort vessels. Puget Sound had some of the largest drydocks on the west coast which made its facilities well suited for the repair and maintenance of the Navy’s aircraft carriers, battleships, and heavy cruisers. Five of the battleships damaged on 7 Dec 1941 at Pearl Harbor came to Puget Sound for repairs: USS Tennessee, USS Maryland, USS Nevada, USS California, and USS West Virginia. In Jan 1944, Maryland and Colorado returned to Puget Sound for rebuilding. Other battleships that arrived at Puget Sound during the war included USS Pennsylvania, USS Washington, USS New Jersey, and USS South Dakota.

ww2dbaseWhen the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-16 five weeks after the Pearl Harbor Attack, she came to Puget Sound for repairs and modernization. Other carriers repaired or overhauled at Puget Sound during the war included USS Saratoga four more times, USS Enterprise twice, USS Lexington (Essex-class) twice, USS Yorktown (Essex-class), USS Franklin, USS Bunker Hill three times, USS Ticonderoga, USS Wasp (Essex-class), and USS Monterey. With the Japanese introduction of the kamikaze-style special attack doctrine, large numbers of ships of all classes began arriving in need of substantial repairs.

ww2dbaseOn 12 Aug 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived at Puget Sound aboard destroyer USS Cummings, his second visit to the facility. From the deck of the Cummings in Drydock 2, the President thanked thousands of yard workers for their valuable contribution to the war effort. By the end of the war, the Navy Yard at Puget Sound had repaired, overhauled, or modernized 344 fighting ships of all types.

ww2dbaseFollowing World War II, Puget Sound hosted a growing number of decommissioned ships being placed in the Reserve Fleet. The facility also engaged in an extensive program of modernizing the Essex-class aircraft carriers, including converting straight flight decks into angled decks. During the Korean conflict, the Shipyard primarily activated new ships, many from the Reserve Fleet. In the late 1950’s, without reducing its repair and overhaul functions, the shipyard returned to a primary role of building new ships.

ww2dbaseIn 1990, the Navy authorized Puget Sound to recycle nuclear powered ships and submarines. Puget Sound still performs environmentally safe deactivations and recycling of nuclear-powered vessels and this will continue as more and different classes of ships are decommissioned and require disposal.

ww2dbaseIn 2003, to improve fleet readiness, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the Naval Intermediate Maintenance Facilities at Bremerton and Everett, and the Trident Refit Facility located at Bangor were all consolidated under a single command and thus the collection is now officially known as the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

ww2dbaseToday, the Puget Sound complex remains very active and is the region’s largest Naval shore facility. The shipyard has a proud history and after 125 years of continuous operation, it remains a state-of-the-art repair and maintenance facility for ships of the United States Navy.

Ships Constructed at Puget Sound Navy Yard

Puget Sound Navy Yard Interactive Map

Photographs

Maps

Puget Sound Navy Yard Timeline