A proud member of the General Dynamics Marine Systems business unit, NASSCO-Norfolk is the consolidation of two long-standing Port of Hampton Roads shipyards, the former Earl Industries (founded in 1984) and the former Metro Machine (founded in 1963). Acquired by San Diego based General Dynamics NASSCO (formerly National Steel and Shipbuilding Company) between 2011 and 2012, these two Navy Ship Repair companies came together under the NASSCO-Norfolk banner in January 2015. The result was a stronger, more efficient, and more competitive company capable of delivering operational readiness (AO) to a much broader base of government and commercial customers.

Each shipyard had a proud history of growth and accomplishments leading up to their acquisition by General Dynamics NASSCO. Metro Machine was first founded in 1963 by Mr. Henry Swanner and others as a machine shop employing six men in support of local industry. The founding site was on Olney Road in Norfolk adjacent to the Midtown Tunnel. This site is currently still owned by the corporation and known as the "Mid-Atlantic" property.

In 1966, the company was awarded a Master Ship Repair Contract by the United States Navy. With the award of its "MSR" agreement, Metro Machine began engaging in "downriver" ship repair work at Naval Base Norfolk and the Little Creek Amphibious Base. This work was the mainstay of "Metro's" business until 1971.

In 1971, Metro Machine acquired and moved its operations to the docks and warehouses of the old Imperial Tobacco Company located in the Berkley Section of Norfolk. This facility was progressively upgraded by the addition of modern machinery and equipment to provide facilities for "top-side" ship repair and overhaul work. The company concentrated on the "top-side" naval ship overhaul market from 1971 until 1982.

In 1980, the company acquired the property of the former Old Dominion Shipyard adjacent to its Imperial Docks property. This acquisition effectively doubled the company's facility footprint. In 1982, the brand new 14,500 ton floating dry-dock "Old Dominion" was purchased and placed into service. The first U.S. Navy ship to be dry-docked in "Old Dominion" was the USS Moinester (FF-1097).

Between 1983 and 1988, the facilitized and modernized Metro Machine shipyard served as an important part of the Norfolk industrial base; competing with other local ship repair yards for the U.S. Navy's "Phased Maintenance" business. Contracts for LSD-41 and LST Class Ships were awarded to Metro Machine in 1985. Contracts for DD-963 (Spruance) Class, CG-47 (Ticonderoga) Class, LPH's and LPD's were awarded in 1986.

A second Phased Maintenance cycle for the LSD-41 Class, as well as LPD's and LPH's, was awarded in 1990. The company's operating tempo and business portfolio continued on a level plain until 2003 when the Navy evolved from Phased Maintenance to the Multi-Ship/Multi-Option (MSMO) program. Between 2003 and 2011, Metro Machine won key Multi-Ship/Multi-Option (MSMO) ship repair contracts for LSD, LPD and FFG type ships. It was also awarded the hugely successful LSD Mid-Life MSMO contract. "Metro" became the Norfolk shipyard home of the amphibs and frigates, a key reason why Metro Machine attracted the attention of General Dynamics NASSCO in 2011, completing its sale in November of that year. Between 1976 and 2011, Metro Machine Corporation performed repairs and modernization work on more than 450 ships of the U.S. Navy's fleet, on every kind of ship in the Navy's arsenal, with the exception of submarines and aircraft carriers.

Earl Industries was founded by Mr. Jerry Miller, a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, in 1985 as a "down river" ship repair firm. "Earl's" strength was performing ship repair work inside government facilities like the historic Norfolk Naval Shipyard and the Norfolk Naval Station. Having grown a strong revenue base working nuclear-powered aircraft carriers (i.e., CVNs), and with the advent of the Navy's Phased Maintenance program, in 2003 Earl Industries acquired a 60-acre shipyard on the site of Moon Engineering Company. "Moon", founded in 1920, was a highly successful Phased Maintenance prime contractor that also enjoyed success supporting the Military Sealift Command (MSC) and the U.S. Maritime Administration.

After moving into the Moon Engineering shipyard in 2003, Earl Industries continued to enhance its reputation with CVNs. It also earned a position of dominance with the Navy's amphibious fleet, performing maintenance and repair on amphibious ships, including LSDs, LPDs and the newly introduced San Antonio (LPD 17) Class of Amphibious Transport Dock ships. When General Dynamics NASSCO acquired Earl Industries in August 2012, the company was just beginning its second five-year contract as the MSMO prime contractor for Norfolk-based Atlantic Fleet aircraft carriers.

Today, Metro Machine and Earl Industries, with roots all the way back to the Roaring Twenties, and as companies who once competed fiercely for U.S. Navy business in the Norfolk homeport, stand as one company, unified under General Dynamics NASSCO and committed to continuing its combined long-time legacy of delivering optimized AO to the U.S. Navy and any other company or organization seeking a provider of reliable fleet maintenance, repair, or modernization services. With five piers on deep water, a 40,000 ton dry dock, thousands of square feet of industrial shops, and a workforce of more than 1,000, NASSCO-Norfolk will compete with any yard in the Port of Hampton Roads. We assure Readiness Delivered.