Editing Norfolk Naval Shipyard (section)

===Modern shipyard===
[[File:Shaping a ship’s plate at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 1941 (25824187944).jpg|thumb|Shaping a ship's plate in October 1941]]
[[File:Norfolk Naval Shipyard aerial photo in 1995.JPEG|thumb|Aerial view of the shipyard looking north towards Norfolk]]
From the [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction Era]] until 1917, the shipyard was used both for ship repair and construction and for ship stationing; the current major naval base for the region, [[Naval Operating Base, Norfolk|Naval Station Norfolk]], did not yet exist.  As such, the then Norfolk Navy Yard served as the official [[Homeport]] for ships stationed in the Hampton Roads region.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

No major expansion occurred at the facility until [[World War I]] when it was expanded to accommodate 11,000 employees and their families. The shipyard was again expanded in [[World War II]], doubling its physical size, and greatly expanding its productive capacity. During its peak, from 1940 to 1945, 43,000 personnel were employed and 6,850 vessels were repaired.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

After World War II, the shipyard shifted from being a ship construction facility to an overhaul and repair facility. Work on the {{sclass|Iowa|battleship}}, {{USS|Kentucky|BB-66|2}} was suspended in 1950.  Its last two ships, {{USS|Bold|AM-424|2}} and her [[sister ship]], {{USS|Bulwark|AM-425|2}}, wooden [[minesweeper]]s, were christened on March 28, 1953, during the [[Korean War]].{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

Currently, the shipyard is composed of several noncontiguous areas totaling {{convert|1,275|acre|km2}}. Norfolk Naval Shipyard provides repair and modernization services for every type of ship that the U.S. Navy has in service, which includes amphibious vessels, [[submarine]]s, guided-missile [[cruiser]]s, and [[supercarrier]]s, although in recent years the shipyard has primarily focused on nuclear ships and nuclear support ships. The Norfolk yard is one of the few facilities on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] capable of dry docking nuclear aircraft carriers. Another facility capable of drydocking such carriers is [[Huntington Ingalls Industries]] (HII), located on the other side of Hampton Roads in [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]], which is the only U.S. shipyard that currently builds and refuels nuclear aircraft carriers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AIRCRAFT CARRIERS |url=https://hii.com/what-we-do/capabilities/aircraft-carriers/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=HII |language=en-US}}</ref>