Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division

Last updated

Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division
Industry Shipbuilding
PredecessorLos Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division
Founded1917
Defunct1989
FateLiquidated
Headquarters San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
Parent Todd Pacific Shipyards, a wholly owned subsidiary of Todd Shipyards Corporation

Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division was a shipyard in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. Before applying its last corporate name, the shipyard had been called Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company and Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division. Under those three names, the San Pedro yard built at least 130 ships from 1917 to 1989. [1]

Contents

The yard opened during the World War I shipping boom, survived bankruptcy in the Great Depression and built Auxiliary ships during World War II. The yard was seized by the Navy in late 1943 and given to Todd Shipyards to manage for the remainder of the war. The yard struggled through the post war period and surged again with commercial work in the 1960s to mid-1970s. The yard peaked again in 1983 during a Navy frigate contract, but was closed in 1989 after failing to secure a DDG-51 contract. The former site was a container terminal in 2015.

Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company (1917–1943)

The Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was founded in April 1917 for the purpose of establishing a shipbuilding and repair facility in Los Angeles Harbor during World War I with Fred L. Baker of Baker Iron Works as president. 69 acres (28 ha) of marsh land on Smiths Island were used for the original construction. The yard received 35 contracts to build cargo ships for the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) of the United States Shipping Board. 30 of the ships were to be 8,800 DWT Design 1013 ships and 5 were 11,500 DWT. The first keel was laid 23 July 1917 for SS Accomac. Triple expansion steam engines of 3,500hp were produced on site, [2] but hulls 1 through 8 were powered by Westinghouse steam turbines. By 1920, the yard had a 12,000 ton floating dry dock, which cost $1.25 million ($22 million today) to build. [3] The first four freighters were delivered in July 1918 and another four were delivered before the war ended. [1]

Delivered in November 1921, SS West Chopaka was the 35th and final ship built for the US Shipping Board at San Pedro. In total, the contracts cost $72 million ($1.23 billion today) for around 320,000 DWT of cargo freighters. [4] This made Los Angeles Shipbuilding the largest of the three steel shipyards in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, accounting for 55% of the tonnage built there during the World War I shipbuilding boom for the United States Shipping Board.

Around 5 May 1919, 6,000 workers at Los Angeles SB&DDC went on strike after demands for a closed shop were not met. [5] On 31 May 1919, federal mediation was sought with mediator Captain Charles T. Connell listed as a potential mediator. [6] The yard was reopened on 10 July 1919, without resolving the dispute, [7] Many of the workers did not return and had found other work elsewhere. Around 70 of the 6,000 returned in the first days with about 1,500 back by the end of July 1919. [8]

For the remainder of the 1920s, after the US Shipping Board projects finished, Los Angeles SB&DDC built a number of tank barges. Additionally, the yard built SS Catalina in 1924 and in 1925, Los Angeles City #2 fireboat, which later was known as Ralph J. Scott. [1]

Los Angeles SB&DDC mainly did ship repairs in the 1930s until the yard received Navy contracts for several auxiliary ships in the lead up to World War II. By the time the war broke out, management had changed a number of times at the yard. Los Angeles SB&DDC had entered bankruptcy during the Great Depression and several corporate reorganizations resulted in several changes in management. The original shareholders of Los Angeles SB&DDC were also frozen out by a Supreme Court decision that gave precedence to bondholders over the shareholders. [9] Los Angeles SB&DDC had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Los Angeles Lumber Products, which was a party in Case v. Los Angeles Lumber Products. [10] That case was decided in 1939 and became a landmark decision in corporate bankruptcy law. [11] [12]

In the 1930s, the yard made some attempts to get oil tanker contracts [13] and a Navy destroyer contract, but lost bids to east coast shipyards. [14] Beginning 14 November 1936, there was an 87-day labor strike by 500 workers at several Los Angeles area yards, including Los Angeles SB&DDC. The strike ended 9 February 1937 with a $.06 raise, making the top hourly rate $0.95 an hour. [15] In 1939, the company submitted bids for C1-B cargo ships of the United States Maritime Commission's Long Range Shipbuilding Program, but was unsuccessful.

