Dry Dock 1 is located at Wallabout Bay, on the northeast side of Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Completed in 1851, it is the third-oldest dry dock in the United States, behind the dry docks at the Boston and Norfolk Navy Yards.
 Dry Dock 1 is the smallest of the Navy Yard's dry docks.
The first permanent dry dock in New York City, it cost $2 million (equivalent to $49,568,000 in 2019) to construct.
Over the years, Dry Dock 1 has serviced boats such as Monitor, which fought in the Battle of Hampton Roads during the Civil War, and Niagara, which laid the first transatlantic cable.

Dry Dock 1's masonry superstructure uses 23,000 cubic yards (18,000 m³) of granite from Maine and Connecticut, as well as supplementary material from New York.
The stone floor of the dry dock is 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and the floor curves in an inverted arch shape toward the edges of the sides and the landward (southwest) end.
The center of the floor is mostly flat, with a 1-foot (0.30 m) groove.
Steps lead down the sides of the dry dock.
At the seaward end of the dock is a gate that floats open without the use of hinges.
A Harper's Magazine article from 1871 stated that Dry Dock 1 had a capacity of 610,000 US gallons (2,300,000 L) and could be emptied within two hours and ten minutes.
The dry dock was 66 feet (20 m) wide and 36 feet (11 m) deep, and when the dock was filled at high tide, the depth of the water was 26 feet (7.9 m).
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1918 described the main chamber of the dry dock as being 286 feet (87 m) long by 35 feet (11 m) wide on the bottom, and the top part as being 370 feet (110 m) long by 98 feet (30 m) wide.
The pumping engine built for this drydock was the largest in the U.S. at one time.

Surveying for the dry dock began in 1826, though funding was not provided until 1836.
Construction on the dry dock started in 1841, but was halted a year later because of a lack of funding.
During this time, there were debates over whether to abandon work on this dry dock and construct another in Manhattan, where the new Croton Aqueduct had just opened.
When construction resumed in 1844, the project was led by two civil engineers in quick succession until William J. McAlpine was appointed to the position in 1846.
At the time, the project was beset by several problems, including the presence of quicksand and underground springs, as well as a faulty cofferdam design that twice flooded the excavation site with water from Wallabout Bay.
The cofferdam was fixed by installing deep foundations made of gravel at the outermost cofferdam.
The springs were covered with a mixture of piles, planks and dry cement under a layer of brick and Roman mortar.
The quicksand was 75 feet (23 m) deep, so workers sunk more than 6,500 wooden piles into the bay (the first use of a steam pile driver in the United States' history), and filled the spaces around the piles with concrete.
In 1847 after the wooden piles were completed, the stonecutter Thorton MacNess Niven oversaw the installation of the dry dock's masonry superstructure.

McAlpine was fired for unknown reasons in 1849, and Charles B. Stuart took over for the rest of the project.
Dry Dock 1 serviced its first ship, Dale, in 1850.
The dry dock was completed the following year.
Because of its design, Dry Dock 1 never required any extensive maintenance, though part of the masonry at the front of the dry dock was refurbished in 1887–1888.
Dry Dock 1 was labeled a NYC Landmark in 1975.
Dry Dock 1 is located at Wallabout Bay, on the northeast side of Brooklyn Navy Yard. Completed in 1851, it is the third-oldest dry dock in the United States, behind the dry docks at the Boston and Norfolk Navy Yards.  Dry Dock 1 is the smallest of the Navy Yard's dry docks. The first permanent dry dock in New York City, it cost $2 million (equivalent to $49,568,000 in 2019) to construct. Over the years, Dry Dock 1 has serviced boats such as Monitor, which fought in the Battle of Hampton Roads during the Civil War, and Niagara, which laid the first transatlantic cable.
Dry Dock 1's masonry superstructure uses 23,000 cubic yards (18,000 m³) of granite from Maine and Connecticut, as well as supplementary material from New York. The stone floor of the dry dock is 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, and the floor curves in an inverted arch shape toward the edges of the sides and the landward (southwest) end. The center of the floor is mostly flat, with a 1-foot (0.30 m) groove. Steps lead down the sides of the dry dock. At the seaward end of the dock is a gate that floats open without the use of hinges. A Harper's Magazine article from 1871 stated that Dry Dock 1 had a capacity of 610,000 US gallons (2,300,000 L) and could be emptied within two hours and ten minutes. The dry dock was 66 feet (20 m) wide and 36 feet (11 m) deep, and when the dock was filled at high tide, the depth of the water was 26 feet (7.9 m). The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1918 described the main chamber of the dry dock as being 286 feet (87 m) long by 35 feet (11 m) wide on the bottom, and the top part as being 370 feet (110 m) long by 98 feet (30 m) wide. The pumping engine built for this drydock was the largest in the U.S. at one time.
Surveying for the dry dock began in 1826, though funding was not provided until 1836. Construction on the dry dock started in 1841, but was halted a year later because of a lack of funding. During this time, there were debates over whether to abandon work on this dry dock and construct another in Manhattan, where the new Croton Aqueduct had just opened. When construction resumed in 1844, the project was led by two civil engineers in quick succession until William J. McAlpine was appointed to the position in 1846. At the time, the project was beset by several problems, including the presence of quicksand and underground springs, as well as a faulty cofferdam design that twice flooded the excavation site with water from Wallabout Bay. The cofferdam was fixed by installing deep foundations made of gravel at the outermost cofferdam. The springs were covered with a mixture of piles, planks and dry cement under a layer of brick and Roman mortar. The quicksand was 75 feet (23 m) deep, so workers sunk more than 6,500 wooden piles into the bay (the first use of a steam pile driver in the United States' history), and filled the spaces around the piles with concrete. In 1847 after the wooden piles were completed, the stonecutter Thorton MacNess Niven oversaw the installation of the dry dock's masonry superstructure.
McAlpine was fired for unknown reasons in 1849, and Charles B. Stuart took over for the rest of the project. Dry Dock 1 serviced its first ship, Dale, in 1850. The dry dock was completed the following year. Because of its design, Dry Dock 1 never required any extensive maintenance, though part of the masonry at the front of the dry dock was refurbished in 1887–1888. Dry Dock 1 was labeled a NYC Landmark in 1975.
Brooklyn Navy Yard