Former NYSC "Kitty Hawk" Drydock & Destroyer Yard (Camden, New Jersey)

 place with historical importance, shipyard, production, shipbuilding

Purchased by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in 1917 with a government grant, the NYSC South Yard was tooled specifically for the rapid construction of 'Four-Piper' Clemson Class Destroyers for use during the First World War. Despite its 'official' name being the South Yard, the common name for the facility quickly became the Destroyer Yard.

Eventually producing 30 ships between 1919 and 1921, the Destroyer Yard was mostly deconstructed to repay war loans and idled during the interwar period, and remained unused during the depression years. As NYSC began to receive an increased number of contracts as world events indicated war on the horizon, the Destroyer Yard was passed over for reinvestment, instead being used for parts and material storage. After the construction of a new South Yard began in 1941, the Destroyer Yard's common name became official; however this meant little for the facility as it remained unused during the war.

Following the sale of the South Yard back to the City of Camden after the war, NYSC continued to use the Destroyer Yard for storage until the mid-1950's, when the changing dimensions of modern Capital warships began to outsize the dimensions afforded by NYSC's covered slipways. The idle Destroyer Yard was selected for conversion into a fully modernized ship building and drydock facility, the centerpiece of which was a 1000ft long and 40ft deep drydock. With the facility completed, NYSC was able to successfully bid for the contract to build the USS Kitty Hawk, the first ship of her class of 60,000 ton SuperCarriers in 1955.

Laid down in the Destroyer Yard Drydock on December 27th, 1956, the Kitty Hawk was launched on May 21st, 1960 and spent the next year anchored on the upgraded pier in Newton Creek being outfitted before she commissioned in April 1961. Her construction marked a final high point for NYSC, to date she remains the longest and heaviest ship ever built and launched in Camden.

NYSC hoped the new facility would augment their existing slipways and yard shops and garner new contracts; however less than ten years after the Kitty Hawk sailed away from NYSC the company had declared bankruptcy and the Destroyer Yard was idled. Turned over to the City of Camden, the property was repurposed for use port facility.

Today, the former 'Kitty Hawk' drydock and Destroyer Yard are owned by the Port of Camden and are utilized as a deep-water berth for breakbulk and dry-bulk cargo ships.

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