A diagram of the shipyard near its post war peak in 1983. Todd Pacific Shipyards Los Angeles Div 1983 MARAD.png
A diagram of the shipyard near its post war peak in 1983.

On 27 September 1943 a special Naval Board of Investigation was convened in San Pedro to look into the conditions at Los Angeles SB&DDC. The Navy had invested around $64 million in equipment and construction contracts at the company and had a number of concerns regarding management of those assets. According to Admiral Harold G. Bowen, Sr. the yard had no cost accounting system other than a system set up to bill and receive funds from the Navy. There were no modern industrial lines to increase production efficiency. The committee found that between $5 and $7 million were unaccounted for on the repair ship Ajax which was under construction at the yard. They attributed it to "inefficient management and a poorly organized labor union" rather than fraud. [16] The Navy made attempts to get management to correct the problems, but negotiations failed. [16]

On 8 December 1943, the US Navy seized control of Los Angeles SB&DDC under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. [17] [18] Bowen found the yard to be in worse condition than the investigating board realized. Management was turned over to Todd Shipyards, which operated a number of other shipyards around the country. Todd would manage the yard for the Navy until the war ended after which Todd purchased the yard outright. [19]

Admiral Bowen described the situation at the yard in detail in his 1954 memoir, Ships, Machinery and Mossbacks. According to Bowen, the seizure saved the government over $13 million. [16] For example, USS Ajax (AR-6), built in San Pedro, cost $24.8 million, but sister ship USS Vulcan (AR-5), constructed in Camden, cost only $12.8 million. [16] It also took nearly a year longer to construct Ajax. [20]

During the war, the yard built three of the four Vulcan-class repair ships, three of the four Currituck-class seaplane tenders and all four Klondike-class destroyer tenders. [1] According to The American West: The Reader, under Todd's management, the yard converted 2,376 ships in the final years of the war. [21]

Operating as Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division (1946–1977)

USS Fox (DLG-33) ready for launching in San Pedro, 21 November 1964. USS Fox (DLG-33) ready for launching, 21 November 1964.jpg
USS Fox (DLG-33) ready for launching in San Pedro, 21 November 1964.

Todd Shipyards purchased the Los Angeles SB&DDC after World War II and began to operate this shipyard as the Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division beginning in November 1946. Wartime labor at the LA division peaked at around 20,000 workers. [19]

Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation Plant, San Pedro, California on March 23, 1942. LosAngelesShipbuilding.jpg
Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation Plant, San Pedro, California on March 23, 1942.

After the war ended the LA division turned to ship repair and conversions, and to machine work and fabrication for other industries. Business volume declined until the Korean War, but then dropped even lower after it ended in 1953. The LA division had projects in the early 1950s for Disneyland as well. They built the replica of the sternwheel riverboat Mark Twain. Todd's Hoboken, New Jersey, operation built two sternwheel riverboats for Freedomland U.S.A., a theme park in New York City that existed from 1960 to 1964. Todd's contributions to the park and the sternwheelers are documented in Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History published by Theme Park Press (2019). One boat was destroyed during 2005 and the other during 2018. The LA division also constructed eight 52-foot tourist submarines and the masts, rigging, spars and sails of Sailing Ship Columbia after the Korean War. [19] According to their long range facilities plan, Todd reported that no major ships were built in California following World War II until the state property tax structure was changed in 1958. [19]

Todd invested heavily into the LA division in the years following the 1958 tax changes and built a number of cargo ships for various companies. The LA division built two cruisers, England and Fox in the 1960s and seven Knox-class frigates in the late 1960s. It also converted USS Paul Revere (APA-248) and USS Ashtabula (AO-51). [1]

The LA division manufactured "thousands of feet of special piping for the Atomic Energy Commission." They also did work fabricating test missiles for the Polaris missile program and a base for a tracking antenna used by NASA. [19]

In the early 1970s, the LA division built four handysize 25,000 DWT tankers [22] for Marine Transport Lines and four 35,000 DWT tankers for Zapata Marine, but contracts for eight 90,000 DWT tankers were cancelled in 1975 [22] during the 1970s energy crisis and in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. [23]

Operating as Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division (1977–1989)

USS Wadsworth (FFG-9) under construction in San Pedro, c.1979. USS Wadsworth (FFG-9) in the Todd Pacific.jpg
USS Wadsworth (FFG-9) under construction in San Pedro, c.1979.

