1. From the passage of the Naval Appropriations Act of April 4, 1911, the Bureau was responsible for the design and construction of all public works and public utilities for the United States Navy, regardless of the areas of responsibility of the other bureaux.

2. Before 1917, this work was confined to the United States, but was extended overseas thereafter.

3. During the war years the Bureau experienced a 'phenomenal' growth in material and personnel.

4. The history of the Bureau from 1898 showed that it had recognised the inadequate nature of the number and type of shore establishments required for a major war. In particular, the dry-docks were too small to accommodate the new ships. The Bureau had begun a programme to build four large graving docks and one floating dock. This program was not completed until the opening of the dock at Pearl Harbor in 1919. Other projects diverted funds - especially during the war years.

5. The value of the docks and other shore facilities was given as:


An additional $70m funding was provided for investment in private shipyards and machinery manufacturers.




This chapter outlines the changes in the organisation of the bureau, and then provides information on the personnel employed in the bureau.


Before July 1st, 1916, the entire staff of the bureau consisted of:


To meet the expected demands of war, the bureau was organised into six divisions, each of which dealt with a specific area of responsibility. They were:


On March 23rd, 1917, the divisions were reduced to three:



A final re-organisation took place In October 1917. Ten project managers were appointed. They covered the following areas:



Recruiting was made easier by permission to recruit personnel from the United States Naval Reserve. This produced 197 male and 121 female members of staff. Some 24 distinguished, well-qualified engineers could be - and were - recruited from civilian life; and staff were forbidden from enlisting in the combat units of the armed forces.

The growth of the bureau's personnel is illustrated thus:


The distribution of technical staff between the various areas of work on January 1st, 1919 was:




A small number of civilian engineers were employed by the Navy Department before 1867. In that year, an establishment of 10 uniformed civil engineers was approved by Congress.

This total was increased to 18 in 1898, and then to 40 in 1903.

With war imminent, an act of August 23rd 1916, permitted to recruitment of civilians and reservists into the Corps. By November 11th, 1918, the total strength was:


Civil engineer officers were employed either at the Bureau in Washington, or at the various navy yards around the country.



The inadequate accommodation provided by Bancroft Hall [designed for 500 midshipmen but having to provide places for 1,200 was remedied. The construction of two new accommodation blocks was authorised on March 4th 1917 with contracts signed on July 13th.

The new blocks were completed in May and September 1918. They provided an extra 1,200 places, doubling the capacity to 2,400 at a cost of $3,925,000. A new classroom block for seamanship and navigation was completed at the same time for $1,000,000; as was a new power plant and distribution system.



In the spring of 1917, the US Navy possessed 4 naval training stations with a total capacity of 6,000 trainees. This was recognised as insufficient for war-time expansion, and a major part of the Bureau's work to rectify this deficiency.

The four training stations were:


They had been established because of the greater need for technical training: a function which could not be performed by the existing training hulks.

The Bureau's wartime target was to provide an extra 40 training establishments with a winter capacity of 191,000 and a summer capacity of 205,000 [some camps were tented]. The original estimated cost was $1.5m but the actual expenditure was $75m. Up to 50,000 men were employed in the construction work.

Design work began immediately after the declaration of war, and contracts began to be signed in May 1917. Three existing sites were developed at great speed:


Largely built of wood, most of the new camps were built with standard-designed buildings, and organised into pre-determined groups - administration; isolation [for new recruits]; main regimental; services; hospital; education and recreation.

The bulk of the chapter lists the major projects by Naval District, beginning with the 1st in New England, and ending with the 13th in Washington State.

1st Naval District, Boston

2nd Naval District, Newport, RI

3rd Naval District, New York
4th Naval District, Philadelphia

5th Naval District, Norfolk, Va

6th Naval District, Charleston

7th Naval District, Miami

8th Naval District, New Orleans

9th Naval District, Great Lakes

11th Naval District, San Diego

12th Naval District, San Francisco

13th Naval District, Seattle

The last nine pages of this chapter is made up of an account by Lt.Cmdr Bolles regarding the construction of the training camp at Coddington Point, Newport, RI.

 

The provision of new facilities for the USMC began with three projects in Philadelphia:


New barracks were built:


Major projects were:

Prewar plans for a two 5,000 bed hospitals - one on the east coast, and the other on the west coast, were abandoned on the outbreak of war. A range of smaller emergency hospitals would be built instead.

By extending existing hospitals, and constructing temporary ones, 27 hospitals were operational by the end of the conflict. This program involved the construction of 500 new buildings [mostly of standard wood construction] to provide places for 17,000 patients. The cost was $21m with an additional $550,000 spent on medical supply depots. Dispensary facilities were created at all shore stations.

The hospitals were:


The construction of 3 other hospitals was cancelled:


With the despatch of 200 portable buildings and local construction, the following hospitals were provided overseas.





