Editing Norfolk Naval Shipyard (section)

===American Civil War===
[[File:Virginia, Norfolk Navy Yard, Ruins of - NARA - 533292.tif|thumb|left|Ruins of the shipyard after the Civil War, 1864; photo by James Gardner. From the collection of the [[National Archives and Records Administration]].]]
In 1861, Virginia joined the [[Confederate States of America]]. Fearing that the Confederacy would take control of the facility, the shipyard commander [[Charles Stewart McCauley]] ordered the burning of the shipyard on 21 April 1861.<ref name=NYTimes>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=24 April 1861 |title=BURNING OF GOSPORT NAVY-YARD; Eleven Vessels Scuttled and Burned, The Steam Tug ''Yankee'' Tows the ''Cumberland'' to Sea, Norfolk Not on Fire. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1861/04/24/archives/burning-of-gosport-navyyard-eleven-vessels-scuttled-and-burned-the.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City |access-date=2 August 2022 |quote=The Government vessels had been scuttled in the afternoon before the [[USS Pawnee (1859)|''Pawnee'']] arrived, to prevent their being seized by the Secessionists… The following are the names of the vessels which were destroyed: [[USS Pennsylvania (1837)|''Pennsylvania'']], 74 gun-ship; steam-frigate [[USS Merrimack (1855)|''Merrimac'']], 44 guns; sloop-of-war [[USS Germantown (1846)|''Germantown'']], 22 guns; sloop [[USS Plymouth (1844)|''Plymouth'']], 22 guns; frigate [[USS Raritan (1843)|''Raritan'']], 45 guns; frigate [[USS Columbia (1836)|''Columbia'']], 44 guns; [[USS Delaware (1820)|''Delaware'']], 74 gun-ship; [[USS Columbus (1819)|''Columbus'']], 74 gun-ship; [[USS United States (1797)|''United States'']], in ordinary; brig [[USS Dolphin (1836)|''Dolphin'']], 8 guns; and the powder-boat… [plus] line-of-battle ship [[List of ships of the line of the United States Navy|''New-York'']], on the stocks… Large quantities of provisions, cordage and machinery were also destroyed — besides buildings of great value — but it is not positively known that the [[Drydock Number One, Norfolk Naval Shipyard |[dry] dock]] was blown up.}}</ref> The Confederate forces did, in fact, take over the shipyard, and did so without armed conflict through an elaborate ruse orchestrated by civilian [[railroad]] builder [[William Mahone]] (then President of the [[Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad]] and soon to become a famous Confederate officer). He bluffed the Federal troops into abandoning the shipyard in Portsmouth by running a single passenger train into Norfolk with great noise and whistle-blowing, then much more quietly, sending it back west, and then returning the same train again, creating the illusion of large numbers of arriving troops to the Federals listening in Portsmouth across the Elizabeth River (and just barely out of sight). The capture of the shipyard allowed a tremendous amount of war material to fall into Confederate hands.<ref name=Nank>{{cite web |url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/ready-war-union-navy-1861 |title=Ready for War? The Union Navy in 1861 |last=Nank |first=Thomas E. |date=23 August 2021 |website=www.battlefields.org |publisher=American Battlefield Trust |access-date=18 August 2022 |quote=The Union's naval infrastructure was dealt a crippling blow on April 20, 1861, when the ill-conceived and botched evacuation of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at Gosport, Virginia, led to the Confederate capture of over 1000 naval guns, [[Drydock Number One, Norfolk Naval Shipyard|irreplaceable dry dock]], and repair facilities. Eight [operational] warships, including the steam frigate [[USS Merrimack (1855)|USS ''Merrimack'']], were also surrendered.}}</ref> 1,195 heavy guns were taken for the defense of the Confederacy, and employed in many areas from [[Hampton Roads]] all the way to [[Fort Donelson]] Tennessee, [[Siege of Port Hudson|Port Hudson]], and [[Fort DeRussy (Louisiana)|Fort DeRussy]], Louisiana. The [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces withdrew to [[Fort Monroe]] across Hampton Roads, which was the only land in the area which remained under Union control.<ref name="page">{{cite book|title=Ships Versus Shore, Civil War Engagements along Southern Shores and Rivers|last=Page|first=Dave|year=1994|publisher=Rutledge Hill Press|isbn=1-55853-267-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/shipsversusshore0000page}}</ref>{{rp|30}}

In early 1862, the Confederate [[ironclad warship]] {{ship|CSS|Virginia}} was rebuilt using the burned-out [[Hulk (ship type)|hulk]] of {{USS|Merrimack|1855|6}}. In the haste to abandon the shipyard, ''Merrimack'' had only been destroyed above the waterline, and an innovative armored [[superstructure]] was built upon the remaining portion. ''Virginia'', which was still called ''Merrimack'' by Union forces and in many historical accounts, sank {{USS|Cumberland|1842|6}}, {{USS|Congress|1841|6}}, and engaged the Union ironclad {{USS|Monitor}} in the famous [[Battle of Hampton Roads]] during the Union blockade of Hampton Roads. The Confederates burned the shipyard again when they left in May 1862.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

Following its recapture of Norfolk and Portsmouth (and the shipyard) by the Union forces, the name of the shipyard was changed to Norfolk after the [[Norfolk County, Virginia|county in which it was located]], outside the city limits of Portsmouth at the time. This choice of name was probably to minimize any confusion with the pre-existing [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]] in [[Kittery, Maine]], near [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]].{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}