Submarine History of the Brooklyn Navy Yard | Episode 208

Posted on

PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

On National Submarine Day, dive into the undersea history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard! Although no submarines were ever built at the Yard, from the Civil War to the Cold War, it was a critical facility for the development, testing, and outfitting of the US Navy’s submarine fleet, from primitive hand-cranked submersibles to nuclear-powered ballistic missile subs. This program will explore the evolution of submarine technology and critical breakthroughs that were made at the Yard, including the development of diesel engines from captured German U-boats, experimental torpedoes and underwater munitions, and the world’s first satellite-based navigation system.

>> Continue reading

Missiles and Meteorites: Polar Exploration and the Brooklyn Navy Yard | Episode 94

Posted on

PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

From the 1830’s to the 1960’s, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was an important base for exploration of the Polar regions. This program with Yard historian Andrew Gustafson will span from the Wilkes Expedition (1838-1842) that charted portions of the Antarctica coast, through Robert Peary’s numerous attempts at the North Pole (1886-1909), and the many Cold War-era programs to map, patrol, and fight in the Arctic Ocean, the new frontline between nuclear-armed US and USSR.

>> Continue reading

Aircraft Carrier Visits Now a Rare Sight in NYC

Posted on

Last week, New York City was visited by the flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Queen Elizabeth. This 65,000-ton carrier has spent several weeks in the US while undergoing flight testing with the F-35B fighter, which will be the primary component of its air wing. The seven-day stopover in New York was mostly for crew R-and-R, though the ship also hosted the Atlantic Future Forum on cybersecurity.

New York City is home to the Intrepid, permanently docked on the Hudson River and home to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum, and the city still hosts Fleet Week every year around Memorial Day (with some exceptions), but aircraft carriers have not been part of the festivities for over a decade. Let’s take a look back at some of the floating airfields that have visited the city.>> Continue reading

From the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Mars: Honeybee Robotics

Posted on

The Brooklyn Navy Yard has a long tradition of exploration. For 165 years, the Yard built, outfitted, and repaired ships that traveled millions of miles around the world, including building the first US Navy ship to circumnavigate the globe (USS Vincennes, 1826-30), dispatching the groundbreaking US Exploring Expedition (1838-42), and receiving the Navy’s first nuclear submarine USS Nautilus after it passed underneath the ice of the North Pole (1958). But none of these ships went as far or as deep into uncharted territory as systems developed by Brooklyn Navy Yard tenant Honeybee Robotics.>> Continue reading