On 1 October 1977, Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Todd Shipyards Corporation. Todd's Seattle and Los Angeles divisions were spun off into Todd Pacific Shipyards. Eighteen Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were built at the San Pedro yard. In 1983 the yard employed 5,600, by 1989 it employed only 400. The yard occupied 112 acres (45 ha) of land, leased from the Port of Los Angeles, at its close in 1989. [24]

Parent company Todd Shipyards entered Chapter 11 in August 1987. The LA division closed in 1989 following completion of its last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, USS Ingraham. [24] Todd had failed to win an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer contract. [25] The property where at least 130 ships were built in just over 70 years was returned to the Port of Los Angeles. As of 2015, it was known as Berth 100 / West Basin Container Terminal. [26] [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vigor Shipyards</span> Major American shipyard company

Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United States and the Gulf. Todd Shipyards were a major part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program for World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Iron Works</span> San Francisco American shipyard company

Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Steel and Shipbuilding Company</span> Shipyard in San Diego, CA, USA

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is an American shipbuilding company with four shipyards located in San Diego, Norfolk, Bremerton, and Mayport. It is a division of General Dynamics. NASSCO owns a subsidiary manufacturing facility with TIMSA in Mexicali, Mexico. The San Diego shipyard specializes in constructing commercial cargo ships and auxiliary vessels for the US Navy and Military Sealift Command; it is the only new-construction shipyard on the West Coast of the United States. NASSCO performs ship repairs and conversions for the United States Navy in all four shipyard locations: San Diego, Norfolk, Bremerton, and Mayport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type C1 ship</span> Class of American cargo ships

Type C1 was a designation for cargo ships built for the United States Maritime Commission before and during World War II. Total production was 493 ships built from 1940 to 1945. The first C1 types were the smallest of the three original Maritime Commission designs, meant for shorter routes where high speed and capacity were less important. Only a handful were delivered prior to Pearl Harbor. But many C1-A and C1-B ships were already in the works and were delivered during 1942. Many were converted to military purposes including troop transports during the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cochin Shipyard</span> Shipbuilding and maintenance facility in India

Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is the largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility in India. It is part of a line of maritime-related facilities in the port-city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. Of the services provided by the shipyard are building platform supply vessels and double-hulled oil tankers. It built the first indigenous aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, the INS Vikrant. The company has Miniratna status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company</span> 1917–1948 shipbuilding company in the United States

The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard in New Jersey active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. Unlike many shipyards, it remained active during the shipbuilding slump of the 1920s and early 1930s that followed the World War I boom years. During World War II, it built merchant ships as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding program, at the same time producing more destroyers for the United States Navy than any yard other than the Bath Iron Works. Operated by a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, the shipyard was located at Kearny Point where the mouth of the Hackensack River meets Newark Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philly Shipyard</span> Commercial shipyard in Philadelphia

Philly Shipyard, formerly Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, is a commercial shipyard located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on part of the site of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The commercial yard began after the United States Navy had ended most of its operations at the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Shipbuilding Corporation</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alameda Works Shipyard</span> Major American shipyard company

The Alameda Works Shipyard, in Alameda, California, United States, was one of the largest and best equipped shipyards in the country. The only building remaining from the yard is the Union Iron Works Powerhouse, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency Shipbuilding Program</span> Programme for emergent ship production

The Emergency Shipbuilding Program was a United States government effort to quickly build simple cargo ships to carry troops and materiel to allies and foreign theatres during World War II. Run by the U.S. Maritime Commission, the program built almost 6,000 ships.

The Western Pipe and Steel Company (WPS) was an American manufacturing company that is best remembered today for its construction of ships for the Maritime Commission in World War II. It also built ships for the U.S. Shipping Board in World War I and took part in the construction of the giant Grand Coulee Dam project in the 1930s.

The Pusey and Jones Corporation was a major shipbuilder and industrial-equipment manufacturer. Based in Wilmington, Delaware, it operated from 1848 to 1959.

