Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company

Last updated
Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Industry Shipbuilding
FoundedJuly 24, 1917 (1917-07-24) [1]
Defunct1948
Fateliquidated
Headquarters Kearny, New Jersey
Parent United States Steel Corporation

The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard in New Jersey active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. Unlike many shipyards, it remained active during the shipbuilding slump of the 1920s and early 1930s that followed the World War I boom years. During World War II, it built merchant ships as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding program, at the same time producing more destroyers for the United States Navy than any yard other than the Bath Iron Works. Operated by a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, the shipyard was located at Kearny Point where the mouth of the Hackensack River meets Newark Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Contents

Around 570 vessels were contracted for construction by Federal SB&DD Company with about 100 not delivered fully completed due to the end of the World War II. Federal also had a yard at Port Newark during World War II that built destroyers and landing craft. [2]

History of the Federal Yard at Kearny

Aerial view of Federal Shipbuilding in May 1945 Aerial view of Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company 01, Kearny NJ (USA) 1945.jpg
Aerial view of Federal Shipbuilding in May 1945

Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was founded July 24, 1917, as a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation to supply ships for the United States Shipping Board during World War I. [1] The site on Kearny Point was first surveyed during the summer of 1917. [3] The shipyard was to consist of everything needed to fully complete a ship from a facility power plant to a wood joining shop. A steel plate mill and boiler shop were to be built as well. $10 million ($228 million today) was allocated for construction. The American Bridge Company was contracted to provide 10,000 tons of steel for the structures. E.H. Gary was president of Federal in August 1917. [4] The ship-ways were completed by the fall of 1917 with keels being laid by November 1917. Federal completed a 9,600-ton ship around six weeks before World War I ended as well as two other ships before the close of 1918. 27 ships were delivered to the Emergency Fleet Corporation in 1919. Federal accounted for 5% of the steel merchant tonnage built in 1919. [3]

By June 1921, the Federal yard at Kearny had a 535 by 161.5 feet (163.1 m × 49.2 m) boiler construction shop to build Scotch marine boilers, exhaust stacks, tanks, uptakes and other related items. 235 boilers had been constructed from September 1919 to June 1921. Boilers constructed there were mostly 15 feet (4.6 m) diameter or larger. At that time, 250 men were able to construct three boilers a week with a single 8-hour shift each day. [5]

By November 1921, Federal had shipbuilding ways for twelve 15,000-ton vessels and had constructed a 9,000-ton floating dry dock. The dry dock was first used June 23, 1921, when Transmarine corp's SS Suhulco docked. The Kearny yard was 17 acres (6.9 ha) with 2,400 feet (730 m) of frontage on the Hackensack River. A wet basin was located at the southern end with a 100-ton 3-legged jib crane for fitting out new ships. [6]

On Sunday night, May 18, 1924, a fire destroyed the largest building at the Kearny yard causing an initially estimated $500,000 in damage. [7] Other estimates were $1.6 million or as high as several million dollars in damage. Firemen used four mobile cranes to try to extinguish fires in the pattern building and the plate shop. Over a thousand workers were idled by the fire. [8] The shipyard had around 5,000 workers at the time and was said to be one of the largest steel fabrication plants in the world. Fireboats and numerous firemen from around the area were called in to fight the fire which spread rapidly through the wooden structures at the Kearny yard. [9]

The Federal yard at Kearny remained operational during the difficult interwar period and Great Depression when many shipyards across the country did not.

1940 to closure

May 1942 launch of USS Fletcher (DD-445) and USS Radford (DD-446) at Federal. 2 of the 4 destroyers launched on May 4, 1942. Launch of USS Fletcher (DD-445) and USS Radford (DD-446) at Federal SB&DD in May 1942.jpg
May 1942 launch of USS Fletcher (DD-445) and USS Radford (DD-446) at Federal. 2 of the 4 destroyers launched on May 4, 1942.