This chapter provides many plans and photographs of the above hospitals.





On May 2, 1916, the Navy Secretary set up the Board for the Development of Navy Yard Plans. This was in response to the very large 1916 new construction plans. The board developed a Type Plan to be applied to each navy yard. Plans were approved for:


The main proposals for each navy yard were:




The detailed account of how the shipbuilding and repair facilities were modernised are detailed in this chapter.

As a result of the 1916 ship building program, the previous capacity for the construction of battleships which was limited to two navy yards and a few private firms needed to be increased.

The Naval Appropriations Act of August 29, 1916 authorised the expenditure of $6m for the improvement of the yards designated as suitable for the construction of large warships. They were Norfolk, Philadelphia, Boston and Puget Sound. Further funds were authorised as the work developed - $12m on March 4th, 1917; $1,75m on March 28th 1918; $10m in July 1918. The total expenditure by 1920 was $43,549.000.

The main proposals were:


A diagram on pages 160-161 illustrates the resulting increase in building capacity.

Marine railway, cradle ashore

Cradle submerged

The principal areas of work were:




This chapter has many photos, charts and pull-out plans



In addition to modernisation of the navy yards, the Bureau provided funding for the extension and modernisation of the shipbuilding facilities of commercial enterprises, most of whom had built warships for the US Navy prior to 1917. This effort was encouraged by the need to produce large numbers of destroyers, submarines and small craft.

A total of 45 projects were authorised at a cost of $71m. These projects came in one of three different financial and legal categories:


On page 217, there is a table which lists all 45 projects in terms of timing of funds, total funds, and main area of expenditure. Of these:


The largest contracts were:


Another well-known contract was to the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, for $5.5m, to build a plant to deliver 100 'Eagle Boats' - patrol boats - of which 60 had been completed by 11.18.

Other major contracts which are described in detail are:


Non-shipyard contracts discussed in detail are:


As with the previous chapter, there are extensive illustrations, and plans to accompany the narrative.



These were the most expensive single item in the range of facilities needed to support the fleet. In 1916, the United States Navy had an inventory of 21 dry docks. Only three were of a size suitable for battleships - one of 800 ft, and two of 740 ft. The rest were small and old with the smallest only 324 ft. long.

The construction of the Balboa Dock for the Panama Canal increased confidence in tackling the engineering problems associated with the construction of large docks.

Through a combination of new construction, purchase, and rental, the Navy Department acquired five large dry docks by 1921. Two smaller docks were acquired in the same time period.

The new dry docks were:


This chapter contains much detailed information on the technical issues of dry dock construction.



The three areas of Bureau activity were the design and erection of new power plants, extensions to existing plants, and installation of the distribution systems.

Contracts for 140 power plant projects were signed between April 6th, 1917 and November 11th 1918. The shortage of technical staff at the Bureau meant that most projects were partnerships between government and private firm.

The two largest projects were the construction of new power plants for Norfolk Navy Yard and Philadelphia Navy Yard. The two coal-fired plants were identical in design but the Philadelphia plant was completed ahead of that at Norfolk. The work involved the construction and installation of boilers, turbines, and generators, as well as the supporting distribution systems.

Other Navy yards received modifications and extensions to their existing plant. The most extensive worked was required at Charleston Navy Yard. Other yards were substantive work took place were:


An urgent installation program was required to provide power plants for the new naval training camps. The most important were-Newport RI, Pelham Park NY, Hampstead Roads Va.

Other major extensions took place at Torpedo Station Newport RI, Submarine Base New London Ct, Naval Aircraft Factory Philadelphia, Naval Academy Annapolis, New Orleans, and at the Indianhead Proving Ground in Maryland.

As with earlier chapters, a considerable amount of technical detail can be found in this chapter.




Work was done at the request of the Bureau of Ordnance and involved not only the provision of manufacturing facilities but housing and other domestic needs as many stations were in remote areas.















In August 1916, the decision was taken to build a plant for the manufacture of armor for the battleships being authorised. Existing private plants did not possess the capacity to produce armor in the quantities anticipated. The project was slowed down at the outbreak of war but resumed in mid 1918.

The first task was to find a location for the plant. After surveying 200 sites, that at Charleston WV was selected. As the existing plants at Pittsburgh, Midvale, and South Bethlehem were of different designs, none could be used as a model for the new plant. Design work had to begin from scratch.

After the outbreak of war, the government realised that the capacity to manufacture guns was insufficient to meet demands, and so, a new gun-making plant would be built alongside the armor plant. The basic gun would be manufactured at Charleston but finished off at the Washington Navy Yard.

There is much technical detail in this chapter about the design of furnaces, machine shops, and on the storage of materials. Also discussion of the financial arrangements for the construction of the plant.

