Philadelphia's Navy Yards (1801-1948)
New York: The Newcomen Society of England, American Branch, 1948. First Printing [Stated]. Wraps. 36 pages, plus covers. Frontis illustration tipped in. Illustrations. Cover has some wear and soiling. Once each year, American Newcomen meets at dinner in The Great Hall at Philadelphia of The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania, by invitation of their President and Board of Managers, to do honor to Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), on happy occasion of the anniversary of his birth, January 17th, 1706. The present Franklin Birthday Address was delivered on the "242nd Birthday" of the Great American. James Laurence Kauffman (18 April 1887 – 21 October 1963) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral. He distinguished himself as Commanding officer of destroyer USS Jenkins (DD-42) during World War I and received the Navy Cross, the United States second-highest decoration awarded for valor in combat. Kauffman rose to the flag rank during World War II and held several important assignments in both, European and Pacific theaters. He retired as Commandant Fourth Naval District with headquarters in Philadelphia in 1949. Following his return stateside at the end of WWII, Kauffman was appointed Commandant, Fourth Naval District with headquarters at Philadelphia Navy Yard. He also reverted to his peacetime rank of Rear admiral for his assignment in Philadelphia. Kauffman retired from the Navy on 1 May 1949 after 41 years on active service and was advanced again to the rank of Vice admiral on the retired list. The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the city, was the first naval shipyard of the United States. The yard has its origins in a shipyard on Philadelphia's Front Street on the Delaware River that was founded in 1776 and became an official United States Navy site in 1801. From 1812 till 1865 it was a big production center. The first ship which was launched to the water was the USS Franklin. This event was watched by more than 50,000 spectators. The rapid development of other shipbuilding companies pledged Philadelphia to improve production processes. It was the first shipyard in the world which used floating dry docks in the building process to improve an operating time of the ships.[3] After the advent of ironclad warships made the site obsolete, new facilities were built in 1871 on League Island at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. The Naval Aircraft Factory was established at the League Island site in 1917. Just after World War I, a 350-ton capacity hammerhead crane was ordered for the yard. Manufactured in 1919 by the McMyler-Interstate Company in Bedford, Ohio, the crane was called the League Island Crane by its builder. Weighing 3,500 tons, the crane was shipped to the yard in sections, and it was the world's largest crane at the time. The "League Island Crane" was for many years the Navy's largest crane. Mustin Field opened at the Naval Aircraft Factory in 1926 and operated until 1963. The shipyard's greatest period came in World War II, when the yard employed 40,000 people who built 53 ships and repaired 574. During this period, the yard built the famed battleship New Jersey and its 45,000-ton sister ship, Wisconsin. In the Naval Laboratory, Philip Abelson developed the liquid thermal diffusion technique for separating uranium-235 for the Manhattan Project. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Philadelphia, Navy Yard, Shipbuilding, Fourth naval District, Naval Base, Benjamin Franklin, Naval Architecture, Joshua Humphreys, Ship-of-the-Line, USS Franklin, John Ericsson, Commodore Dupont, Theodore Roosevelt
[Book #82661]
Price: $50.00