Federal made national news when around 16,000 workers went on strike at Kearny from August 7 to August 25, 1941. Work was stopped on $493 million ($9.81 billion today) in Navy and merchant shipbuilding contracts as the nation ramped up ship construction before entering World War II. The strike was ended when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Navy to seize control of the facility. [10] The final sticking point in negotiations had been the refusal of management at Federal to accept demands to require a "maintenance of membership" clause which would effectively make the shipyard a closed shop. Company president Lynn H. Korndorff offered the shipyard to the Navy rather than accept the demands to become a closed shop. [11]

When the Navy took over, the yard fell under the supervision of Rear Admiral Harold G. Bowen Sr. as Officer-in-charge. It was the first take over of an industrial plant by the Navy in that era. While the union was enthusiastic about the seizure, they did not get the response they were expecting when the Navy took control. According to Rear Admiral Bowen in his autobiography, while he was cordial with labor, he refused to acknowledge any union's right to collectively bargain for the workers at Kearny. He also refused to take steps to implement the "maintenance of membership" issue. [12] By November 1941, the "maintenance of membership" clause was still not being enforced and the union sought relief from the Defense Mediation Board. [13]

After 134 days of operation by the Navy, control of the shipyard was returned to the company on January 6, 1942. Under Navy control the shipyard laid 12 keels, launched 10 and commissioned 7 ships. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox returned the shipyard and asked that the company and union work out the remaining issue. Failing that, the two parties would use newly established national machinery to resolve the dispute. [14] The "maintenance of membership" issue had still not been resolved. In May 1942, Federal finally gave in to demands to require membership in the CIO Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers. Company president Lynn H. Korndorff said Federal only complied with the order of the National War Labor Board because of the war emergency. The incident was viewed as one of the first major tests of the NWLB. [15] [16]

According to John T. Cunningham in "Made in New Jersey," Federal "completely proved its might". On one day alone in May 1942, the company launched four destroyers in a 50-minute period. [17] By 1943, Federal Shipbuilding was employing 52,000 people and building ships faster than any other yard in the world." [18]

Federal continued to set company construction speed records throughout the war. In July 1943, Federal claimed records of 170 days from keel to commissioning on the 2,050-ton Fletcher-class destroyer USS Dashiell (DD-659) and 137 days on the 1,630-ton Gleaves-class destroyer USS Thorn (DD-647). Federal also said Type C2 ships were being built in an average time of 82 days. In July 1943, destroyer escorts were being launched about once a week since spring of 1943. [19] Between the Newark and Kearny yards, Federal launched a company record of 11 ships in 29 days during March 1943. [20]

After World War II ended, a number of destroyers were cancelled including some that were partially constructed. Federal had contracts to build several cargo ships for the United States Maritime Commission. Five Type C3-class ships were for Lykes Lines and six for American South African Line. Two bulk carriers were built for National Gypsum and three Type C2 ships for Grace Line's "Santa" / South American passenger-freight service. Federal also converted SS Uruguay from wartime service for Moore-McCormack starting in 1946. [2] [21] [22] [23]

4,000 shipyard workers at Federal joined 90,000 other east coast shipyard workers in a strike action on 1 July 1947. [24] The strike at Federal ended in November 1947 after 140 days. [25]

Site of the former Federal yard at Kearny in foreground on left, c.1974. U.S. Navy ships awaiting scrapping by the Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation, Kearny, New Jersey (USA), in June 1974 (555767).jpg
Site of the former Federal yard at Kearny in foreground on left, c.1974.

On April 23, 1948, Lynn H. Korndorff, the President of Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company announced that the US Navy had agreed to purchase facilities at Kearny for around $2,375,000 ($28.9 million today), its depreciated book value. [26] The Navy planned to hold the facility in a standby state for potential emergency reactivation. [27] The New York Times regarded this sale price to be "astounding low". [28] In July 1948, Federal's large floating dry dock was towed 1,700 miles in 19 days to Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation's Chickasaw, Alabama, shipyard, which had been constructed during World War I by U.S. Steel, parent of Federal SB&DD. [29]

Around 465 ships were delivered by Federal SB&DD Company out of its 569 hull numbers allocated. 325 were delivered from the Kearny yard and 140 from Port Newark. [2]

Instead of building ships, the site eventually hosted a salvaging operation where numerous ships were scrapped. In 1975, the former Federal yard was described as one of the nation's largest ship breaking yards. According to the 1975 head of the River Terminal Development Corp, the first ship to be scrapped at the yard was USS Enterprise (CV-6) in 1959. Other carriers scrapped there included Essex, Randolph, Boxer, Wasp and Antietam. Battleships, battle cruisers, cruisers and submarines had also been scrapped at the former Federal yard as of the mid-1970s. [30] Texas Tower 3 was also scrapped at the Federal yard by Lipsett Corp. [31]

Ships built at Kearny

Military ships

The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company built eleven classes of ships for the U.S. military. Of the 387 ships of those classes constructed nationally, 108 came from Kearny. Of the 415 World War II–era destroyers of all classes produced nationally, 69 came from Kearny.