Type C4-class ship Cargo ships built by the United States Maritime Commission

The Type C4-class ship were the largest cargo ships built by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) during World War II. The design was originally developed for the American-Hawaiian Lines in 1941, but in late 1941 the plans were taken over by the MARCOM.

MS <i>West Honaker</i> American diesel-powered cargo ship

MS West Honaker was a diesel-powered cargo ship of the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) that was part of the "Corncob Fleet" of old ships sunk as part of the "gooseberry" breakwater off Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion. The ship was originally built as SS West Honaker, a steam-powered cargo ship built for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), a predecessor of the USMC. At the time of her completion in 1920, the ship was inspected by the United States Navy for possible use as USS West Honaker (ID-4455) but was neither taken into the Navy nor ever commissioned under that name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skinner & Eddy</span> American 20th c. shipbuilder in Seattle, Washington

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 West Coast shipyard, and also for breaking world production speed records for individual ship construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay Shipbuilding Company</span> American shipyard and dry dock company

Bay Shipbuilding Company (BSC) is a shipyard and dry dock company in Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin. As of 2015, Bay Ships was a subsidiary of Fincantieri Marine Group and produces articulated tug and barges, OPA-90 compliant double hull tank ships and offshore support vessels. It also provides repair services to the lake freighter fleet. In the past the shipyard located in Sturgeon Bay has operated under several different names and traces its history back to 1918.

T1 tanker Class of tanker ships

The T1 tanker or T1 are a class of sea worthy small tanker ships used to transport fuel oil before and during World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. The T1 tanker classification is still in use today. T1 tankers are about 200 to 250 feet in length and are able to sustain a top speed of about 12 knots. The hull designation AO is used by the US Navy to denote the ship is a T1 oil tanker and AOG that the T1 is a gasoline tanker. The small size allows the T1 to enter just about any sea port or to anchor around a small island, this was very useful during the Pacific War. The T1 tanker can carry about 48,000 to 280,000 bbls. Some T1 tankers were used to transport goods other than oil, a few were used for black oil-crude oil, diesel, chemicals and rarely bulk cargo like grain. T1 tankers are also called liquid cargo carriers. The T1 tanker has about a 6,000 to 35,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) of cargo. The small size also gives the ships short turn around time for repair, cleaning, loading and unloading. A T1 tanker carrying dirty cargo, like crude oil needs a few weeks of labor to clean before carrying clean cargo. Most T1 ships during World War II were named after major oil fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro</span> Shipyard in San Pedro, California, United States

Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro was a major shipbuilding company on Terminal Island in San Pedro, California owned by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro built: US Navy Destroyers and after the war tugboats. The yard became involved in World War II production in the early shipbuilding expansions initiated by the Two-Ocean Navy Act of July 1940. At its peak during the war about 6,000 worked at the yard, Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro shipyard was opened in 1918 as Southwestern Shipbuilding by Western Pipe & Steel. Western Pipe & Steel sold the shipyard to Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in 1925. Shipbuilding ended after World War 2 in 1946. In 1983 the shipyard was sold to Southwest Marine. In 1997 Southwest Marine operated four shipyards, which they sold to The Carlyle Group. Carlyle Group renamed the shipyard US Marine Repair. In 2002 US Marine Repair sold all six of its yards to United Defense Industries. In 2005 it was sold to BAE Systems but the yard was not used and the yard is now part of the Port of Los Angeles. The shipyard was located at 1047 South Seaside Ave, San Pedro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Shipbuilding Company</span> Shipyard in Long Beach, California, United States

Craig Shipbuilding was a shipbuilding company in Long Beach, California. To support the World War I demand for ships Craig Shipbuilding shipyard switched over to military construction and built: US Navy Submarines and Cargo Ships. Craig Shipbuilding was started in 1906 by John F. Craig. John F. Craig had worked in Toledo, Ohio with his father, John Craig (1838-1934), and Blythe Craig, both shipbuilders, their first ship was built in 1864 at Craig Shipbuilding Toledo. John F. Craig opened his shipbuilding company in Port of Long Beach on the south side of Channel 3, the current location of Pier 41 in the inner harbor, becoming the port's first shipyard. In 1908 Craig Shipbuilding was given the contract to finishing dredging of the Port of Long Beach inner harbor and to dredge the channel connecting it to the Pacific Ocean. In 1917 Craig sold the shipyard to the short-lived California Shipbuilding Company. but then opened a new shipyard next to the one he just sold and called it the Long Beach Shipbuilding Company. The Long Beach Shipbuilding Company built cargo ships in 1918, 1919, and 1920 for the United States Shipping Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval Operating Base Terminal Island</span> World War II Naval Base in Los Angeles

