Walsh-Kaiser Company

Last updated
Walsh-Kaiser Company
Cranston and Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
USS Devosa (AKA-27) in 1945.jpg
USS Devosa (AKA-27), built at
Walsh-Kaiser Company in 1944
USA Rhode Island location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Walsh-Kaiser Company
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Walsh-Kaiser Company
Coordinates 41°47′16″N71°22′59″W / 41.78778°N 71.38306°W / 41.78778; -71.38306 Coordinates: 41°47′16″N71°22′59″W / 41.78778°N 71.38306°W / 41.78778; -71.38306
TypeShipyard
Site information
Owner United States Maritime Commission
Operator
Controlled by United States Navy
Ships built63
Site history
Built1942
In use1942–1945

Walsh-Kaiser Company was a shipyard along the Providence River on the border of Cranston and Providence, Rhode Island. It was built during World War II and financed by the Maritime Commission as part of the country's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. It was originally operated by Rheem Manufacturing, a company with no previous shipbuilding expertise. When Rheem had difficulty managing the yard, Kaiser Shipyards was retained to manage the operation.

Contents

Operational history

In 1942, the Maritime Commission selected Fields Point for the location of an emergency shipyard. It was planned to be able to build ships on six different ways. The construction of the shipyard was financed as part of the country's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Storekeepers and housewives, clerks and youths fresh out of school worked side by side, turning out ship after ship. Construction began on March 28, 1942. The shipyard construction swallowed the popular Kerwin's Beach, which drew thousands to the shores of the Providence River before it was covered over. Although 1 million square yards (840,000 m2) of fill from a nearby hillside was dumped onto the mud flats, this still failed to stabilize the area. The total cost of the shipyard was $26 million. [1]

On December 31, 1942, the first of many misfortunes hit the plant. [2] The plate shop, the first step in the production process, burned to the ground. In February 1943, after the Rheem company showed difficulty managing the yard, Kaiser Shipyards was asked to manage the operation of the yard. [3] As a result of the takeover, the size of the yard increased from 9,000 employees to over 14,000 just four months later. Eventually, 7 miles (11 km) of road wound about the yard. [1]

The first ships that the yard produced were Liberty ships. After 10 ships were completed, 21 frigates were built. After those ships were finished, 32 attack cargo ships (Navy hull designation AKA) were constructed and launched. In the three years that the yard was in operation, 63 ships were eventually launched and completed. [1]

After learning from their initial mistakes, workers became more skilled with the building of ships. It took only 136 days from the keel laying to delivery of the attack cargo ships. The fastest turnover took a mere 82 days. [1] On September 1, 1945, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal wrote to T. J. Walsh, the head of the company, praising the work of the local yard and saying that it was preeminent in building the great arsenal that helped save the world. [1] [lower-alpha 1]

Work was described as decent by the workers who labored there. Wages were also high due to the influence that the American Federation of Labor (AFL) had in the area. Common laborers at the yard earned 85 cents an hour. [1]

The steady employment actually helped the local economy as the yard employed 18,767 on September 30, 1944. Three months later the payroll included 20,879. During the yard's peak in January 1945, 21,264 people were employed. Among these numbers were over 3,000 women. At the end of the war, the shipyard closed after laying off over 3,000 people in three months. [1] In October 1945, it was reported that the Maritime Commission agreed to sell the property to the City of Providence for approximately $308,000. [4]

Post-war use

A drive-in theater with a 1,700 car capacity operated on the site of the yard from 1957 to 1976. [5] In the late 1970s, there were plans to construct a cargo container port at the site, but efforts fell through and two cranes are all that remained. [1]

The area has subsequently been reused by a few companies. Circa 1999, Johnson & Wales University had taken over a portion of the yard for their culinary arts program. [1]

Ships built

Liberty Ships

Colony-class frigates

HMS Anguilla HMS Anguilla 1944 IWM FL 669.jpg
HMS Anguilla

Most of the Colony-class frigate names corresponded to an island or archipelago—such as Anguilla, Antigua, Ascension, and so forth—that was (in the era built) a Crown colony or British protectorate. Exceptions were Nyasaland and Somaliland, British protectorates in Africa.

Artemis-class attack cargo ships

A July 1945 newspaper report stated that the Walsh-Kaiser Company had named each of its Artemis-class attack cargo ship after stars. [6] However, this was questioned at the time, [7] and appears to be in error. Most of the ship names correspond to the names of minor planets (asteroids): 105 Artemis, 881 Athene, 419 Aurelia, and so forth through 840 Zenobia. There are three exceptions, in which ships were named for constellations: Corvus, Hydrus, and Lacerta.

USS Lacerta USS Lacerta (AKA-29) underway, circa in 1945.jpg
USS Lacerta

Notes

  1. ↑ While one source mentions that President Harry S. Truman visit the site, escorted by J. Howard McGrath, [1] then Governor of Rhode Island, contemporary reporting of such a visit is lacking.

