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 CHAPTER 5.
OTHER STRUCTURES
5.1 ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL, AND SHIPYARD STRUCTURES. In
preservation terms, "buildings " are constructions created to
shelter any form of human activity. They range from officers'
quarters and barracks to hangars, warehouses, and maintenance
shops . Traditional houses and similar structures are not the
only type of construction that should be preserved. A wide range
of facilities, including engineering, industrial, and shipyard
structures, ships, and equipment, may have equal importance
historically and so are protected under federal regulations.
Historic structures and objects may range in age from the
pre-Civil War era through World War II.
For example, Drydock Number 1, constructed 1827-34, is still
in daily use at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia,
the nation's oldest shipyard. Except for the replacement of its
caisson, it remains as built. In addition to being listed on the
National Register of Historic Places, the drydock has been
designated a National Historic Landmark, the highest level of
recognition for cultural resources. The great hammerhead crane
at the Philadelphia Navy Yard is another outstanding engineering
landmark that ranks among the most significant in the country
(See Figure 5-l.). Among other significant structures are World
War I-era seaplane hangars and ramps, which are especially
significant in relation to the Navy's role in the early
development of aviation. Other important historic structures
include dirigible hangars, radio towers, gun factories and their
cannons and guns, and quonset huts (WWII era) .
5.2 SHIPS. The preservation of historic ships is beyond the
scope of this manual, but it is important to remember that ships
may require preservation treatment. U.S.S. CONSTITUTION, one of
the first three naval vessels of the United States (1797) and the
oldest commissioned naval ship in the world, is a National
Historic Landmark. The battleship U.S.S. MISSOURI, scene of the
formal surrender of the Japanese at the close of World War II, is
one of several Navy ships that have been listed on the National
Register. Decommissioned in 1955, the ship was retrofitted and
reactivated in 1986. The World War II submarine U.S.S.
SILVERSIDES (now in Chicago) is also listed. Other ships have
been decommissioned and passed on to outside organizations and
agencies for preservation and management (e.g., Commodore George
Dewey's ship, U.S.S. OLYMPIA, used at Manila Bay in the
Spanish-American War). During the past twenty years, there has
been increasing interest in maritime preservation generally, with
a number of new public and private programs. There are federal
standards for the documentation and presentation of historic
ships, and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) has
5-1
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