Naval Operating Base Terminal Island, was United States Navy base founded on 25 September 1941 to support the World War II efforts in the Pacific War. Naval Operating Base Terminal Island was founded by combining Naval Facilities in cities of San Pedro, Long Beach and Wilmington, California under one command. Much of the base was on the man-made Terminal Island, and harbor in San Pedro Bay. The harbor was made through the construction of a large breakwater system.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Colton, Tim. "Todd Pacific Shipyards, San Pedro, CA". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008.
  2. "Pacific Marine Review". December 1918. p. 118.{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  3. "Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company". Pacific Marine Review. 17: 94. December 1920.
  4. "The Pacific Coast". American Shipping. 14. 10 October 1921.
  5. "Six Thousand Strike when it seemed settled". The Deseret News. 5 May 1919. p. 3.
  6. "Discuss Mediation for Ship Strike". Berkeley Daily Gazette. United Press. 31 May 1919. p. 4.
  7. "Employ Papers in Strike Fight". The Spokesman-Review. 10 July 1919. p. 3.
  8. Perry, Louis B.; Perry, Richard S. (1963). A History of the Los Angeles Labor Movement, 1911–1941. University of California Press. pp. 129–130.
  9. "US Seizes San Pedro Shipyard" (PDF). Torrence Herald. 9 December 1943. p. 1.
  10. Stewart Jr., Gilbert (2 November 1939). "Obscure Case is Important". The Bulletin. Bend, OR. United Press.
  11. "Case v. Los Angeles Lumber Products Co., Ltd. 308 U.S. 106 (1939)". supreme.justia.com.
  12. Bhandari, Jagdeep S.; Weiss, Lawrence A. (1996). Corporate Bankruptcy: Economic and Legal Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-45717-0.
  13. "Coast Firms Invited to Bid on Oil Tankers". Berkeley Daily Gazette. 10 December 1935. p. 8.
  14. "Coast Lost Navy Jobs Due to Lack of Bonds". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. 23 August 1934.
  15. "End Walkout in Shipyards". Berkeley Daily Gazette. United Press. 9 February 1937. p. 2-1.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Bowen, Harold G. (1954). "5". Ships, Machinery and Mossbacks: The Autobiography of a Naval Engineer. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Univ. Press. p. 252.
  17. "FDR Orders Navy to Take Over Shipyard". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. 9 December 1943. p. 1.
  18. "US Navy Takes Over". Montreal Gazette. 9 December 1943. p. 9.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation, Los Angeles Division. Long-Range Facilities Plan. Contract MA-8O-SAC-O1O29 (Report). 31 July 1981. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  20. Ajax was 906 days from keel laying to commissioning vs 546 days for Vulcan.
  21. Nugent, Walter T. K.; Ridge, Martin (1999). The American West: The Reader. Indiana University Press. ISBN   978-0-253-21290-0.
  22. 1 2 Report on Survey of U.S. Shipbuilding and Repair Facilities (PDF) (Report). United States Maritime Administration. 1976.
  23. Meeting with Members of the Tanker Industry (PDF). Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum (Report). 7 March 1975.
  24. 1 2 Vartabedian, Ralph; Stolberg, Sheryl (8 July 1989). "Todd, the Last Shipyard in L.A. Harbor, to Shut Down". Los Angeles Times.
  25. "Todd Los Angeles Division". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  26. "Container Facilities". Port of Los Angeles . — Shows an aerial view of Berth 100, the former location of Todd – San Pedro.
  27. Architectural Survey and Evaluation of the Southwest Marine Terminal (Berth 240) of the Port of Los Angeles Attachment A (PDF) (Report). p. 6. Berths 103-108

Further reading

33°45′11″N118°16′48″W / 33.753°N 118.280°W / 33.753; -118.280