Related Research Articles

Liberty ship US cargo ship class of WWII

Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output.

<i>Tacoma</i>-class frigate Frigate class of ships of the United States Navy

The Tacoma class of patrol frigates served in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. Originally classified as gunboats (PG), they were reclassified as patrol frigates (PF) on 15 April 1943. The class is named for its lead ship, Tacoma, a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) S2-S2-AQ1 design, which in turn was named for the city of Tacoma, Washington. Twenty-one ships were transferred to the British Royal Navy, in which they were known as Colony-class frigates, and twenty-eight ships were transferred under Lend-Lease to the Soviet Navy, where they were designated as storozhevoi korabl, during World War II. All Tacoma-class ships in US service during World War II were manned by United States Coast Guard crews. Tacoma-class ships were transferred to the United States Coast Guard and various navies post-World War II.

USS <i>Xenia</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Xenia (AKA-51) wa an Artemis-class attack cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was then sold to Chile, where she served as Presidente Errazuriz until 1966.

<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">Kaiser Shipyards</span> Shipbuilding yards on the West Coast of the United States

The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser (1882–1967), 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.

SS <i>Dominator</i> World War II Liberty ship of the United States

SS Dominator, a freighter, ran ashore on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the South Bay area of California in 1961 due to a navigational error while lost in fog. Its remains can still be seen today and serves as a point of interest for hikers and kayakers.

USS <i>Zenobia</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Zenobia (AKA-52) was an Artemis-class attack cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was then sold to Chile, where she served as Presidente Pinto (AKA-41) until 1966. She was scrapped in 1974.

USS <i>Lacerta</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Lacerta (AKA-29) was an Artemis-class attack cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1966.

USS <i>Hydrus</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Hydrus (AKA-28) was an Artemis-class attack cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. From 1946 to 1946, she served as the a training ship as Empire State. She was scrapped in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Shipyards</span> United States historic place

The four Richmond Shipyards, in the city of Richmond, California, United States, were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards. In World War II, Richmond built more ships than any other shipyard, turning out as many as three ships in a single day. The shipyards are part of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, whose Rosie the Riveter memorial honors the shipyard workers. Shipyard #3 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a California Historical Landmark # 1032.

HMS <i>Dominica</i> (K507) Colony-class frigate

The fourth HMS Dominica (K507) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom which served in the Royal Navy during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigateUSS Harman (PF-79) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

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.

Colony-class frigate Class of US frigates

The Colony-class frigates were a series of 21 frigates constructed in the United States by the Walsh-Kaiser Company of Providence, Rhode Island, for transfer under Lend-Lease to the Royal Navy in 1944. Each was named after a relatively minor Crown colony or other constituent territory of the British Commonwealth and Empire. Names of large British colonies had been used for the Crown Colony-class cruisers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company</span>

The St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company was created in Jacksonville, Florida during World War II to build Liberty ships.

HMS <i>Antigua</i> (K501) Colony-class frigate

HMS Antigua (K501) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom in commission from 1943 to 1945 that served during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigateUSS Hamond (PF-73) and was transferred prior to completion.

HMS Barbados was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom that served during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigateUSS Halsted (PF-76) – sometimes spelled Halstead – and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

HMS Nyasaland (K587) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom that served during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigateUSS Hoste (PF-83) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

HMS Papua (K588) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom that served during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigateUSS Howett (PF-84) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion.

HMS St. Helena (K590) was a Colony-class frigate of the United Kingdom that served during World War II. She originally was ordered by the United States Navy as the Tacoma-class patrol frigateUSS Pasley (PF-86) and was transferred to the Royal Navy prior to completion. After the British returned her to the United States in 1946, she briefly carried the name USS St. Helena (PF-86).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Chiapinelli, S. Robert (June 28, 1999). "Three years, 63 ships at Fields Point". The Providence Journal . Providence, Rhode Island. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2010– via Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "FBI Is Investigating Rheems Plant Fire". The Birmingham News . January 1, 1943. p. 25. Retrieved April 9, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Kaiser To Get Shipyards". The Dayton Herald . February 22, 1943. p. 1. Retrieved April 9, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Company May Request Shipyard Buildings". Newport Mercury . Newport, Rhode Island. October 19, 1945. p. 5. Retrieved April 10, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Shipyard Drive-In". Providence, Rhode Island: Cinematreasures.org. 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  6. ↑ "'USS Xenia' Named For Star, Not City". Springfield News-Sun . Springfield, Ohio. July 29, 1945. p. 10-A. Retrieved April 9, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "News Sidelights". Dayton Daily News . August 2, 1945. p. A-3. Retrieved April 9, 2023– via newspapers.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.