Active construction of the armor plant began in July 1917 but the work was impeded by the geography of the site, by the lack of local labor, and by the lack of housing for imported labor.

The problem of building a power plant was solved after the armistice. The US Army had no further need for the power plant at Nitro and it was transferred to the US Navy. Extra transmission lines connected the power plant with the armor/projectile plants.

The gun manufacturing plant/projectile plant was constructed between August 1917 and May 1918, and was manufacturing 4 inch and 6 inch guns by the armistice.

The armor plant was ready at the time of the book's publication in 1921, to begin manufacture of armor for the new battleships.




Before April 917 the Navy Department had recognised that the demand for storage facilities had outrun supply. The Bureau responded by preparing type plans for each type of storage facility.

These covered a variety of different types for structures.

1. General Storehouses.


2. Fleet Supply Bases.


3. Temporary Stores



A total of $30m was spent on 30 permanent and over 100 temporary facilities. A table on pp 327-328 lists the locations of 26 of the former [the other 4?]. They were at:


This chapter does not cover storage for ordnance, ammunition, fuel [except emergency stores], oil fuel, and medical supplies. It does provide many plans and photographs of the whole range of buildings.

It also provides information on more specialist storage facilities:





Prior to the war, the General Board had expressed concern about an adequate strategic reserve of fuel oil. As a result a program to expand or development new facilities was begun. This program continued during the war years but was not given a high priority. Storage areas which contained large concrete storage tanks were built at:


The largest and newest project was at:

Some use was made of steel tanks as well as the main requirement for concrete.

The most immediate concern of the Bureau was to respond to a request from Admiral Sims in London to provide oil storage facilities in France. This was accomplished by the transfer of materials and equipment from the United States.


This chapter contains a lengthy personal memoir of the construction period at Brest by Lt. C. P. Conrad, Corps of Civil Engineers.




The design, testing and operation of radio stations was the responsibility of the Bureau of Engineering. The Bureau of Yards and Docks provided the supporting infrastructure - self-supporting towers, masts, operating buildings, power houses, quarters, barracks, water and sewerage, lighting and fencing.

Three new high-powered radio stations were commissioned in the spring of 1917:


Two more were constructed in the USA during the war:


A major project was the construction of a radio station at Croix D'Hins, near Bordeaux in France to handle all transatlantic communications (image above).

A lengthy memoir with diagrams and photographs is found at the end of this chapter, written by Commander F C Cooke, CEC.

Smaller projects included:


In addition, the bureau supplied twenty 200 foot and four 300 foot masts to the Cuban government.



Before June 1915, very little consideration was given to the special berthing and support needs of submarines. In that month, a plan was drawn up for the creation of a number of self-supporting submarine bases. Working on the basis that the main tactical organisation of submarines would be a squadron of ten boats, the blueprint was for the construction of two piers about 250 ft apart with room for this number of submarines, and the squadron's tender. There would be a full range of supporting facilities for the maintenance and repair of the boats. In addition, proper accommodation would be provided for 80 officers and 600 enlisted men.

In practice, this standard plan was modified because of the particular characteristics of each site.

The first project was at Pearl Harbor. The plan was approved on May 18th, 1916. The site chosen, in March 1917, was at Quarry Point. More piers would be built but further apart from each other. The bureau's history does not indicate the extent to which this base was completed by the end of 1918.

The current submarine base at New London was to enlarged. The work was authorised in March 1917 and a budget of $1.25m was allocated. Eight finger piers [each 275ft x 20ft] were constructed. New barracks were built to accommodate 500 each. The former marine barracks was enlarged to provide for a further 750 personnel.

An entirely new submarine base was constructed at Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone. Construction was authorised on May 25th 1917 with a budget of $741,025. With four piers, repair and maintenance facilities were provided for up to 20 submarines. An air station was constructed alongside the submarine base [see next chapter].

At Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pier D in the Back Basin was modified for submarine use.

A plan for new bases on the west coast was finalised in January 1917 with sites selected at Ediz Hook, WA, Tongue Point, OR; and San Pedro, CA. The only site where work began was at Tongue Point, and that was not until 1920.

In late 1917, an L-shaped pier was constructed at Mare Island for submarine support.

A submarine base was included in the plans for the new fleet base at Hampton Roads. Situated in the far north-eastern corner of the site, the base would consist of an enclosed basin [1,100 x 1,200 ft], a pier [1,200 x 120 ft], and ten finger piers [330 x 18 ft]. This base could support a maximum of 31 boats.

Consideration was given to the construction of a base at Key West, but no work was done by the time of the armistice.




Before 1917 little thought was paid to the use of land bases for naval aircraft. The first land base was established at Pensacola, Fl. in 1914. This followed the use of temporary camps at Annapolis and Guantanamo Bay in 1913. By 1917, Pensacola had three seaplane hangers, and dirigible shed.]

