In 1861, Virginia joined the Confederate States of America. Fearing that the Confederacy would take control of the facility, the shipyard commander Charles Stewart McCauley ordered the burning of the shipyard. At the time it was called the Gosport Navy Yard. Despite conflicting orders from the Secretary of the Navy, the resignation of many of his officers, and most of his yard workers leaving, his remaining men began destroying the shipyard. Ships that could not leave on their own were burned. This included the Union warship "USS "Merrimack"". Finally the two men who were placing explosives to blow up the dry dock were captured before they could finish their work. The Confederates were able to repair Gosport and make it a working shipyard again.