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Skinner & Eddy

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The Skinner & Eddy Corporation, commonly known as Skinner & Eddy, was a Seattle, Washington-based shipbuilding corporation that existed from 1916 to 1923. The yard is notable for completing more ships for the United States war effort during World War I than any other American shipyard, and also for breaking world production speed records for individual ship construction.

Skinner & Eddy Corporation
Company typePrivate
IndustryShipbuilding
PredecessorSeattle Construction and Drydock Co.
Founded1916
FounderNed Skinner, John W. Eddy
Defunct(As a shipyard) 1923
SuccessorSkinner Corporation
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
United States
ProductsSteel merchant ships
ServicesShip repairs
This 1918 montage from Seattle magazine The Town Crier shows the SS West Mahomet, with inset portraits of company vice president Henry G. Seaborn and founders D.E. Skinner and John W. Eddy (left to right at top) and general manager David Rodgers (below).

In total, the company built 75 ships—72 cargo ships and three oil tankers—from 1916 to 1920, including 32 completed for the Emergency Fleet Corporation during the war. The yard was closed in 1921 as a result of the severe postwar shipbuilding slump. Skinner & Eddy later became a shipping line operator, and appears to have been wound up in the early 1970s.

Background

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See also: List of structures on Elliott Bay

The Skinner & Eddy Corporation was founded in January 1916 by two entrepreneurs, David E. "D.E." Skinner and John W. Eddy, owners of the Port Blakely Mill Company since 1903.[1] Shortly after its establishment on the downtown Seattle waterfront47°35′25″N 122°20′22″W / 47.5902°N 122.33941°W / 47.5902; -122.33941,[2] Skinner & Eddy Corp. began leasing the shipyard of the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company (at the time a subsidiary of Todd Shipbuilding), located a few steps north between Connecticut and Dearborn Street. Seattle Construction & Dry Dock was itself a successor to the Moran Brothers shipyard, which around the start of the 20th century had been one of America's largest shipyards, responsible for building Seattle's first battleship, USS Nebraska, in 1906.[3]

On April 6, 1917, 15 months after Skinner and Eddy Corp. began leasing the yard, the United States entered World War I. Skinner & Eddy responded to the news by purchasing an additional 15 acres (61,000 m2) of Seattle waterfront property from the Seattle Dock Company and the Centennial Flouring Mill for $1,500,000 and $600,000 respectively, which they used to begin building a second shipyard, which became known as Plant No. 2 and lay just south of plant No. 1. After securing lucrative contracts from the Emergency Fleet Corporation for the construction of merchant ships for the war effort, Skinner & Eddy was also able in June 1918 to make an outright purchase of the yard of Seattle Construction and Dry Dock, which was named Plant No. 1.[3]

Facilities

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When completed, Skinner & Eddy's facilities included ten building slipways—five at each Plant—and four outfitting docks. A five-section, 459-foot (140 m) drydock capable of servicing vessels of up to 15,000 tons was also acquired, along with a 50-ton floating crane.[4]

Most of the ships built by the company during the war were constructed at Plant No. 1,[5] as Plant No. 2 was still under construction for much of this period. With its two plants, which together covered about 57 acres (230,000 m2) of waterfront property,[4] Skinner & Eddy was Seattle's largest shipbuilding company, at its wartime peak employing about 13,500 people.[4]

World War I

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Launch of the freighter Stolt Nielson from the Skinner & Eddy yard on 22 May 1917

The first seven ships built by Skinner & Eddy were for private contractors. The company completed its first ship, Niels Nielson, on November 9, 1916, and had completed a further two by the time the United States entered the war in April 1917. These three ships along with four partially completed vessels were then requisitioned for war service by the newly created United States Shipping Board (USSB). Thereafter, Skinner & Eddy was to build ships exclusively for the USSB, through the latter's agency, the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFT).[6]

Skinner & Eddy soon began to distinguish itself by its production speed. Prior to its operations, a cargo ship built and delivered in the United States in under 250 days was considered fast,[7] but as early as June 1917, the company under the capable direction of its general manager, David Rodgers, completed a freighter, Stolt Nielson, in under 150 days.[5] In November 1917, the company established a world keel-to-launch production speed record of under 70 days, maintaining and improving on the record over the following five months. In early 1918, another U.S. company briefly established a new world keel-to-launch record of 61 days, but Skinner & Eddy recaptured the record in April with the 55-day launch of West Lianga, a ship that was also completed in the record time of 80 days.[5][8]

Thereafter, all the company's ships built during the war were each completed in well under 100 days, with a best performance by war's end of 79 days from keel laying to delivery.[5] Good management alone was probably not entirely responsible for the company's outstanding performance however; Skinner & Eddy also paid its employees highly competitive wages, which enabled the company to attract the best and most skilled workers.

