It is located in Ilha das Cobras, at the Guanabara Bay, in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The institution dates back to the installation of the Arsenal of Rio de Janeiro, at the foot of the hill of St. Benedict.

At the time, the capital of the colony was being transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, among other reasons, for a better protection of the gold that came from Minas Gerais by the Royal Road.

[4] Later, with the outbreak of the Paraguayan War, vessels for the Imperial Brazilian Navy were built in shipyards in England and in the AMRJ.

[6] Between the construction of surface units and submarines, and the activity of maintenance of the fleet are: The AMRJ was honored by the Pan American Institute of Naval Engineering for its "contribution to the development of the Naval Engineering in the America", in 2002–2003, during the meeting in Havana, Cuba.