WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
Location: On the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., 3 ½ miles from the White House
Size: 42 acres, several thousand employees. The base includes 45 historic structures, most dating from the 1800s.
Nickname: "The Quarterdeck of the Navy," recognizing its role as a ceremonial and administrative center for the Navy.
Facilities: Headquarters, Chief of Naval Operations; Regional Headquarters, Naval District Washington; Navy Installations Command; Office of the Naval Inspector General; Office of the Judge Advocate General; Military Sealift Command; Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station; Naval Facilities Engineering Command; Naval Sea Systems Command; regional Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Naval History and Heritage Command, including the Naval Museum; Marine Corps Institute.
Also of note: Home of the U.S. Naval Band and (until its sale in 1977) the president's yacht.
History: Authorized in 1799, making it the Navy's oldest installation, the U.S. Navy Yard since 1815 been a center for naval research and development. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Among historically important events:
— Burned during the War of 1812 to keep it from falling into the hands of the British.
— Served as the gateway to Washington for the first Japanese diplomat to arrive in 1860.
— Ships anchored off the Navy Yard housed those arrested in President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
— After the Civil War, the Navy Yard became the manufacturing site for Navy ordnance, and built the heavy guns used on U.S. ships in World Wars I and II. Following World War II, it was rechristened the U.S. Naval Gun Factory.
— In 1964, after ordnance work was phased out, the Navy Yard name was restored and the facility became the home of numerous Navy offices.
Source: Commander, Naval Installations Command; U.S. Department of the Interior, McClatchy Newspapers
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