Notes |
The first United States navy yard, located at the foot of Federal Street upon the Delware River, was established here in the
year 1800. The site had been previously occupied by Joshua Humphries, who had built here the famous frigate United States
and also, in 1799, the frigate Philadelphia. Among the noted vessels launched here by the Government were the ship-of-the-line
North Carolina, the frigate Pennsylvania (largest ship ever built up to 1837), the Vandalia, Dale, Germantown, Wyoming, Raritan,
Wabash, Lancaster, Mississippi and Susquehanna; also the fast Princeton, of Arctic fame. The navy yard was the scene of great
activity during the Civil War. One feat was the construction of the sloop-of-war Tuscadora in fifty-eight days. Other ships
turned out here in the course fo the war were the Juniata, Swatara, Yantic, Monongahela, Shenandoah, Neshaminy and the monitor
Tonowanda. The old yard was sold in 1875.
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