page_title: Washington Navy Yard
section_title: Civil War Era
hierarchical_section_title: Washington Navy Yard / History / Civil War Era
caption_attribution_description: English: In WWII the Washington Navy Yard &amp; Naval Gun Factory employed women in large numbers for trade and craft jobs for the first time. This image dated 1 Jan 1943 shows female lathe operator. Original caption: 1/7/1943-Washington, D.C.: A section of the Washington Navy Yard, showing a long line of lathes operated by women workers. The man in the center of the line is foreman of the group. This is one of the first pictures that the Navy has permitted to be made on the 1,400 women working at the Washington Navy Yard. BPA 2 #2357
context_page_description: The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy.
  The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrative center for the U.S. Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Operations, and is headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Reactors, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Naval History and Heritage Command, the National Museum of the United States Navy, the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, Marine Corps Institute, the United States Navy Band, and other more classified facilities.
  In 1998, the yard was listed as a Superfund site due to environmental contamination.
context_section_description: During the American Civil War, the Yard once again became an integral part of the defense of Washington. Commandant Franklin Buchanan resigned his commission to join the Confederacy, leaving the Yard to Commander John A. Dahlgren. President Abraham Lincoln, who held Dahlgren in the highest esteem, was a frequent visitor. The famous ironclad USS Monitor was repaired at the Yard after her historic battle with the CSS Virginia. The Lincoln assassination conspirators were brought to the Yard following their capture. The body of John Wilkes Booth was examined and identified on the monitor USS Montauk, moored at the Yard.
  Following the war, the Yard continued to be the scene of technological advances. In 1886, the Yard was designated the manufacturing center for all ordnance in the Navy. Commander Theodore F. Jewell was Superintendent of the Naval Gun Factory from January 1893 to February 1896. Ordnance production continued as the Yard manufactured armament for the Great White Fleet and the World War I navy. The 14-inch (360 mm) naval railway guns used in France during World War I were manufactured at the Yard.
  By World War II, the Yard was the largest naval ordnance plant in the world. The weapons designed and built there were used in every war in which the United States fought until the 1960s. At its peak, the Yard consisted of 188 buildings on 126 acres (0.5 km²) of land and employed nearly 25,000 people. Small components for optical systems, parts of Little Boy, and enormous 16-inch (410 mm) battleship guns were all manufactured here. In December 1945, the Yard was renamed the U.S. Naval Gun Factory. Ordnance work continued for some years after World War II until finally phased out in 1961. Three years later, on July 1, 1964, the activity was re-designated the Washington Navy Yard. The deserted factory buildings began to be converted to office use. In 1963, ownership of  55 acres of the Washington Navy Yard Annex (western side of Yard including Building 170) was transferred to the General Services Administration.  The Yards at the Southeast Federal Center are part of this former property and now includes the headquarters for the United States Department of Transportation.
  The Washington Navy Yard was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976.  It is part of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District. It is also part of the Navy Yard, also known as Near Southeast, neighborhood. It is served by the Navy Yard – Ballpark Metro station on the Green Line.
  The Marine Corps Museum was located on the first floor of the Marine Corps Historical Society in Building 58. The museum closed on July 1, 2005, during the establishment of the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Marine Corps Base Quantico. The Yard was headquarters to the Marine Corps Historical Center. That moved in 2006 to Quantico.
caption: In WWII the Washington Navy Yard & Naval Gun Factory employed women in large numbers for trade and craft jobs for the first time. This image dated January 1, 1943 shows female lathe operators.
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