In the early years of the 20th century, the employees at Brooklyn Navy Yard worked on the design and construction of the USS Connecticut, a 16,000-ton steam-powered battleship. It was launched in 1906, and became the flagship of the Great White Fleet, a fleet of 16 battleships sent around the world on a tour designed by Theodore Roosevelt. Intended to demonstrate the heights of naval technology attained by the United States military, the mission of the Great White Fleet took over a year to complete, taking the 14,000-sailor crew on a tour that covered 43,000 miles, visiting 20 ports on 6 continents.

During this great mission, engineers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard had completed a prototype of the arc radiotelephones, designed to transmit sound wirelessly over long distances. In 1907, a famous opera singer was commissioned to sing the first wireless radio broadcast, a popular tune entitled "I Love You Truly." When the broadcast data was received by arc radiotelephones on the USS Dolphin, the United States government commissioned the designer of the radiotelephones, Dr. Lee DeForest, to equip the entire Great White Fleet with arc radiotelephones of the same design. This technology marked a new era in martial communication and warfare.

After a consolidation of working divisions at the Brooklyn Navy Yard left the Commandant in charge of one large workforce, World War I began, increasing the demand for production of naval vessels and creating a need for more shipyard workers. In 1914, the number of shipyard workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard more than doubled, from 8,000 to over 18,000.

In 1941, the Japanese sunk one of Brooklyn Navy Yard's finest vessels, the USS Arizona, lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Following this provocative event, the United States officially engaged itself in World War II. During the war, the United States Navy employed a number of naval warships constructed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, including the famous Missouri, on which the Japanese eventually signed its unconditional surrender to the United States.

Back on the mainland of the United States, the World War II era brought with it the greatest boom in shipbuilding. Like most shipyards of its type and size, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was at its busiest during World War II, when the war effort and its associated requirements for equipment, rations, ammunitions, and naval vessels created a surge in many sectors of the economy. During these years, the Brooklyn Navy Shipyard employed over 70,000 workers and operated 24 hours a day. At this time, many of the workers employed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard were women, who, with this great boom in demand for sea vessels, constructed an astonishing number of ships for the United States naval fleet. At least 10 large ships were completed during these 6 years, 5 of which were enormous aircraft carriers. In order to facilitate this great feat of industry, workers constructed a giant crane at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Called the Hammerhead Crane, this grand machine was the largest crane in the world at the time, looming over Pier G at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Some years later, with the increase in demand for ships created by the Korean War, workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard constructed 3 aircraft 'supercarriers,' called the USS Constellation, Independence, and Saratoga. During active service, a tragic fire broke out on the USS Constellation and killed 50 seamen. Six years after this catastrophic loss, the Secretary of Defense closed down over 90 military bases across the country. One of those bases was the Brooklyn Navy Yard. A year later, the United States government sold the entire property to the City of New York, who would eventually begin a project to renovate and develop the property, turning it into a valuable industrial site, with over 40 buildings, 200 tenants, and 3,000 total employees.

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