History of the Construction of Brooklyn Navy Yard
Brooklyn navy yard was constructed back in 1801. Brooklyn Navy Yard was a shipyard which served a significant role in providing security to the United States Nation. Brooklyn navy yard was built on the east of the New York River in wallabout Basin across the corlear’s hook in Manhattan. The shipyard covered an approximated area of about 200 acres.
Brooklyn navy yard had already constructed the marine barracks building, commandants house, and ship houses by 1820s (Smith, 2018). The navy also went ahead and acquired another piece of land which was estimated to be between 25-33 acres from a woman who was known as Sarah Schenk in 1824 (Bernstein, 2018). On that piece of land that was bought, they used it on the construction of the Brooklyn Naval Hospital, which was later opened in 1838. In Jennifer Egan’s novel, when Anna becomes an Inspector of the Yard, one of her duties was to make special deliveries to building 77 which was a huge storage building. Top floor of the building served as the department of public works and was the office of commandant who was the highest ranked officer of the yard.
Before commencing of the American civil war, the shipyard had overextended such that it had more than 70000 employees who reported to work every day. Women were hired for the first time at the yard working as mechanics and technicians (Smith, 2018). In Jennifer Egan’s novel she tells that, before the American civil war, the Brooklyn navy yard (which was also called New York Naval Shipyard) was mainly dominated by the male workforce. On September 14, 1942, more than 600 women had begun working in the yard. Some were working as electricians, welders, mechanics among many other industrial jobs provided.
The yard was composed of two gatehouses looking like small castles, the sand street entrance which was opened in 1866 (Ryan, 2019). In Jennifer Egan’s novel, we see Anna and her friends used to go to the yard through the sands street gate whereby on top of the two pillars of the gate was an image of an Eagle on each post.
During the Second World War, everybody took part in the war; even the fruit vendors were expected to sell food during the war. People also sold small war bonds which were referred to as “thrift stamps.” liberty loan bonds existed, and were sold for a minimum of $5 which was way too much money for the working poor; instead, they could buy this stamps for 25 cents and combine them to get a full bond worth $5 after maturity (Ryan, 2019). In Jennifer Egan’s novel, Anna is also selling war bonds because she is an employee of the yard. Workers were allowed to sell bonds to their family and friends to raise funds to support the war. There used to be a competition in the yard for selling bonds across the country
In 1942 the yard built a new tank which was used by the divers to train, they were provided with a torch to enable them to see while down the sea (Bernstein, 2018). Divers also had a telephone which was used as part of communication between the divers and the instructors from the top. In Jennifer Egan’s novel, Anna is working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a warship Engineer for the US Navy in World War 2. During this period, Anna comes across a professional diver who triggers her desire to work undersea. Anna goes against the wishes of the diving officer Axel, and, changes her career to begin underwater repairs.
Brooklyn Navy decommissioned the yard in 1966, and sold to the city of Ney York. Decades later, the Yard turned to an area of private manufacturing and commercial activities. The yard is today under the management of Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Cooperation for the City of New York.