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American Ship Building Company

Shipbuilder company in North America From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio,[1] in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio, in 1898.[2] It changed its name to the American Ship Building Company in 1900, when it acquired Superior Shipbuilding, in Superior, Wisconsin; Toledo Shipbuilding, in Toledo, Ohio; and West Bay Shipbuilding, in West Bay City, Michigan. With the coming of World War I, the company also acquired Buffalo Dry Dock, in Buffalo, New York; Chicago Shipbuilding, in Chicago, Illinois; and Detroit Shipbuilding, in Wyandotte, Michigan. American Shipbuilding ranked 81st among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.[3]

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The Lorain Yard

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L14-- American Ship Building Company Yards, Lorain, Ohio - DPLA - e8fffd2fafa50e11ae86bc11501638a8 (page 1)

The Lorain, Ohio, Yard served as the main facility of the company after World War II and to this day five of the 13 separate 1,000 ft (300 m) ore carriers on the Great Lakes were built in Lorain, including the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha (originally named the William J. Delancey)[2] which is the largest vessel on the Great Lakes (1,013'06" long). Built in 1898, the Lorain Yard quickly grew in size and importance. The facilities eventually included two dry docks over 1,000 feet (300 m) long built to handle the largest of the Great Lakes ore carriers. The Lorain Yard closed in 1983 after a series of labor disputes.[4] Most of the buildings associated with shipyard were demolished with only the water tower and Ship Building Pattern Warehouse remaining. The pattern warehouse became The Shipyards dining and events venue, and then since 2024 has been home to the Lorain Brewing Company.[5][6] The remaining lands are now being redeveloped as HarborWalk Residential Community, an upscale housing development.[7]

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Ships built by the company

  • MV Manitowoc, built as Paul Thayer, sold to Oglebay Norton in 1994, renamed Earl W. Oglebay. Sold Lower Lakes Towing in 2006, renamed to Manitowoc in 2008. Built in 1973 in Lorain. Sister ship to M/V Calumet and M/V Robert S. Pierson
  • MV Robert S. Pierson, built as the Wolverine for Oglebay Norton, sold to Lower Lakes Towing in 2008. Sister ship to M/V Calumet and M/V Manitowoc. Built in 1973 in Lorain.
  • USNS Paul Buck (T-AOT-1122), launched in 1985, Tampa Shipyards (subsidiary of The American Ship Building Company)
  • MV Roger Blough, built in Lorain in 1972.
  • MV Kaye E. Barker, originally SS Edward B. Greene, built in Lorain in 1952.
  • MV James R. Barker, built in Lorain in 1976.
  • MV Mesabi Miner, built in Lorain in 1977.
  • MV Paul R. Tregurtha, originally MV William J. De Lancey, built in Lorain in 1981.
  • Northern Wave built in 1889.
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Delta Shipbuilding Company

During the Second World War, the company managed the Delta Shipbuilding Company for the United States Maritime Commission. Delta had a shipyard at New Orleans and built a total of 188 ships.[8] Delta Shipbuilding Company built 187 Liberty ships; the first completed was the SS William C.C. Claiborne, named after the first governor of Louisiana, William C. C. Claiborne.

The United States Maritime Commission had Delta and eight other emergency shipyards start building Liberty ships in 1941; 2,710 were produced during the war. Many were built in less than two months. The Delta shipyard was started specifically for the war effort, at a site on the Industrial Canal near the Almonaster Avenue Bridge, immediately south of the present-day I-10 high-rise bridge. The yard was shut down after the end of World War II.[9][10]

Sample of ships built:

Toledo Shipbuilding Company

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Wauketa, "White Star Line," Launched at Toledo Ship Building Company's Yards, Toledo, Ohio, 1908

The Toledo Shipbuilding Company, which became an operating unit of the American Shipbuilding Company by consolidation in 1945,[11] was itself the builder of several of the most well-known coal-fired steamships of the Great Lakes, such as the SS Chief Wawatam (built in 1911).

Steinbrenners

In the early 1960s, the American Ship Building Company acquired Kinsman Marine Transit Company, which was owned by the Steinbrenner family. As a result of the transaction, the Steinbrenner family acquired a controlling interest in American Ship Building. Frustrated after years of fighting with unions over cost-saving work changes, the Steinbrenners closed the Lorain shipyard in December 1983 and moved all operations to Tampa, Florida. The principal member of the Steinbrenner family who was involved in the operation of the company at this time was George Steinbrenner, who by then already was becoming better known as the principal owner of the New York Yankees.[12][13][14]

The company began having difficulties in the 1980s, going through a bankruptcy in 1993.[15] The company was sold in 1995.[12][14]

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See also

References

External links

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