Prior to the secession of Virginia, the state was already making plans for a Navy. However, with the states secession, Union forces at the Gosport Shipyard became worried about the Southern forces taking it over. Therefore, Union forces started making plans to destroy the shipyard hoping to keep it away from Virginia.

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The USS Pawnee carried turpentine and other combustibles to Gosport Shipyard to destroy the ships and stores. 1 On April 21st, Union forces set fire to the stores and remaining ships. The USS Pawnee left towing the sailing warship Cumberland as Gosport Shipyard was burning and falling into Southern hands.

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Later on the 21st, Virginia forces seized the shipyard, but were unable to stop the destruction started. Although the Union had hoped to destroy everything, they failed in this objective. On the 23rd as the Virginia forces were going through what was left of the naval yard, they found 1,198 heavy guns. 328 guns were mounted in defensive, while the rest were shipped to the military forces of the Southern States. 2

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There was one other item the Union failed to completely destroy. The USS Merrimack was raised as it had only burned down to the waterline. Within weeks, construction started on rebuilding the USS Merrimack or CSS Virginia.

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1. John M.Coski. “A Navy Department, Hitherto Unknown to Our State Organization.” Virginia at War 1861. Eds William C. Davis and James I Robertson Jr. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2005. p 66

2. Ibid, p 67