The shipyard built the USS Monitor, the Navy's first ironclad warship, in 1862, and it transitioned to producing iron vessels after the American Civil War in the mid-1860s.

during the Great Fire in Lower Manhattan on July 19, 1845, "a detachment of sailors and marines from the navy yard under Captain Hudson, were present, and did good service.

1835 was an important year for American labor, with workers in major Northeastern cities petitioning for higher wages; better working conditions, and a ten-hour workday.

"[54] The screw steam sloop Oneida, launched on November 20, 1861, was the first vessel built at the Navy Yard that was specifically intended for the American Civil War.

[53][57] Other vessels built for the Union Navy during this time included Adirondack, Ticonderoga, Shamrock, Mackinaw, Peoria, Tullahoma, Maumee, Nyack, Wampanoag, and Miantonomoh.

[58][59] After the Union Navy quickly realized the plot, it mobilized sailors and Brooklyn metropolitan police to keep watch around the yard, and the Confederates never tried to mount a real attack.

[102] The election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, combined with fraying relations with Germany, Italy, and Japan, resulted in a resumption of shipbuilding activities for the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

[104] At the time, the surrounding neighborhood was run-down with various saloons and dilapidated houses, as described in the Works Progress Administration (WPA)'s 1939 Guide to New York City.

[104][108] Workers erected a garbage incinerator, garage, a coal plant office, and a seawall; in addition, they paved the Navy Yard's roads and laid new railroad tracks.

[105] By 1939, the yard contained more than five miles (8.0 km) of paved streets, four drydocks ranging in length from 326 to 700 ft (99 to 213 m), two steel shipways, and six pontoons and cylindrical floats for salvage work, barracks for marines, a power plant, a large radio station, and a railroad spur, as well as foundries, machine shops, and warehouses.

[116] According to the National Park Service, the Brooklyn Navy Yard eventually constructed "three battleships, two floating workshops, eight tank landing ships, and countless barges and lighters".

[121] During World War II, the navy yard began to train and employ women and minority workers in positions formerly held by white men who had since joined the armed forces.

[121] By January 1945, at peak employment, 4,657 women were working in skilled trades at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, such as pipe-fitters, electricians, welders, crane operators, truck drivers, and sheet metal workers.

[146] In 1963, Department of Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara started studying the feasibility of closing redundant military installations, especially naval ship yards, in order to save money.

[149] In October 1964, after lobbying from yard workers and local politicians, the shipyard received several shipbuilding contracts; at the time, the number of employees was 9,100 and decreasing.

[193][194] Seatrain temporarily fired 3,000 employees in 1974 due to the 1973 oil crisis, resulting in a steep decline in the number of people employed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

[211] A "temporary" cogeneration plant, which generated steam for the Navy Yard's tenants, opened in late 1982 as a stopgap until a permanent incinerator was built.

[212] Mayor Ed Koch withdrew two contract offers in 1982 due to objections from comptroller Goldin, who stated that the health effects of the proposed plant would be detrimental to the community.

[216] David Dinkins, who ultimately won the 1989 mayoral election, campaigned on the stance that the Brooklyn Navy Yard incinerator plan should be put on hold.

[220] The next year, the city dropped plans for the construction of the incinerator altogether, instead focusing on expanding its recycling program and closing Fresh Kills Landfill.

The former main gate at Sands Street, on the western side of the yard, was to be restored, and the New York City Police Department (NYPD)'s tow pound there would be relocated.

As part of the corporation's long-range plan, it proposed to renovate the Green Manufacturing Center, Building 77, the Admiral's Row site, and the Brooklyn Naval Hospital.

[264] During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders held a debate at Brooklyn Navy Yard in building 268, the Duggal Greenhouse.

The surrounding area is located near the northeast tip of the Atlantic coastal plain, a flat, low-lying physiographic region that extends to the southern United States.

[277] A brick wall used to encircle the Navy Yard, separating it from the Farragut Houses and Vinegar Hill to the west; Fort Greene to the south; and Williamsburg to the east.

[308] The museum's main exhibit focuses on the history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and its impact on American industry, technology, innovation, and manufacturing, as well as on national and New York City's labor, politics, education, and urban and environmental planning.

[312] Over the years, Dry Dock 1 has serviced boats such as Monitor, which fought in the Battle of Hampton Roads during the Civil War, and Niagara, which laid the first transatlantic cable.

At the time, the project was beset by several problems, including the presence of quicksand and underground springs, as well as a faulty cofferdam design that twice flooded the excavation site with water from Wallabout Bay.

[324] At one point, the Sands Street gate featured a failed hand-cranked submarine design called the Intelligent Whale, as well as Trophy Park, which contained a memorial shaft to twelve American sailors killed during the Battle of Canton in 1856.

[357][23] The market was very close to New York Harbor, so it was easy to import and export goods, but the ground was muddy and the area was frequented by a violent gang that evaded police enforcement.