Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was established in 1891 as a Naval Station and was designated Navy Yard Puget Sound in 1901. During World War I, the Navy Yard constructed ships, including 25 subchasers, seven submarines, two minesweepers, seven sea-going tugs, and two ammunition ships, as well as 1,700 small boats. During World War II, the Shipyard's primary effort was the repair of battle damage to ships of the U.S. Fleet and those of its Allies.
Following World War II, Navy Yard Puget Sound was designated Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Shipyard engaged in an extensive program of modernizing carriers, including converting conventional flight decks to angle decks. During the Korean conflict, the Shipyard was engaged in the activation of ships. In the late 1950s the Shipyard entered an era of new construction with the building of a new class of guided missile frigates. USS Sculpin (SSN 590) was the first nuclear powered submarine worked on at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 1965.
In 1990 the U.S. Navy authorized the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) to recycle nuclear powered ships at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Approximately 25% of the Shipyard's workload involves inactivation, reactor compartment disposal, and recycling of ships. The Shipyard has pioneered an environmentally safe method of deactivating and recycling nuclear-powered ships. This process places the U.S. Navy in the role of being the world's only organization to design, build, operate, and recycle nuclear powered ships.