The company's improved performance over time is also reflected in its total production figures. In 1917, the company produced a total tonnage of 72,800 tons; the following year it raised production more than threefold, to 232,400 tons. In all, Skinner & Eddy delivered 32 ships to the EFT, including 29 freighters and three tankers, over the course of the war[5]—more than that of any other shipyard in the country.[3]

Postwar history

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Since it was a widely held belief in the United States that a shipbuilding boom would follow the end of hostilities, the USSB declined to cancel many of its wartime shipbuilding contracts at the end of the war. In Skinner & Eddy's case, this meant that the company was to complete a further 43 ships for the USSB in the postwar period.[6] In 1920 however, the USSB cancelled a contract for an additional 25 ships, prompting the company to launch a $17 million claim against the government for lost anticipated profits, later reduced to a $9 million claim.[9]

Skinner & Eddy delivered its last ship in February 1920,[6] but failed to secure any further shipbuilding contracts after this date because of the severe postwar shipbuilding slump. In 1923, the Skinner & Eddy shipyard was permanently closed, and the company's proprietors, D.E. Skinner and John Eddy, dissolved their longstanding business partnership. John Eddy returned to the lumber business, and Skinner became sole proprietor of the Skinner & Eddy Corporation, which retained its original name.[1]

Skinner & Eddy now entered the shipping line business with the purchase of the Pacific Steamship Company, which operated from the company's former Plant No. 2. The company also invested heavily in Alaskan salmon canneries. In 1944, Skinner & Eddy bought the Alaska Steamship Company, and in the postwar period also operated a cruise line. D.E. Skinner's grandson, David E. "Ned" Skinner II, discontinued the business in 1971, moving the family assets into real estate. His Skinner Corporation would eventually become one of America's largest private companies.[10]

The ships

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SS West Arrow, one of the first ships built by Skinner & Eddy. This ship was very similar in design to the USSB Design #1013 ships that would later be built by the company

Skinner & Eddy produced a total of 75 ships from 1916 to 1920 (the yard no. sequence ends at 76 as the number 13 was skipped). Most of the ships were freighters, but three 10,000-ton tankers were amongst the seven ships built for private contractors prior to the U.S. entry into World War I.[6]

The company built three different types of standard freighters for the USSB, all of them of Skinner & Eddy's own design. The USSB designated these types as Design 1013, Design 1079 and Design 1105 respectively.[6]

The Design 1013 ships were 8,800 tons deadweight, with a length of 423 feet 9 inches (410 ft between perpendiculars), beam of 54 feet (16 m) and hold depth of 29 feet 9 inches (9.07 m) Some examples of this type of ship were turbine powered and others were fitted with triple expansion engines. Some were also completed as oil fired and others as coal fired vessels. Skinner & Eddy built a total of 24 ships of this type.[11] Most of the ships completed by the company during the war were of this type.

The Design 1079 was of 9,600 tons deadweight, turbine-powered and oil fired, with dimensions of 409.6 x 54.2 x 27.1 feet (8.3 m). Skinner & Eddy was the only company which built this type.[12] A total of 23 were completed.[6] The Design 1105 was also 9,600 tons deadweight, oil-fired and with triple expansion engines. Dimensions were 401.5 x 54.8 x 32.1 feet (9.8 m). Again, Skinner & Eddy was the only company which produced this type. A total of 14 were built.[13]

Additionally, eleven 8,800 deadweight-ton freighters, similar if not identical to the Design 1013s were built prior to the manufacture of the USSB types listed above.[6] All types had a typical service speed of between 11 and 12 knots (22 km/h).[14]

In service

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USS Rigel (AD-13), one of three Skinner & Eddy freighters converted into destroyer tenders

Of the first 39 ships built by Skinner & Eddy during and shortly after World War I, 23 were immediately commissioned on completion into the U.S. Navy, and served briefly as supply ships before decommissioning in 1919. A further three were assigned Navy ID's but never commissioned.