Canceled orders

USS Buffalo (CL-84) and USS Newark (CL-88) were cancelled 16 December 1940. [32] [ clarification needed ]

Merchant ships

The last ships for the United States Shipping Board were delivered by January 1920. Federal Kearny built 30 of the 48 Design 1037 ships. These were the very first ships built at the site, with yard numbers 1 through 30.

For private contractors

Several ships for the Maritime Commission were built before the war broke out.

Federal Yard at Port Newark

yard at Newark in 1945 03-3-2 Federal-Newark-25.jpg
yard at Newark in 1945

In January 1942, Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company announced they were expanding their facilities to increase capacity and employ an additional 10,000 workers. [38] They expanded to the site of the former Submarine Boat Corporation at Port Newark ( 40°41′35″N74°07′47″W / 40.69306°N 74.12960°W / 40.69306; -74.12960 ). After nine months of construction to rebuild the facility, the first ships were launched at the Port Newark yard on October 10, 1942. [39] All of the Gearing-class destroyers built at Federal were built at the Newark yard. [40] The Port Newark yard closed after the war and the site gained some notoriety in late 1947 during a dispute over the scrapping of the battleship New Mexico and two others by Lipsett Corp. [41] The site was an automobile terminal parking lot in the 2010s. [42]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Navy Yard</span> Shipbuilding facility in the United States Navy

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of the new U.S. Department of the Navy in 1798. After 175 years of military service, it was decommissioned as a naval installation on 1 July 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vigor Shipyards</span> Major American shipyard company

Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United States and the Gulf. Todd Shipyards were a major part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program for World War II.

<i>Gearing</i>-class destroyer Class of American destroyers

The Gearing class was a series of 98 destroyers built for the U.S. Navy during and shortly after World War II. The Gearing design was a minor modification of the Allen M. Sumner class, whereby the hull was lengthened by 14 ft (4.3 m) at amidships, which resulted in more fuel storage space and increased the operating range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Iron Works</span> San Francisco American shipyard company

Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fore River Shipyard</span> Shipyard in Massachusetts, United States

Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In 1913, it was purchased by Bethlehem Steel, and later transferred to Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation. It was sold to General Dynamics in 1963, and closed in 1986. During its operation, yardworkers constructed hundreds of ships, for both military and civilian clients.

<i>Benson</i>-class destroyer U.S. Navy ship class (built 1939–1943)

The Benson class was a class of destroyers of the U.S. Navy built 1939–1943. The thirty 1,620-ton Benson-class destroyers were built in two groups. The first six were authorized in fiscal year 1938 (FY38) and laid down at Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, Massachusetts, and three naval shipyards. The remaining 24 "repeat Bensons" were authorized in 1940–42 and built at four Bethlehem Steel yards. They were laid down after the first group was commissioned. These plus the "repeat Livermores" were also known at the time as the Bristol class. During World War II the Bensons were usually combined with the Livermores as the Benson-Livermore class; this persisted in references until at least the 1960s. In some references both classes are combined and called the Benson class. The Benson- and Gleaves-class destroyers were the backbone of the pre-war Neutrality Patrols and brought the action to the enemy by participating in every major campaign of the war.

Marine Industries Limited (MIL) was a Canadian ship building, hydro-electric and rail car manufacturing company, in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, with a shipyard located on the Richelieu river about 1 km from the St. Lawrence River. It employed up to 8,500 people during the World War II support effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charleston Naval Shipyard</span> Former U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility

Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type C1 ship</span> Class of American cargo ships

Type C1 was a designation for cargo ships built for the United States Maritime Commission before and during World War II. Total production was 493 ships built from 1940 to 1945. The first C1 types were the smallest of the three original Maritime Commission designs, meant for shorter routes where high speed and capacity were less important. Only a handful were delivered prior to Pearl Harbor. But many C1-A and C1-B ships were already in the works and were delivered during 1942. Many were converted to military purposes including troop transports during the war.

