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California Shipbuilding Corporation

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California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including Haskell-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship.[1]

CalShip yard in 1944
Motorized hoisting truck used in moving scaffolding timbers around the shipyard, 1942.
Calship fitting out its first Victory ships, c. early 1944

History

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In 1916 the California Shipbuilding Company built a few submarines in the Craig Shipbuilding Company yard in Long Beach. There is no relationship other than the name of the company.

The Calship shipyard was created at Terminal Island in Los Angeles, California, United States as part of America's massive shipbuilding effort of World War II. W. A. Bechtel Co. was given sponsorship and executive direction of Calship. As of 1940, Los Angeles shipyards had not built a large ship in 20 years. By late 1941 though, shipbuilding had become the second largest manufacturing industry in the Los Angeles area.[2][3][4]

Calship was created from scratch with ground broken on January 27, then for a planned 8-way yard.[5] It began production of Liberty Ships in May 1941. In the early 1940s, contracts from the U.S.Department of Maritime Commission and a number of U.S. Navy contracts led to prosperity shipbuilding business in Los Angeles. The yard was located on 175 acres on the north side of Terminal Island, north of Dock Street, near present-day berths 210-213. It initially had 8 ways, and later increased this to 14. 40,000 men and women worked under the military contract to construction of 467 vessels over 5 years. The combination of these ships were known as the "Liberty Fleet". These cargo ships were designed for rapid construction with lower costs for them. Thirteen months after commencing production, the yard broke the record by delivering 15 Liberty Ships in June 1942. It delivered 111 ships in 1942, more than any other yard in the United States. In June 1943, it broke the record again by delivering 20 ships for the month, and yet again in December 1943, delivering 23 ships.

Large Navy contracts developed shipbuilding in California. As a result of that, many workers migrated to the work area. Many shipyards sprang up from San Francisco to San Diego. At the peak of shipbuilding in California were involved 282 000 persons. Shipbuilding became a highly efficient wartime industry. The building of vessels and the number of jobs in the shipbuilding peaked in mid-1943.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

The Calship yard was known as "the city built on invisible stilts." It was situated on marshy ground, and was built on artificial earth supported by 57,000 piles driven into the mud. Shipbuilding commenced before the fitting-out docks were even completed. The yard's workers came from every region of the United States, reaching a force of 40,000 men and women, only 1% of whom had any shipbuilding experience whatsoever.[14][15]

The Calship Log, aimed at "Calshippers" and "Calshipperettes", was published on the 1st and 15th of each month. The log covered the progress of working for the war effort, safety rules, policies and procedures, as well as leisure activities and information on public transport, gasoline rations, personal tax increases and war bonds.[16][17] A Victory Edition was published on September 27, 1945.[18]

After the war, the Maritime Commission and the Navy department cancelled their contracts with Calship. As the result of that, the level of shipbuilding began to decline. Calship closed in September 1945, after launching the last Victory ship, "four years to the minute after the first slid into the water."[19][20] Calship ranked 49th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.[21]

In 1947 the Calship facility was taken over by National Metal & Steel Corporation which operated a scrap yard there. Ironically, 55 of the Liberty and Victory ships that were built at Calship were scrapped on the same site.[22][23]

Output of Calship[24]
Quantity Design Type Use
306 EC2-S-C1 Liberty ship cargo transport
30 Z-ET1-S-C3 Liberty ship tanker
32 VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship cargo transport, 8,500 hp
30 VC2-S-AP5 Haskell class USN attack transport
69 VC2-S-AP2 Victory ship cargo transport, 6,000 hp

The surviving museum ships: SS American Victory and SS Lane Victory, were built in the Calship yard. The SS American Victory is in Tampa, Florida and the SS Lane Victory is in Los Angeles. They are open to the public for dockside tours and also sail periodically.[25]

33°45′40″N 118°15′05″W / 33.76111°N 118.25139°W / 33.76111; -118.25139

 
Construction of a Liberty Ship in California Shipbuilding's yard, June 1943.
 
Victory Ships being fitted out at California Shipbuilding Corp. in 1944 (probably May or June).
 
The SS Lane Victory.

Notable ships

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Details

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First keels laid on slipways 1 through 14, marking the completion steps of the shipyard facilities[26]

Way Keel laid
1 24 May
2 24 May
3 21 Jun
4 27 Jun
5 10 Jul
6 17 Jul
7 23 Jul
8 31 Jul
9 11 Sep
10 15 Sep
11 22 Sep
12 6 Oct
13 13 Oct
14 20 Oct
Launchings
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
1941 1 1 1 2 5
1942 3 5 4 7 7 11 10 11 12 13 13 15 111
1943 15 14 16 18 20 18 16 16 7 0 8 16 164
1944 14 10 8 8 6 8 7 5 7 6 7 9 95
1945 8 7 8 8 8 6 6 5 6 62
Liberty Totals
Bethlehem Fairfield 385
Kaiser Richmond #2 348
California Shipbuilding 336
Oregon Shipbuilding 330
New England Shipbuilding 244
Todd Houston 208
10 others 863
Victory Totals
Oregon Shipbuilding 136
California Shipbuilding 131
Kaiser Richmond #2 105
Bethlehem Fairfield 94
Kaiser Richmond #1 53
Kaiser Vancouver 31

Launching of Liberty tankers, missing on shipbuildinghistory

Name Launched Notes
Albert J. Berres 13 Sep 43 3rd L-tanker, 34 days on ways[27]
Richard J. Cleveland 15 Sep 43 4th L-tanker, 258th ship[28]
Josiah G. Holland 17 Sep 43 5th tanker[29]
Oscar F. Barret 18 Sep 43 6th/260th[30]
James Cook 21 Sep 43 7th tanker 34 days on ways[31]
Christopher L. Sholes 27 Sep 43 8th tanker[32]
Orson D. Munn 30 Sep 43 9th tanker 30 days on way[33]
Alan Seeger 5 Oct 43 10th L-tanker, 266th ship[34]
Horace Sees 9 Oct 43 11th L-tanker[35]

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to California Shipbuilding Corporation.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victory ships.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberty ships.