In 1921, three Skinner & Eddy ships (including one of those previously assigned a Navy ID) were converted into destroyer tenders and commissioned into the U.S. Navy as USS Altair (AD-11), USS Denebola (AD-12) and USS Rigel (AD-13) respectively. All three of these vessels would remain in Navy service through the end of World War II.[14]

Only one Skinner & Eddy ship was lost (to enemy action) in World War I. In the interwar period, most of the company's vessels were engaged in commercial service. Three, Western Front, Elkton and Nile were lost to maritime accidents in the 1920s, and seven more were scrapped in the 1930s, probably because of the oversupply of shipping.[6]

World War II took a heavy toll of Allied merchant vessels, and of the 64 Skinner & Eddy ships that saw service in the war, 31, or almost 50%, were lost to enemy action, most of them to U-boats. Another two were deliberately sunk as breakwaters during the Normandy Campaign. The 31 that survived the war were mostly scrapped in the late 1940s and 1950s, and only four were still in existence by 1960. The last Skinner & Eddy vessel to see service was probably Edray, transferred to the Soviet Union under lend-lease during World War II and scrapped in 1967.[6]

Fate of the shipyards

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Following the closure of the Skinner & Eddy shipyards in 1923, the company's Plant No. 2 was sold in 1924 to the Pacific Steamship Company, which built a new office and terminus on the site. The site also became the terminus of the Admiral Line, which did considerable trade with Siberia and the Orient.[3]

With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the site became a Hooverville for Seattle's unemployed. During World War II, the Hooverville was razed to make way for a huge supply depot run by the Army Quartermaster Corps, and after the war it became a base for the U.S. Coast Guard. As of 2003, the site was the location for several large container shipping terminals. Skinner & Eddy's Plant No. 1, meanwhile, has become part of Seattle's SoDo district.[3]

Production history

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The following table represents a complete list of all ships built by the Skinner & Eddy Corporation. Ships marked with an asterisk are those assigned ID numbers by the Navy but never commissioned.

Fields marked with a hyphen indicate that the given field is not applicable to this particular ship. Gross tonnage values (GRT) use the nominal GRT for the ship type (identifiable by a "00" in the last two digits) where a more precise GRT is not available for the individual ship. Consult the table legend for additional information about the table.

