Al Larson Boat Shop or Al Larson Boat Building is a

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

and

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

repair company in

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

Terminal Island Terminal Island, historically known as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles, and the city of Long Be ...

. To support the

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

demand for ships Al Larson Boat Shop built:

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Sub chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

s and

Minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s. Al Larson Boat Shop was started in 1903 by Peter Adolph (Al) Larson, a Swedish immigrant. Larson started by building boats by hand from

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

lumber. As the shop grew, he moved to its current location in Fish Harbor, in the

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "America's Port", t ...

. Adolph Larson's son sold the boat shop in 1960 to Andy and Gloria Wall. The shop was small at this time with only five employees. The Wall family is still running the shipyard in the Port of Los Angeles. The shipyard is the only one in the Port of Los Angeles now operating and able to work on ships of all sizes with its 100 employees. The shipyard is at 1046 South Seaside Ave, Terminal Island, with 2.35 acres of land and 5.35 acres of waterways. The shipyard also runs a marina, Al Larson Marina.

Notable ships

YMS-1-class minesweeper The ''YMS-1'' class of auxiliary motor minesweepers was established with the laying down of ''YMS-1'' on 4 March 1941. Some were later transferred to the United Kingdom as part of the World War II Lend-Lease pact between the two nations. One shi ...

: and . * Converted to Minesweeper and

reefer ship A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo ship typically used to transport perishable cargo, which require temperature-controlled handling, such as fruits, meat, vegetables, dairy products, and similar items. Description ''Types of reefers:'' Re ...

: , and * ''SC-734'' US Navy Sub Chaser, Patrol Boat, Keel laid 4/15/42. Launched 7/18/42. Commissioned 12/28/42. Transferred to Foreign in 4/25/47. * ''SC-735'' US Navy Sub Chaser, Patrol Boat, Keel laid 4/20/42. Launched 8/29/42. Commissioned 3/12/43. Transferred to China in 6/30/48. The two

SC-497-class submarine chaser __NOTOC__ The ''SC-497''-class submarine chasers were a class of 438 submarine chasers built primarily for the United States Navy from 1941–1944. The ''SC-497''s were based on the experimental submarine chaser, USS ''SC-453''. Submarine chaser ...

s had one 40mm AA gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two

depth charge projector A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use ...

"Y Guns," and two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

tracks. Powered by two 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines. * ''AB-67'' renamed CG-56306, harbor tug built in 1937. Were 32 tons, top speed 11-knots. 56 feet long, a beam of 14 feet, a draft of 4.5 feet, powered by a 150 H.P diesel, was stationed in San Francisco. * AB-68 renamed CG-56307, harbor tug was stationed in Seattle. Specs same as AB-67.Coast Guard Tugs, ''cg-tugs.org''
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al Larson Boat Shop American Theater of World War II 1940s in California American boat builders

Al Larson Boat Shop Al Larson Boat Shop or Al Larson Boat Building is a shipbuilding and dry dock repair company in San Pedro, California on Terminal Island. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Al Larson Boat Shop built: US Navy Sub chasers and Minesweeper ...

Notable ships

See also

References