HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding Marks 140 Years of Service
This historic image from April 1889 shows the ceremonial opening of a dry dock in the early days of the shipyard (HIl photo).
This undated historic photo shows a NNS shipbuilder working in the Virginia shipyard (HII photo).
This historic photo shows the Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School shortly after it was founded in 1919 (HlI photo).
This historic image shows the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Ex-Enterprise (CVN
65), during construction at NNS (HII photo).
This photo shows Virginia-class submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798) during sea trials in 2025 (Photo by Ashley Cowan/HII).
HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division is marking 140 years of service to the US today, January 28, 2026.
On Jan. 28, 1886, Collis P. Huntington, a businessman whose investments enabled completion of the U.S. transcontinental railroad, turned his focus to shipbuilding, establishing what was first chartered as Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Co. and was then renamed Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.
Several years later, the shipyard delivered its first vessel, the tugboat Dorothy, named for the daughter of William C. Whitney, the 31st Secretary of the Navy. Today, Dorothy sits outside the gates of NNS as a reminder of the shipyard’s humble beginnings.
Since its founding, NNS has delivered more than 800 ships to commercial and military customers. Today, the shipyard designs, builds, maintains, refuels and inactivates nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for the U.S. Navy.
Spanning 550 acres along two miles of the James River, NNS employs 26,000 shipbuilders and is the largest industrial employer in the commonwealth of Virginia. The shipyard also operates additional locations in Norfolk, Virginia, and Goose Creek, South Carolina, to support production.