Ships built by the Skinner & Eddy Corporation, 1916-1920
Name/Image
Type[c]
GRT[e] Deliv.[f] Fate
  •  
  • Niels Nielsen
  • Yoshu Maru 26
 1 —— Freighter —— 5711 09/11/16 Bombed, 1945
  • Hanna Nielson
  • Taian Maru 26
 2 —— Freighter —— 5655 22/12/16 Torpedoed 1943
  •  
  • S. V. Harkness
  • Svithiod 26
 3 —— Tanker —— 6400 08/05/17 Scrapped 48
  •  
  • Josiah Macy
 4 —— Tanker —— 6400 09/06/17 Scrapped 1950
  • Stolt Nielson
 5 —— Freighter —— 5600 26/06/17 Torpedoed 1918
6 —— Freighter —— 5800 20/08/17 Scrapped 1943
  •  
  • Luise Nielsen
  • Taigen Maru 26
 7 —— Freighter —— 5660 10/03/17 Torpedoed 1942
  • Lt. de Missiessy
 8 —— Freighter —— 5600 19/09/17 Scrapped 1933
9 —— Freighter —— 5600 20/10/17 Destroyed by fire and explosion at sea, 1921
10 —— Freighter —— 5520 24/12/17 Torpedoed 1942
  • Trontolite
 11 —— Tanker —— 7115 02/02/18 Scrapped 1946
12 —— Freighter —— 5589 26/02/18 Torpedoed 1941
  • Western Hero
 14 83 Freighter 1013 5611 05/01/18 Scrapped 1946
15 84 Freighter 1013 5600 12/02/18 Scrapped 1954
  • David Rogers
  • Westlake
  • Port Texaco No. 1 32
 16 —— Freighter —— 5600 09/03/18 Scrapped 1951
  •  
  • Elizabeth Gibbs y
  • Western Queen
  • Virginia 46
  • Virginia II 48
 17 —— Freighter —— 5600 25/04/18 Scrapped 1954
  • Canoga
 18 85 Freighter 1013 5600 23/03/18 Scrapped 1933
  • Ossineke
 19 86 Freighter 1013 5600 13/04/18 Scrapped 1931
  • West Durfee
 20 1175 Freighter 1013 5522 16/05/18 Scrapped 1946
21 1176 Freighter 1013 5600 04/05/18 Torpedoed 1942
22 87 Freighter 1013 5600 04/06/18 Scrapped 1933
23 88 Freighter 1013 5600 19/06/18 Scrapped 1933
24 1177 Freighter 1013 5600 29/06/18 Scuttled 1945
25 1178 Freighter 1013 5600 13/07/18 Torpedoed 1942
26 1179 Freighter 1013 5600 20/07/18 Torpedoed 1942
27 1180 Freighter 1013 5728 07/08/18 Scrapped 1948
28 1181 Freighter 1013 5600 17/08/18 Torpedoed 1942
  •  
  • USS West Hosokie (ID-3695)
  • West Hosokie
  • Constance Chandler 29
  • Liloa 38
  • Belorussia 45
 29 1182 Freighter 1013 5600 29/08/18 Scrapped 1960
30 1183 Freighter 1013 5527 14/09/18 Torpedoed 1944
31 1184 Freighter 1013 5637 30/09/18 Torpedoed 1942
32 1185 Freighter 1013 5644 15/10/18 Scrapped 1936
33 1186 Freighter 1013 5565 30/10/18 Torpedoed 1943
34 1187 Freighter 1013 5600 13/11/18 Scrapped 1938
35 1188 Freighter 1013 5561 —/04/19 Torpedoed 1943
36 1925 Freighter 1013 5596 —/12/18 Wrecked 1946
  •  
  • USS West Elcajon (ID-3907)
  • West Elcajon 19
  • Golden Kauri 28
  • Waipio 39
  • Paralos II 46
 37 1926 Freighter 1013 5548 —/01/19 Scrapped 1954
38 1927 Freighter 1013 5766 23/10/18 Torpedoed 1942
39 1928 Freighter 1013 5607 —/11/18 Torpedoed 1942
  •  
  • USS Edenton (ID-3696)
  • Edenton19
  • USAT Irvin L. Hunt 41
  • Edenton 46
 40 1731 Freighter 1079 6800 05/12/18 Scrapped 1948
41 1732
  • Freighter
  • Destroyer Tender
 1079 6800 24/12/18 Scrapped 1950
  •  
  • Edgefield
  • Empire Ibex 41
 42 1733 Freighter 1079 6800 31/12/18 Collision 1943
  • Eldena
 43 1929 Freighter 1079 6800 —/05/19 Torpedoed 1943
  • Eldora
  • Polybius
 44 1930 Freighter 1079 7041 —/05/19 Torpedoed 1942
  • Edgehill
  • Oremar 39
  • Mangore 48
 45 1734 Freighter 1079 6854 02/04/19 Scrapped 1950
  • Edgemont
  • American Sailor 40
 46 1735 Freighter 1079 6800 22/04/19 Scrapped 1953
  • Eldridge
  • Tacoma 28
  • Ewa 37
  • Nogin 43
 47 1931 Freighter 1079 6800 —/06/19 Scrapped 1957
  •  
  • Edgemoor
  • American Seaman 39
 48 1736 Freighter 1079 6800 08/05/19 Scrapped 1952
49 1737
  • Freighter
  • Destroyer tender
 1079 6800 —/05/19 Scrapped 1950
  • Elmsport
  • Kenmar 39
 50 1932 Freighter 1079 6844 —/07/19 Wrecked, 1945
51 1738
  • Freighter
  • Destroyer tender
 1079 6800 —/06/19 Scrapped 1947
  • Elkader
  • Colorado Springs
  • Marymar 39
 52 1933 Freighter 1079 6847 —/07/19 Scrapped 1947
  • Edmore
  • Grays Harbor 28
  • Honomu 37
 53 1739 Freighter 1079 6800 —/07/19 Torpedoed 1942
  • Wheatland Montana
  • Seattle 28
  • Lihue 37
 54 1934 Freighter 1079 6800 —/08/19 Torpedoed 1942
  • Edray
  • City of Spokane
  • Olympia 28
  • Hamakua 37
  • Kuibyshev 45
 55 1740 Freighter 1105 6400 —/07/19 Scrapped 1967
  • Stanley
  • Empire Pelican 41
 56 1935 Freighter 1105 6463 —/08/19 Torpedoed 1941
57 1741 Freighter 1105 6318 —/08/19 Sunk as breakwater, 1944
  • Elkridge
  • Golden Star 28
  • Tennessean 37
  • Empire Penguin 40
  • Van de Velde 42
  • Rijnland 47
  • Vaptistis 57
 58 1936 Freighter 1105 6379 —/08/19 Scrapped 1959
  • Elkhorn
  • Port Texaco No. 4 36
 59 1937 Freighter 1105 6400 —/09/19 Scrapped 1951
60 1938 Freighter 1105 6400 —/09/19 Bombed, 1943
  • Endicott
  • Empire Mermaid 40
 61 1939 Freighter 1105 6400 —/09/19 Torpedoed 1941
  • Elkton
 62 1940 Freighter 1105 6400 —/09/19 Mss 27
  • Brave Coeur
  • Empire Gull 41
 63 1941 Freighter 1105 6458 —/10/19 Torpedoed 1942
  • Cripple Creek
 64 1942 Freighter 1105 6400 —/10/19 Torpedoed 1942
  •  
  • Crisfield
  • Golden Horn 28
  • Kaimoku 38
 65 1943 Freighter 1105 6400 —/10/19 Torpedoed 1942
  • Effna
 66 1743 Freighter 1105 6400 —/11/19 Torpedoed 1941
  • Effingham
 67 1742 Freighter 1105 6400 —/11/19 Torpedoed 1942
68 1744 Freighter 1105 6325 —/11/19 Torpedoed 1942
  • Egremont
  • Calobre 41
  • Borodino 45
 69 1745 Freighter 1079 7000 —/11/19 Scrapped 1963
  • Nile
 70 1944 Freighter 1079 7000 —/12/19 Wrecked 1927
  • Jadden
  • J. B. White 41
 71 1945 Freighter 1079 7000 —/12/19 Torpedoed 1941
  • Crosskeys
  • Golden Peak 28
  • Utahan 37
  • Futura 51
 72 1946 Freighter 1079 7031 —/12/19 Scrapped 1960
  • Crown Point
  • Robin Hood
 73 1947 Freighter 1079 6887 —/12/19 Torpedoed 1942
  • Crowswind
  • Robin Adair
  • Bonaventure 46
 74 1948 Freighter 1079 6895 —/01/20 Scrapped 1952
  • Croydon
  • Robin Gray
 75 1949 Freighter 1079 6896 —/01/20 Sunk as breakwater, 1944
  • Crystal Spring
  • Robin Goodfellow
 76 1950 Freighter 1079 6885 —/02/20 Torpedoed 1944