References

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  1. ^ "Liberty Ships built by California Shipbuilding Corp., Terminal Island, for U. S. Maritime Commission 1941-1945". Retrieved 2006-10-07.
  2. ^ Nugent, Walter; Ridge, Martin. The American West: The Reader, Indiana University Press, 1999.
  3. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corp., Los Angeles, California" Project Liberty Ship Web site (http://www.liberty-ship.com/html/yards/californiasb.html Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine), retrieved 8-25-2011.
  4. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corp., Los Angeles," Shipbuilding History Web site (http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/kcalifornia.htm Archived 2012-05-10 at the Wayback Machine), Retrieved 8-25-2011.
  5. ^ "Six New Shipyards". Pacific Marine Review. April 1941. p. 69.
  6. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corporation". Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  7. ^ Jaffee, Capt. Walter W., The Lane Victory: The Last Victory Ship in War and in Peace, 2nd ed., pp. 18, 24-25, The Glencannon Press, Palo Alto, CA, 1997.
  8. ^ Nugent, Walter; Ridge, Martin. The American West: The Reader, Indiana University Press, 1999.
  9. ^ Sawyer, L.A. and Mitchell, W.H., The Liberty Ships, 2nd Ed., pp. 20, 61-76, 183-88, 214, 216, Lloyd's of London Press Ltd., London, Eng, 1985.
  10. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corporation (Calship) Collection, 1941-1945," California State University, Northridge Web site (http://library.csun.edu/Collections/SCA/UAC/CALSHIP Archived 2010-07-09 at the Wayback Machine), Retrieved 8-25-2011.
  11. ^ Calship Log, Vol. 1, No. 4, October 15, 1941, California Shipbuilding Corporation, Wilmington, California (http://home.comcast.net/~cshortridge/NAVALART/CALSHIP_LOG_10_15_41.pdf), Retrieved 8-25-2011.
  12. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corp., Los Angeles," Shipbuilding History Web site (http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/kcalifornia.htm Archived 2012-05-10 at the Wayback Machine), Retrieved 8-25-2011.
  13. ^ Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, pp. 137, 178, 258, Random House, New York, NY. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
  14. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corporation (Calship) Collection, 1941-1945," California State University, Northridge Web site (http://library.csun.edu/Collections/SCA/UAC/CALSHIP Archived 2010-07-09 at the Wayback Machine), Retrieved 8-25-2011.
  15. ^ "Shipbuilding: Speed on Terminal Island," Time magazine, July 13, 1942 (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,884558,00.html Archived 2010-11-15 at the Wayback Machine), Retrieved 8-25-2011.
  16. ^ "Calship Logs". Michael Brannan Photography & Collections. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  17. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corporation (CalShip) Collection". OAC - Online Archive of California. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Life at the California Shipbuilding Corporation Shipyard". Lane Victory Maritime Center. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  19. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corporation (Calship) Collection, 1941-1945," California State University, Northridge Web site (http://library.csun.edu/Collections/SCA/UAC/CALSHIP Archived 2010-07-09 at the Wayback Machine), Retrieved 8-25-2011.
  20. ^ "Los Angeles 1943 Pocket Atlas". Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  21. ^ Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p.619
  22. ^ Queenan, Charles F. The Port of Los Angeles: From Wilderness to World Port, pp. 84-89, Los Angeles Harbor Department, Los Angeles, CA, 1983.
  23. ^ White, Michael D. The Port of Los Angeles, pp.78-79, 112, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2008.
  24. ^ "California Shipbuilding Corp. (CalShip), Los Angeles CA". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  25. ^ Jaffee, Capt. Walter W., The Lane Victory: The Last Victory Ship in War and in Peace, 2nd ed., pp. 317-34, The Glencannon Press, Palo Alto, CA, 1997.
  26. ^ "CalShip". shipbuildinghistory.com.
  27. ^ "Calship's Surprise Honors San Pedrans". San Pedro News Pilot. 13 September 1943. p. 1.
  28. ^ "Yard to Launch Another Tanker". San Pedro News Pilot. 16 September 1943. p. 5.
  29. ^ "Yard to Launch Another Tanker". San Pedro News Pilot. 16 September 1943. p. 5.
  30. ^ "Calship Launches 2 More Vessels". San Pedro News Pilot. 18 September 1943. p. 3.
  31. ^ "Deanna Durbin Ship's Sponsor". San Pedro News Pilot. 21 September 1943. p. 1.
  32. ^ "Victory Fleet Day". San Pedro News Pilot. 27 September 1943. p. 1.
  33. ^ "Calship Cuts Tanker Time". San Pedro News Pilot. 30 September 1943. p. 1.
  34. ^ "Liberty Tanker Named for Poet". San Pedro News Pilot. 5 October 1943. p. 1.
  35. ^ "Three Ships on Launching List". San Pedro News Pilot. 9 October 1943. p. 3.

Further reading

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