NNSY News

The MARF DLA Project: A Model of Teamwork and Innovation at Kesselring Site
January 12, 2026 — In a remarkable display of technical expertise and collaboration, the MARF Defueling Layup Availability (DLA) Project at the Kesselring Site in New York completed eight weeks ahead of schedule thanks to the skilled on-site expertise of Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) workers. The 160,000 resource-day project, which involved the defueling of the MARF prototype—a cornerstone in training U.S. Navy nuclear operators and testing advanced propulsion technologies since 1976—has become a testament to what can be accomplished through dedicated teamwork and innovative problem-solving...

Shipyard Spotlight: Dustin Kuch – Shop 11 Shipfitter
April 9, 2025 — As an Army veteran and shipfitter since 2001, Shop 11 Shipfitter Supervisor Dustin Kuch is now using his experience and ability to develop others to benefit Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY)...

NNSY Team Answers the Call for Emergent Truman Repairs
April 9, 2025 — One of Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) lasting mottos that rings true across the waterfront is that America’s Shipyard will always step up to the plate to meet the mission – any ship, anytime, anywhere. When a need arises to repair, maintain, and modernize our Nation’s fleet, our employees will step up to answer that call. So, when an urgent need arose to perform urgent repairs following an incident that left one of our Nation’s finest in need, the NNSY team leapt into action to do their part...

Norfolk Naval Shipyard Trivia
April 9, 2025 — The official Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) command history entry for April 28, 1965 is yet only one sentence long and reads as follows: "USS Skate arrived for nuclear overhaul job, the first such overhaul in the shipyard." ...

Code 931 Takes Charge with Implementing Model Line Initiative at America’s Shipyard
April 9, 2025 — Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) recently launched a model line effort in the Inside Machine Shop (Shop 31), taking principles from noted author and Navy advisor Dr. Steven Spear and learnings from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) to meet commitments and goals in inspecting, repairing, and testing auxiliary ballast tank hull and back valves repaired at the shipyard. Through teamwork from deckplate to support – the group was able to come together to complete the work that had taken approximately 150 days to overhaul in the past to 35 days, a more than 75 percent reduction...

Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s Brent Davis Honored as One of the Labor Apprentices of the Year for 2024
April 9, 2025 — In the years prior to Brent Davis entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Apprenticeship Program, he worked to make ends meet for his family in the local area, wondering if there was a lasting career waiting out there for him. A friend of the family, who’d been part of the program nearly a decade ago, urged him to apply for years – and finally Davis took a shot, getting accepted into the program as a boilermaker apprentice. He had no idea what a boilermaker truly did, yet he wanted to take on the opportunity and see where it went. Now a journeyman in the shipyard and an official Shop 41 Boilermaker, Davis graduated with glowing marks across the board for his workmanship. And due to his hard work and dedication to the craft, Davis was nominated for the Department of Labor (DOL) and Industry’s Division of Registered Apprenticeship Outstanding Apprentice of the Year – being selected as one of three from NNSY to win the title for 2024...

Resilient, Resolute, Relentless: Month of the Military Child
April 4, 2025 — Although kids of today may experience some of the issues I had many years (more than I would like to admit) ago, there are issues that our children and teenagers face today that I never had to deal with like cyberbullying, overuse of screen time and trying to separate fake news from not to name a few. However, there are over 1.6 million kids who currently face challenges that most of their peers don’t. Things like moving to a new city, state or country every two to three years; having a parent absent for holidays, birthdays; and having their parents in a combat zone, not sure if they will make it home alive or not. This group of resilient, resolute and relentless children is known as the “military child.”...

Norfolk Naval Shipyard has Its Own Cavalry Known as Navy Reserve Surge Maintenance Program
April 4, 2025 — All four public Navy shipyards: Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY), Portsmouth, Virginia; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington; and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii have their own cavalry, the Navy Reserve Surge Maintenance Program (SurgeMain)...

Talking Shop: Celebrating NNSY’s Pipefitter Shop (Shop 56)
April 4, 2025 — Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s (NNSY) Pipefitter Shop (Shop 56), consisting of approximately 450 shipyard employees, is responsible for bending pipe, fabricating hose assemblies, building complex piping systems, performing brazing operations and testing piping systems and components for carrier and submarine projects at NNSY as well as for off-yard carriers and amphibious warfare ships. Shop 56 also runs the acid room, which consists of large vats of acid solutions used to dip hard-to-clean components; plus, up until recently, Shop 56 had the only gasket-making capability onboard NNSY...

Forging the Future: U.S. Trains First Australian Radiological Control Technicians to Support AUKUS Submarine Force
March 27, 2025 — PORTSMOUTH, Va. – In a milestone for the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) enhanced...