LEGEND: Yard No. = yard number; USSB No. = USSB number; Name = name of ship. Two digit field (in superscript) following names in this colum indicates last two digits of year in which ship was renamed. Names followed by a "y" (in superscript) indicate a yard name that was not subsequently used during the ship's service history. Type = type of ship, either freighter or tanker. Design No. = USSB Design number. Ships with no listed number were built prior to the introduction of the system. GRT = gross register tons. Ships for which an exact tonnage is not available are listed here with the nominal GRT of the type, usually recognizable by the last two digits being zero. Deliv. = date of ship's delivery to customer. For some ships the exact date is not known. Fate = fate of ship.
 Sources for this table: Pacific Ports Annual pp. 63–64, 402-405; Jordan; shipbuildinghistory.com; and various individual DANFS ship entries.

See also

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Footnotes and references

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Yard # = number assigned to the ship by the shipyard, ie, yard number.
  2. ^ USSB # = number assigned to the ship by the United States Shipping Board.
  3. ^ Type = ship type.
  4. ^ Design # = design number of the ship.
  5. ^ GRT = gross register tonnage.
  6. ^ Deliv. = delivery date of the ship.

References

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  1. ^ a b "History". Port Blakely. Port Blakely. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  2. ^ City of Seatlle Harbor Dept. "Map of Central Waterfront District". Washington State University Libraries Digital Collections. Washington State University. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e McClary, Daryl (2003-03-13). "Pier 36 — Seattle Waterfront". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  4. ^ a b c Pacific Ports Annual, p. 405.
  5. ^ a b c d e Pacific Ports Annual, pp. 64-65.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i "General Cargo Ships Built in Pacific Coast Shipyards" Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, shipbuildinghistory.com.
  7. ^ Pacific Ports Annual, p. 402.
  8. ^ "55-Day Launching Breaks World Record", New York Times, 21 April 1918.
  9. ^ "Ex Parte in the Matter of Skinner & Eddy Corp., 265 U.S. 86 (1924)", justia.com.
  10. ^ Wilma, David (2005-03-01). "Skinner, Ned (1920-1988) and Kayla (1919-2004)". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  11. ^ McKellar, Part I.
  12. ^ McKellar, Part V.
  13. ^ McKellar, Part VI.
  14. ^ a b See DANFS entries for individual ships.

Sources

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Books and journals

Websites

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