Newport News Shipbuilding

Newport News Shipbuilding, part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, holds a singular place in American naval history. It is the only shipyard in the United States that designs, builds, and refuels aircraft carriers, and it shares the role of building submarines for the Navy with one other yard. Founded in 1886 as the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Co., the yard sits on the banks of the James River in Newport News, Virginia. Over its long life, it has launched more than 800 vessels, both for the Navy and for commercial customers, and its sprawling facilities cover over 550 acres.

The shipyard is a cornerstone of the regional economy, providing jobs for tens of thousands of workers across the lower Virginia Peninsula, parts of Hampton Roads, the Middle Peninsula, and even some counties in northeastern North Carolina. Its workforce includes engineers, welders, electricians, and other skilled tradespeople who build some of the most complex machines on Earth.

Currently, the yard is constructing the USS Enterprise (CVN-80), a Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, and in 2013 it began the deactivation of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise (CVN-65), a ship it had built decades earlier. Newport News also performs refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) on Nimitz-class carriers, a four-year renewal process that includes refueling the reactors and modernizing the ship. Five Nimitz-class carriers have completed RCOH at the yard, and as of late 2017, the USS George Washington was undergoing the same work. [edit]