The Consolidated Steel Corporation was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Formed on 18 December 1928, the company built ships during World War II in two main locations: Wilmington, California and Orange, Texas. It was created by the merger of Llewellyn Iron Works, Baker Iron Works and Union Iron Works, all of Los Angeles. The company entered the shipbuilding business in 1939. In 1948, now a pioneer producer of large-diameter pipelines, Consolidated Steel was renamed Consolidated Western Steel and acquired by U.S. Steel and operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Type C3-class ship Ship type

Type C3-class ships were the third type of cargo ship designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in the late 1930s. As it had done with the Type C1 ships and Type C2 ships, MARCOM circulated preliminary plans for comment. The design presented was not specific to any service or trade route, but was a general purpose ship that could be modified for specific uses. A total of 162 C3 ships were built from 1939 to 1946.

USS <i>Otus</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Otus (AS-20) was a submarine tender in service with the United States Navy from 1941 to 1946. In 1945, she was converted to an internal combustion engine repair ship and redesignated ARG-20. Decommissioned in 1946, she was scrapped in 1970.

USS <i>Mizar</i> (AF-12) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Mizar (AF-12) was the United Fruit Company fruit, mail and passenger liner Quirigua that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation</span> American shipbuilding company (1939–1946)

The Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation was an American corporation which built escort carriers, destroyers, cargo ships and auxiliaries for the United States Navy and merchant marine during World War II in two yards in Puget Sound, Washington. It was the largest producer of destroyers (45) on the West Coast and the largest producer of escort carriers of various classes (56) of any United States yard active during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Fleet Day</span>

Liberty Fleet Day was first observed on 27 September 1941, the day that 14 merchant ships were launched in shipyards across the United States under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. Among the ships launched was the first Liberty ship, SS Patrick Henry. Some of the merchant ships were subsequently converted to other purposes, including as troop transports and a Royal Navy aircraft carrier. In addition to the merchant ships launched, the US Navy launched two destroyers at the Boston Navy Yard.

Type C5 ship

The Type C5 ship is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for World War II breakbulk cargo and later a container ship for containerization shipments. The first type C5-class ship was a class of ships constructed and produced in the United States during World War II. The World War II C5-class ship was dry bulk cargo ship built by Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Maryland. Bethlehem Steel built eight ships in this bulk cargo class and four orders were canceled. The C5-class ship has a 24,250 DWT and was 560 feet (170 m) long. The C5 was mainly used as iron ore carriers. The C5 was needed to replace other ships that sank during World War II. First in her class was SS Venore, USMC #1982, delivered on 20 July 1945. The Type C5-class ship designed to fill the need to move iron ore from Santa Cruz, Chile, to Sparrows Point, Maryland, through the Panama Canal, a round-trip of 8,700 nautical miles . Post World War II, four ships were given C5 class type C5-S-78a, these were roll-on/roll-off container ship built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. of Pascagoula, Mississippi and operated by the Moore-McCormack Lines. The C5-S-78a had a deadweight tonnage of 16,000 tons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethlehem Staten Island</span> Staten Island, New York American shipyard company

Bethlehem Staten Island also called Bethlehem Mariners Harbor was a large shipyard in Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, New York. The shipyard started building ships for World War II in January 1941 under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program and as the result of the Two-Ocean Navy Act of July 1940. The shipyard was part of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation which built ships for the United States Navy, and the United States Maritime Commission. Bethlehem Steel purchased the shipyard in June 1938 from United Shipyards. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation closed the shipyard in 1959. The propeller factory and foundry continued operation for 10 more years at the site. Since 1980 the site is the May Ship Repair Contracting Corporation next to Shooters Island at the southern end of Newark Bay, off the North Shore.

