[3] In April, 1899, the former United States Revenue Cutter Service (RCS) leased 36 acres (150,000 m2) of farmland surrounding Arundel Cove.

The crew set up permanent quarters, marking also the beginning of the United States Coast Guard Academy.

Five years later, in 1905, the United States Congress authorized the purchase of the land on which the depot sat and with additional surrounding properties ending the previous leasing arrangements.

New construction included a boiler and pump house, a foundry, boat, sheetmetal, electrical, paint, upholstery and blacksmith shops, new mess halls, barracks, garages, recreation building and storage structures.

Extensive overhauls and repairs were performed on the then-modern vessels Yamacraw, Seneca, Seminole and many 100', 125' patrol boats and tugs.

With the transfer of the United States Lighthouse Service of the Department of Commerce to the Coast Guard in 1939, buoy construction became another major depot function.

The depot, now comparable in size and functions to a medium-size navy shipyard, was officially designated the U.S. Coast Guard Yard.

Besides the assigned military complement, the Coast Guard's wartime training station or boot camp added to the number of personnel at the yard.

The 1950s saw the construction of three hundred 40' steel lifesaving patrol boats, the Coast Guard lightships San Francisco and Ambrose and small craft like the 36'8" motor lifeboats.

During the Vietnam War, 26 of the yard-built 82-footers served with Coast Guard Squadron One as a part of the Navy's Operation Market Time.

The trades continued the manufacturing of the Coast Guard's lighted buoys, a program which began at the yard during the Second World War.

In 1971, the yard completed construction of a prototype 41' utility boat (UTB) which had an aluminum hull and fiberglass superstructure.

The Zero Relative Velocity Skimmer (ZRV) represented the best available technology in the Coast Guard's field of fast current pollution control research.

Beginning in 1984, the yard began the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) for nine 180' buoy tenders in the Coast Guard fleet.

received mid-life overhauls and given an anticipated 20 additional years of service life as a result of the yard's renovation.

In 1984, the yard recommissioned the first 210' medium endurance cutter under the Coast Guard's Major Maintenance Availability Program (MMA).

In 1985, the yard completed a major renovation of a ferryboat for Coast Guard use at Governor's Island, New York.

The Kulshan, a 30-year-old vessel bought by the Coast Guard from the State of Washington's ferry system, was renamed the Governor following renovation at the yard.

The project was transferred to the yard when the awarded private contractor filed for bankruptcy prior to contract completion.

With the dedication of the new $18 million shiplift in November, 1997, the yard increased its capability to accommodate repairs of Coast Guard vessels.