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

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]

History

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]

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

Details

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

Launching of Liberty tankers, missing on shipbuildinghistory

See also

• Emergency Shipbuilding Program
• California during World War II

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

Further reading

• Collins, James H. All Aboard! All Aboard! But Where Are the Passengers? Public Utilities Fortnightly, June 24, 1943.
• Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, Random House, New York, NY. ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
• Nugent, Walter; Ridge, Martin. The American West: The Reader, Indiana University Press, 1999.
• Wallace, Jack W. Calship: An Industrial Achievement, 1941-1945, Jack W. Wallace & Associates, 1947.
• Our New West, Popular Mechanics, October 1944.
• Shipbuilding: Speed on Terminal Island, Time, July 13, 1942.

External links

• CSUN.edu: California Shipbuilding Corporation Collection
• Insidesocal.com: History of the California Shipbuilding Corp.
• S.S. American Victory website
• S.S. Lane Victory website