AsbestosAsbestos Industry
Job SitesShipyards
Newport Naval Yard
Significant naval presence in Newport, Rhode Island, began in 1861 with the relocation of the Naval Academy from its home in Annapolis, Maryland. This was sparked by increasing tension between the northern and southern states. Naval command feared that Confederate forces would capture ships stationed at Annapolis. Once relocated, the Naval Academy flourished and became a hallmark of the city of Newport. As the Civil War came to a close, though, the Navy expressed its intent to move the Academy back to Annapolis. In 1865 the Academy returned to its former location.
Between the war years of 1941 and 1946, the government established a Naval Operating Base in Newport in order to increase production effectiveness. The Navy wanted to coordinate shipbuilding and naval-maneuver activities in the Narragansett Bay area around Newport. Workers at the Naval Operating Base organization were involved in berthing and tug service, piloting, logistical service, harbor facilities and mooring buoys, and recreational and housing facilities. The population of NOB peaked in 1944 with 162,000 personnel at the torpedo station, training station, and Advanced Base Depot/Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island. In 1946 the NOB organization was disestablished and replaced with the Naval Base, Newport. This base was concerned mainly with maintenance, upkeep, and modernization. During this time many buildings were replaced or gutted, and much new equipment was installed. By 1974 and the end of the Vietnam War, though, the Naval Base organization was disestablished. Among the institutions that the Navy kept in place were the Naval War College, and the enormous Naval Underwater Systems Center.
Sources:
- Coletta, Paolo E., Ed. United States Navy and Marine Corps Bases, Domestic. London: Greenwood Press, 1985. Ppgs. 346-358.
