Page 27: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1986)

5ET" Newport News

NEWPORT NEWS MARKS 100 YEARS

OF SHIPBUILDING LEADERSHIP —A SUPPLEMENT—

This year Newport News Ship- building and Dry Dock Company (NNS), Newport News, Va., is cele- brating its first century of leader- ship in the shipbuilding and ship repair industry. More than 700 ves- sels—from small tugboats to giant, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers— have carried the words "Built by

Newport News" to the oceans of the world.

The yard was founded by Collis

P. Huntington, one of the builders of the first transcontinental rail- road, as a repair facility for ships involved in the coal trade. Incorpo- rated as the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company in Jan- uary 1886, the first business for the fledgling yard was the repair of sail- ing schooners. Its first drydock, hailed as "a wonder of the age," began operation in April 1889 with the docking of the naval monitor

Launching of the Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Aircraft carrier at Newport

News Shipbuilding.

Puritan. In February 1890 the name of the company was changed to

Newport News Shipbuilding and

Dry Dock Company.

In that same year the company received a contract for its first new- building, a 90-foot tugboat named

Dorothy. The quality built into that first hull is demonstrated by the fact that she remained in active ser- vice for more than 60 years until she was extensively damaged in a colli- sion. In 1976 NNS retrieved her and brought her back home; now re- stored to her original appearance, she is on permanent display at the yard as a tribute to five generations of shipbuilders.

Long Association With Navy

The company's first U.S. Navy contract in 1893 was for the con- struction of three gunboats, the

Nashville, Wilmington, and Helena, and marked the beginning of a long association between NNS and the

Navy that continues today. Soon (continued)

Edward J. Campbell

President & Chief Executive Officer >