U.S. Navy

Tugs & Shipyards

Every warship starts in a shipyard and every warship that comes home damaged gets fixed in one. The fleet tugs that tow battle-damaged ships to safety and the naval shipyards that build, repair, and overhaul the fleet are the industrial backbone of American naval power. From Brooklyn Navy Yard building battleships to Pearl Harbor raising the ships Japan thought it sank — the fleet is only as strong as the yards that build it.

Fleet Tugs - The Strongmen of the Navy 1940 - Present

ATF-66 - ATF-116

Fleet Ocean Tugs

Fleet ocean tugs that towed everything the Navy needed moved — damaged warships, floating drydocks, ammunition barges, fuel lighters, and entire harbor facilities across the Pacific. Cherokee-class tugs towed floating drydocks thousands of miles from construction yards to forward bases, creating the repair infrastructure that sustained the fleet's advance. When USS Houston was torpedoed and dead in the water, it was a fleet tug that brought her home. Forty-five ships doing the heaviest lifting in the Navy. Read more

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ATF-96 - ATF-167

Improved Fleet Tugs

Improved Cherokees with better firefighting equipment and salvage capability. Abnaki-class tugs served through WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. They towed targets for gunnery practice, retrieved torpedo test shots, moved floating drydocks between bases, and performed salvage operations on sunken or grounded vessels. Some served into the 1970s — thirty years of dragging the Navy's heaviest loads across every ocean. The last workhorses of the fleet tug era before the Navy transitioned to civilian-crewed tugs. Read more

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T-ATF-166 - T-ATF-172

Fleet Ocean Tugs

The last purpose-built fleet ocean tugs for the U.S. Navy, crewed by Military Sealift Command civilians. More powerful than their WWII predecessors, Powhatan-class tugs tow targets, position ocean surveillance arrays, and perform open-ocean towing operations. They've towed disabled warships, positioned prepositioned equipment ships, and supported salvage operations worldwide. As of 2026, the surviving ships are among the oldest active vessels in the MSC fleet. Read more

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EVERY NAVY BASE

YTB/YTM Harbor Tugs

The Navy's Workboats

Every aircraft carrier that eases into a pier, every submarine that slides into its berth, every ammunition ship that docks at a weapons station — a harbor tug put it there. YTB large harbor tugs and YTM medium harbor tugs operate at every Navy installation worldwide. Natick-class (YTB-760), Sassaba-class, and Valiant-class tugs have been pushing and pulling warships for decades. The crews are among the most skilled ship handlers in the Navy — they have to be, because the ship they're maneuvering costs a billion dollars and the captain is watching. Read more

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Naval Shipyards 1800 - Present

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

Kittery, Maine — Since 1800

Submarine Overhaul

First Sub Built

The oldest continuously operating naval shipyard in the United States. Portsmouth built the nation's first government-constructed submarine, L-8, in 1917 and went on to build 134 submarines through Squalus, the fleet boats of WWII, and the nuclear age. Today, Portsmouth performs nuclear submarine overhauls and refueling — the deep maintenance that keeps the attack submarine fleet operational. The Squalus rescue in 1939, using the McCann Rescue Chamber for the first time, saved 33 men from 240 feet down. Portsmouth has been building and fixing submarines for over a century. Read more

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Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Portsmouth, Virginia — Since 1767

The oldest and largest naval shipyard in the United States — established before the nation itself. Norfolk built CSS Virginia (the ironclad Merrimack) for the Confederacy and USS Texas (BB-35), the last surviving dreadnought, for the Union's successors. Today, Norfolk performs nuclear aircraft carrier and submarine overhauls. The yard that has maintained American naval power from wooden frigates through nuclear supercarriers. Two hundred fifty years of keeping the fleet afloat. Read more

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Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Bremerton, Washington — Since 1891

The Pacific Fleet's primary maintenance yard and home of the Navy's inactive ship reserve fleet. Puget Sound performs nuclear carrier refueling complex overhauls, submarine maintenance, and surface ship repairs. The inactive fleet at Puget Sound includes decommissioned carriers, cruisers, and submarines awaiting disposal or reactivation. USS Missouri, USS Kitty Hawk, and dozens of other retired warships have been maintained here. The shipyard where old warships wait — and where active ones go to be reborn. Read more

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Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard

O'ahu, Hawai'i — Since 1908

Nuclear Overhaul

1941 - Never Forget

The shipyard the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941 — and the shipyard that repaired the fleet that won the war. Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard raised and rebuilt battleships that the Japanese thought they'd destroyed. USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Nevada — pulled from the mud, repaired, modernized, and sent back to fight. Today, Pearl Harbor performs nuclear submarine maintenance and is the Navy's forward shipyard in the Pacific. The yard that refused to die on December 7 is still fixing submarines eighty-five years later. Read more

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Closed Naval Shipyards Built the Fleet — Then Lost to Budget Cuts

Brooklyn Navy Yard

New York — 1801 to 1966

BB-61 Built Here

BB-63 Built Here

The shipyard that built the battleships Iowa and Missouri, the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt, and hundreds of other warships across two centuries. At peak production during WWII, Brooklyn Navy Yard employed 70,000 workers and launched a ship every seventeen days. Closed in 1966 as part of Secretary McNamara's base realignment. Now an industrial park. The drydock where Missouri was built still exists. Read more

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Mare Island Naval Shipyard

Vallejo, California — 1854 to 1996

First Pacific Sub

The first naval installation on the Pacific Coast. Mare Island built 512 vessels over 142 years — from Civil War monitors to nuclear submarines. The first submarine built on the West Coast, USS Pike, was launched here in 1935. During WWII, Mare Island built 17 submarines and repaired 327 ships. Closed in 1996 during BRAC. The Chapel of St. Peter stands as a memorial to the workers and sailors who built and maintained the Pacific Fleet for over a century. Read more

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Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

Pennsylvania — 1776 to 1996

CV-6 Overhauled

The oldest naval shipyard in America — established in 1776, the year the Continental Navy was fighting for survival. Philadelphia built warships for every American conflict from the Revolution through the Cold War. During WWII, the yard produced 53 vessels and repaired or converted hundreds more. USS Enterprise (CV-6), the most decorated ship in American naval history, was overhauled here between Pacific campaigns. Closed in 1996 under BRAC. The yard where American naval power was born. Read more

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500+

Tugs Built

4

Active Shipyards

8

Yards Closed

Build

Maintain & Repair