Originally designated as the Navy Yard and later as the Naval Base it had a large impact upon the local community, the tri-county area and the entire State of South Carolina.

Captain Blake Wayne Van Leer led the expansion and construction of Dry Dock No.

The Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Charleston opened in 1946 at the shipyard to store the many surplus ships after World War II.

In supporting Joint Base Charleston, 231 acres (93 ha) of the former Charleston Naval Base/Naval Shipyard facility have been transformed into a multiuse Federal complex, with 17 Government and Military tenants, as well as homeport for six RO-RO Military Sealift Command ships, four Coast Guard National Security Cutters, two NOAA research ships, the United States Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center FLETC-Charleston.

Lastly, a 350-acre section of the former base was planned to be a sustainable, mixed-use urban hub for the city of North Charleston to be called The Navy Yard at Noisette, starting in 2005.

However, in 2010, the developer, the Noisette company, went into foreclosure and Palmetto Railways, part of the S.C. Department of Commerce purchased over 200-acres of the property.

[8] In February 2020, Coast Guard Admiral Karl Schultz announced that the shipyard would be included in a planned "super base."

The plan would consolidate Coast Guard assets to the North Charleston region and occur within five years.