Information Panel: A Fitting-Out Dock

Information Panel: A Fitting-Out Dock

Photo: NPS / Claire Hassler

Quick Facts

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

This dock, constructed of reinforced concrete on concrete and wood pilings, was once the last stop for cargo ships under construction at Jones Point's World War I shipyard. Here, ships received final fittings before heading out for service. The dock featured a derrick- a crane-like device- to move construction materials, equipment, instruments, and fittings on and off ships. The U.S. government contracted the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation to build 12 vessels, but only 9 of these were completed.

The ship- shaped lawn to your left is the size of the SS Gunston Hall, the first ship to be built by the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation at Jones Point. 

On the Job for Victory

The U.S. Emergency Fleet Corporation urged shipbuilders to take their work as seriously as soldiers fighting in the trenches. Although the Great War ended before the first ship, the SS Gunston Hall, was completed and launched in May 1919, every ship built here was commissioned into active service