Establishment of the Gosport Shipyard

Background. The Elizabeth River is a 6-mile tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia, lying between Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Chesapeake. Named by Jamestown colonists for Princess Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I, its waterfront attracted settlement in the early colonial period.

Founding of the Shipyard. On November 1, 1767, Andrew Sprowle established the Gosport Shipyard on the western shore of the Elizabeth River in Norfolk County in the Virginia colony. The site corresponds to the present Norfolk Naval Shipyard, which was established as Gosport Shipyard in 1767 and is today the oldest shipyard in the United States.

Later Continuity. The yard founded as Gosport in 1767 remained in use long after its establishment, a continuity that lies beyond the scope of this event. Its founding on the Elizabeth River site is documented in the supplied sources.