Everything about The Kaiser Shipyards totally explained
The
Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the
U.S. west coast during
World War II. They were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of
American industrialist
Henry J. Kaiser, who established the
shipbuilding company around
1939 in order to help meet the construction goals set by the
United States Maritime Commission for merchant shipping.
Four of the Kaiser Shipyards were located in
Richmond, California in the
San Francisco Bay Area (see
Richmond Shipyards). Together, these four Kaiser Shipyards produced 747 ships (including many of the famous
Liberty ships and
Victory ships), more than any other complex in the United States. Only one of these ships, the
Red Oak Victory, survives. Kaiser also produced the s.
The other three shipyards were located across the
Columbia River from each other at
Ryan Point in
Vancouver, Washington, and at
Swan Island in
Portland, Oregon (
Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation).
Kaiser was known for developing new methods of ship building, which allowed his yards to outproduce other similar facilities and build 1,490 ships, 27 percent of the total Maritime Commission construction. Kaiser's ships were completed in two-thirds the time and a quarter the cost of the average of all other shipyards. Liberty ships were typically assembled in a little over two weeks.
Kaiser Shipyards shut down at the end of the war. The
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park was dedicated October 25, 2000 on the site of one of the shipyards in Richmond.
History
Henry Kaiser had been building cargo ships for the Maritime Commission in the 1930s, partnering with
Todd Pacific Shipyards and the
Bath Iron Works. When orders for ships from the
British government, already at war with
Germany, allowed for growth, Kaiser established his first Richmond shipyard begun in December 1940.
In April
1941 the Maritime Commission requested an additional Kaiser yard, to be used for
Liberty ship construction, and after the
attack on Pearl Harbor, Kaiser started third and fourth yards, building
troop transports and
LSTs, respectively.
Other details
- Kaiser set several records:
- The Liberty Ship SS Robert E. Peary was assembled in less than five days as a part of a special competition among shipyards.
- At the Oregon Shipbuilding Yard on the Columbia River, near Portland, the SS Joseph N. Teal was built in ten days in fall 1942.
- The Oregon Shipbuilding Yards were responsible for 455 ships.
- Kaiser recruited from across the United States to work in his yards, hiring women and minorities.
Further Information
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