The first task of the bureau was to construct a series of patrol stations as bases for coastal patrol aircraft. As a result of investment in eight airship hangers, the following patrol stations were established during the course of 1917:


Nine flying training stations were created during the war years. They were:


Ten 'Rest Stations' were established. These would provide basic refuelling facilities for patrol aircaft. They were at:


Four permanent naval air stations were constructed:

A fifth station was begun at Brunswick, Me. but construction was abandoned after the armistice.

Major developments took place at the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia.

Almost all the above were closed 1919-1920, and aviation facilities were reduced to two permanent stations:


A major part of the Bureau's work was the construction of air bases in Europe for use by the United States Navy. Up to March 1918, 6 were established in Ireland, 1 in England, and 18 in France. By the end of the war, a further 1 in England, 6 in France, 2 in Italy, and 1 in Tunisia were either completed or planned.

A table on pages 419-420 gives full details, and a map is provided on page 421.

The locations of air stations in Europe, and the function of each is listed below (* second wave):


All of the above were relinquished/abandoned after the armistice.



The United States government responded to a request from Britain to develop a source of helium required for balloons. This could be accomplished by the construction of a plant which would extract helium from natural gas. A survey by the Bureau of Mines, led to the choice of a site in Texas known as the Petrolia [Texas] field.

Three experimental plants were established from which the process developed by Linde Air Productions was chosen. The Bureau of Engineering designed the plant, and the Bureau of Yards and Docks constructed the plant on the northern outskirts of Fort Worth. Various types of specialised buildings and structures were built for tasks such as compression, separation, as well as boilers
Much detail is given on the process of extraction at this point in the chapter.

The new plant required the construction of a pipeline to carry the gas from the wells to the plant. The pipeline was over 100 miles long. Details are provided on pressure and capacity at this point in the account.

The plant was connected to the electricity grid operated by Forth Worth Power and Lighting Co.

The construction cost was $3.5m and it was capable of producing 40,000 cubic feet of helium per day.




This chapter outlines activities which had no relation to the war effort. As a result of treaty obligations to Santo Domingo and Haiti, and to the new responsibility for the former Danish Virgin Islands, CEC officers were sent out to supervise a wide range of infrastructure projects in these three locations.

In Santo Domingo, 2 CEC officers supervised a wide range of work including two main highways, railroads, bridges, water and sewerage facilities, the telephone network, schools, and harbor improvements.

In Haiti. 8 CEC officers were employed on a similar wide range of tasks which included roads, public buildings, water supply, harbors and railroads.

When the United States took over the administration of the Virgin Islands in February 1917, one CEC officer was tasked with a range of minor infrastructure projects. Given the scale of the task, progress was slow.



The main function of this division was to assess bids for work, and award contracts for that work. Between April 6th 1917 and November 11th 1918, the division directly awarded 841 project contracts, and approved 439 others which had originated locally in navy yards and elsewhere.

A total of 1,016 contracts were awarded with a total expenditure of $120m. The award of a large number of other contracts were abandoned at the end of hostilities.

This chapter offers a detailed account of how the financial aspects of contracts were assessed and negotiated. The process was flexible and changed during the months of the war. The division indicated the priority to be given to each contract. It developed an Information and Plans Section to oversee the progress of contracts; and employed a large number of locally enrolled inspectors to report on the progress of work.


This division was created on March 26th, 1917. It had a wide range of functions: some of which are described in detail. They were:




The inadequate size of the State, War and Navy Building was recognised before the war, but no action was taken until America's entry into the conflict. By July 1, 1917, the Navy Department occupied nine different buildings in various parts of the city. As the same problem affected the War Department, this department proposed the construction of a new building to house it, and some parts of the Navy Department. The Navy Department did not care for this arrangement, and proposed a separate building to house it on the one location. Ultimately, two separate buildings were built on the plot in Potomac Park - one to be named the Navy Building, and the other, the Munitions Building.

The building was authorised on March 25th , 1918 - a month after the Bureau signed the contract.

The cost would be $5,775,000. Contractors employed 3,400 men in the construction of reinforced concrete building which was completed on October 1st, 1918. The Navy Building had 940,000 square feet of office space, and the Munitions Building had 840,000 square feet.

Much of this chapter is devoted to details of the design, and of the construction process.




The outbreak of war, and the movement of workers to the many projects, created a severe shortage of housing in Washington DC and across the nation. On July 8th, 1918, President Wilson allocated $100m to provide a solution to the problem. The United States Housing Corporation was established. The Bureau worked closely with it to provide housing in and around naval bases and navy yards. Many of the housing projects were small scale.

This chapter illustrates the nature and extent of the work by lengthy accounts of the work undertaken at a number of locations:


Most of these properties were sold to private purchasers immediately after the war.