References

  1. 1 2 Dickie, Alexander J., ed. (February 1922). "Federal Shipbuilding Yard Busy". Pacific Marine Review. Pacific American Steamship Association. 19: 121.
  2. 1 2 3 "Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny and Newark NJ". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company". Port of New York Annual: 274. 1920.
  4. "Biggest Yard for Building Ships". The Day. New London, CT. Wall Street Journal. August 25, 1917. p. 11.
  5. "Quantity Production of Scotch Marine Boilers". Marine Engineering & Shipping Age. Aldrich Publishing Company. 26: 443. June 1921.
  6. "Federal Shipyard takes up Ship Repairing". Marine Engineering & Shipping Age. Aldrich Publishing Company. 26: 835. November 1921.
  7. "Half Million Shipyard Burns". Billings Gazette. Billings, MT. May 19, 1924. p. 1.
  8. "Firemen fight flames from moving cranes". Anniston Star. Anniston, AL. United Press. May 19, 1924. p. 1.
  9. "Big Fire Raging in N. J. Shipyard". The Gazette. Montreal. May 19, 1924.
  10. "Kearny Plant to Resume Full Operations Tuesday". Sheboygan Press. Sheboygan, WI. United Press. August 25, 1941.
  11. Reynolds, T. F. (August 24, 1941). "US Seizes Kearny Shipyard". The Sunday Morning Star. Wilmington, DE. United Press. p. 1. (Page 6 contains text of FDR's executive order signed August 23, 1941, to seize the plant)
  12. Bowen, Harold G. (1954). "5". Ships, Machinery and Mossbacks: The Autobiography of a Naval Engineer. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univ. Press. p. 221.
  13. "Mediation Board Decision Would Affect CIO Parley". The Pittsburgh Press. November 16, 1941. p. 9.
  14. "Navy Turns Plant Over to Owner". Spokane Daily Chronicle. AP. January 6, 1942. p. 6.
  15. "Big Steel Accepts Labor Board Order". The Telegraph. Nashua, NH. May 9, 1942. p. 2.
  16. "Shipyard Dispute is Terminated". Schenectady Gazette. AP. May 9, 1942. p. 3.
  17. "4 Destroyers Launched from Kearny Yards". The Lewiston Daily Sun. Lewiston, ME. May 4, 1942. p. 1. Fletcher, Radford, Quick, and Mervine
  18. Genovese, Peter (October 7, 2011), "'Jersey State of Mind': A gritty little hub with heart", The Star-Ledger, retrieved 2011-10-06, The Federal Shipbuilding Co., a U.S. Steel subsidiary based in South Kearny, played a key role in supplying ships for both World Wars. Scarcely six months after Pearl Harbor, according to John Cunningham in "Made in New Jersey," Federal "completely proved its might. On one day alone in May 1942, the company launched four destroyers. By 1943, Federal Shipbuilding was employing 52,000 people and building ships faster than any other yard in the world."
  19. "Real Speed". The Palm Beach Post. July 2, 1943. p. 5.
  20. "Newark Launches Four Warships". St. Petersburg Times. AP. March 29, 1943. p. 9.
  21. "Various". Pacific Marine Review. 43. 1946.
  22. "Various". Pacific Marine Review. 44. 1947.
  23. "Various". Pacific Marine Review. 45. 1948.
  24. "More Shipyard Workers Strike". New Castle News. INS. July 1, 1947.
  25. "Ship Builders End Strike". Evening Telegraph November 14, 1947. Dixon, IL. AP.
  26. "Navy Buys New Jersey Shipyard". Indiana Evening Gazette. AP. April 23, 1948.
  27. "US Steel has gone out of the shipbuilding business". Press Telegram. Long Beach, CA. April 22, 1948.
  28. "Plant of U.S. Steel is Sold to Navy". The New York Times. April 22, 1948. Federal Shipbuilding Goes for $2,375,000, Regarded as Astoundingly Low
  29. "Big Floating Dry Dock coming to Mobile". Dothan Eagle. AP. July 28, 1948.
  30. "Famed Ships scrapped at ship-breaking yard". Anderson Herald Bulletin. AP. September 1, 1975.
  31. "Texas Tower May Get New Job". Bergen Record. AP. August 11, 1964.
  32. Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. Cruisers, An Illustrated Design History. ISBN   978-0-87021-718-0.
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/Search; covers name, approximate tonnage, launch year, original owner
  34. "Joseph Lykes (1940) - Lloyds Register of Ships".
  35. "Zoella Lykes (1940) - Lloyds Register of Ships".
  36. "Reuben Tipton (1940) - Lloyds Register of Ships".
  37. "John Lykes (1940) - Lloyds Register of Ships".
  38. "Federal Shipbuilding Will Expand Facilities to Handle War Orders". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, PA. United Press. January 26, 1942. p. 20.
  39. "Two Vessels Launched". The Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Spartanburg, SC. AP. October 11, 1942. p. 3.
  40. "Newark Bay Yard". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  41. Staff Writer (November 13, 1947). "Pact To Stave Off Battle In Newark Sought". Ellensburg Daily Record . Ellensburg, Washington . Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  42. "Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co, Port Newark". Destroyer History Foundation. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  43. "Epperson". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.

Further reading

40°43′26″N74°06′22″W / 40.723790°N 74.106168°W / 40.723790; -74.106168