Comes with C.O.A.

*A shipbuilding legacy. Orignal blueprint from the largest and famous Navy shipbuilding facility of WWII. During WWII, New York Ship made all nine Independence-class light aircraft carriers, the battleship USS South Dakota, and 98 landing craft that were used in the D-Day landings at Normandy’s Utah Beach. The shipyard launched a remarkable number of well-known ships, including USS Kitty Hawk, USS Saratoga, USS Idaho, USS Indianapolis, and more.

VERY LARGE WWII blueprint: 4.5 feet long x 2.5 feet long

This incredibly rare original general plan blueprint of the ‘New York Shipbuilding Corporation’ shows the transformative expansion (marked in red) of the facilities 194 acres in 1941. The blueprint shows heavily marked sections all across the facility that were virtual to the construction of some of the most famous USN ships and landing craft of WWII including battleships USS Michigan, USS Utah, USS Arkansas, USS Oklahoma, USS Colorado and Idaho plus battlecruiser Saratoga, which was completed as an aircraft carrier (CV 3) to name a few.

D-Day and the New York Shipbuilding Corporation:

We remember and honor the heroism of the soldiers who waded through the surf or dropped in by parachute, pouring 150,000 Allied personnel into France in just the first day, and establishing a vital toehold on the continent that would allow in millions more. But D-Day was not just a triumph of courage or valor or military strategy – it was a triumph of industrial might and human labor, bringing the full force of the Allies’ factories, farms, and shipyards onto a narrow stretch of beach. It’s important to remember, as the saying goes, the men (and women) behind the man behind the gun, and in this case, we remember the shipbuilders of Brooklyn.

We mark the event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the first Sunday of June, with our special World War II tour of the yard, and the Yard does have a direct connection to Normandy, as several vessels used in the assault were built there. During the course of the war, the yard built eight LSTs, or Landing Ship Tank, used to both deliver large armored vehicles to beaches and launch smaller landing craft for vehicles and personnel.

All eight of the LSTs (hull numbers 311 through 318) participated in the Italian campaigns in 1943, landing troops at Sicily and Salerno; all but two would continue their duties at Normandy (LSTs 313 and 318 were sunk in Italy). In the photo below, taken on D-Day +1 (June 7) on Omaha Beach, LST-312 can be seen at the far right, while 311 is seventh from the right, offloading vehicles. LST-312, we know, was making its second journey to Normandy, as it had delivered British equipment and personnel to Gold Beach a day earlier

WWII and the New York Shipbuilding:

The United States Navy began a massive new warship-building program to meet the growing threat from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Before WWII, New York Ship had been a major builder of civilian vessels during its first 43 years in business. However, the urgent naval construction needs of America and its Allies now required that New York Ship convert its entire production capability to building new naval warships.

Over the next six years, New York Shipbuilding Corporation would play a vital role in constructing the largest and most powerful Navy in history. Laying the keel for “Battleship X” on July 5, 1939 was just the beginning. In June 1941 the Camden waterfront witnessed the 35,000 ton battleship’s hull slide into the Delaware River. Completed less than a year later in March 1942, USS South Dakota (BB-57) would go on to become one of the most famous battleships in U.S. naval history.

From December 1941 to August 1945, New York Shipbuilding Corporation completed 26 major units for the Navy, including eight light cruisers, nine light aircraft carriers, two battle cruisers and one battleship. An additional forty-four other warships had already been completed before Pearl Harbor and America’s formal entry into WWII. In all, 218 warships built at New York Ship saw active service during WWII.

At is peak period of production during the War, more than 30,000 men and women were employed at New York Ship. Its thousands of workers responded magnificently to the urgent shipping needs of the Allied cause during the war.
Over a twelve-month period, from March 1942 to March 1943, New York Ship delivered $217,000,000 in new naval construction alone. The bulk of these deliveries consisted of heavy combatant ships from 12,000 to 35,000 tons displacement, which were completed 8 to 13 months ahead of scheduled completion dates. The sheer magnitude of new warship construction within a twelve-month period has never been exceeded in the history of shipbuilding.