The American Ship Building Company was the dominant
shipbuilder on the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
before the
Second World War
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 opposin ...
. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio
in 1888 and opened the yard in
Lorain, Ohio
Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...
in 1898. It changed its name to the American Ship Building Company in 1900, when it acquired
Superior Shipbuilding, in
Superior, Wisconsin
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, image_caption = Downtown Superior
, ima ...
; Toledo Shipbuilding, in
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...
; and West Bay Shipbuilding, in
West Bay City, Michigan
West Bay City was a city in Bay County the U.S. state of Michigan. The City was formed from the communities of Banks, Salzburg, and Wenona. The city existed from 1877 to 1905 when it was merged with Bay City, Michigan.
History
Bangor/Banks
Jose ...
. With the coming of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the company also acquired Buffalo Dry Dock, in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
; Chicago Shipbuilding, in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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; and Detroit Shipbuilding, in
Wyandotte, Michigan
Wyandotte ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census.
Wyandotte is located in southeastern Michigan, approximately south of Detroit on the Detroit River, and it is part of the coll ...
. American Shipbuilding ranked 81st among United States corporations in the value of
World War II
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 opposin ...
military production contracts.
The Lorain Yard
The
Lorain, Ohio
Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...
Yard served as the main facility of the company after World War II and to this day five of the 13 separate ore carriers on the Great Lakes were built in Lorain, including the
M/V ''Paul R. Tregurtha'' 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 long built to handle the largest of the Great Lakes ore carriers. The Lorain Yard closed in 1984 after a series of labor disputes. Most of the buildings associated with shipyard were demolished with only the water tower and Ship Building Pattern Warehouse remaining. The pattern warehouse is now The Shipyards dining and events venue. The remaining lands are now being redeveloped as an upscale housing development.
Ships built by the company
* , launched in 1892 in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio
* , launched in 1892 as a lake freighter, originally as the SS ''Samuel Mather''
* , launched in 1896 in Cleveland
* , launched in 1897 in Cleveland
* , launched in 1902, in Cleveland originally as the ''Manistique-Marquette & Northern No. 1''
* , built in 1909 in
Lorain, Ohio
Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...
, sunk in the
Great Lakes Storm of 1913
* , launched in 1910 in Lorain, Ohio, sunk in the
Great Lakes Storm of 1913
* , built in 1906 for the Acme Transit Company, later sunk in the
Great Lakes Storm of 1913
* , built in 1903 in Cleveland
*
SS ''Milwaukee Clipper'', built in 1904 in Cleveland, originally as the ''Juniata'', for the Anchor Line
* , originally built in 1913 as the ''Seeandbee'' in Lorain
* , originally built in 1924 as the ''Greater Buffalo'' in Lorain
* , launched in 1927 in Lorain, later Outarde, broken up at Port Colborne 1985
* , launched in 1943 in Lorain
* , built in 1952 in Lorain
* , built in 1927 in Lorain
* , launched in 1942 in Lorain
* , launched in 1943 in Lorain
* , launched in 1943 in Lorain
* , launched in 1943 in Cleveland
* , launched in 1943 in Cleveland
* , launched in 1944 in Lorain
* , launched in 1944 in Lorain
* , launched in 1943, Cleveland
* , launched in 1943, Cleveland
* , launched in 1943, Buffalo
* , launched in 1967 in Lorain
* , launched in 1967 in Lorain
* , launched in 1967 in Lorain
* , launched in 1967 in Lorain
* , launched in 1968 in Lorain
* , launched in 1968 in Lorain
* , launched in 1968 in Lorain
* , launched in 1972 in Lorain.
* , launched in 1985, Tampa Shipyards (subsidiary of The American Ship Building Company)
Delta Shipbuilding
During the Second World War, the company managed Delta Shipbuilding Company for the
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...
. Delta had a yard at
and built a total of 188 ships.
Delta Shipbuilding Company built 187
Liberty ships, the first completed was SS William C.C. Claiborne, named after the first governor of Louisiana,
William C. C. Claiborne
William Charles Cole Claiborne ( 1773–1775 – November 23, 1817) was an American politician, best known as the first non-colonial governor of Louisiana. He also has the distinction of possibly being the youngest member of the United State ...
. The
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...
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
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
was started specifically for the war effort, at a site on the
Industrial Canal
The Industrial Canal is a 5.5 mile (9 km) waterway in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The waterway's proper name, as used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and on NOAA nautical charts, is Inner Harbor Navigation Canal ( IHNC). Th ...
near the
Almonaster Avenue Bridge
The Almonaster Avenue Bridge is a bascule bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana. The bridge has two vehicular lanes of Almonaster Avenue and two railroad tracks over the Industrial Canal.
The bridge is named after Almonaster Avenue on which it ...
, immediately south of the present-day
I-10 high-rise bridge. The yard was shut down after the end of World War II.
Sample of ships built:
*
SS ''Martin Behrman''
*
SS ''Josiah Parker''
*
SS ''Timothy Bloodworth''
*
USS ''Hesperia'' (AKS-13)
*
SS ''Charles Henderson''
*
SS ''Benjamin Contee''
*
USS ''Panda'' (IX-125)
*
USS ''Gratia'' (AKS-11)
*
USS ''Cybele'' (AKS-10)
*
USS ''Kochab'' (AKS-6)
*
USS ''Porcupine'' (IX-126)
*
USS ''Basilan''
*
SS ''James Eagan Layne''
*
USS ''Burias'' (AG-69)
*
USS ''Wildcat'' (AW-2)
*
USS ''Stag'' (AW-1)
*
USS ''Hecuba'' (AKS-12)
Toledo Shipbuilding Company
The
Toledo Shipbuilding Company
The Toledo Shipbuilding Company was a shipyard located on Toledo, Ohio.
History
The Toledo Shipbuilding Company was founded in 1905 when a syndicate of investors purchased the Craig Shipbuilding Company in Toledo, Ohio. The group was composed of L ...
, which became an operating unit of the American Shipbuilding Company by consolidation in 1945,
was itself the builder of several of the most well-known coal-fired steamships of the Great Lakes, such as the (built in 1911).
Steinbrenners
In the early 1960s, the American Shipbuilding Company acquired Kinsman Marine Transit Company, which was owned by the
Steinbrenner family
The Steinbrenners are an American family of Irish-German descent. The family has owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball since George Steinbrenner purchased the franchise in 1973. After George's death, Hal Steinbrenner, his son, became ...
. As a result of the transaction, the Steinbrenner family acquired a controlling interest in American Shipbuilding. 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 transit company at this time was
George Steinbrenner, who became better known later as the principal owner of the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
.
The company began having difficulties in the 1980s, going through a bankruptcy in 1993. The company was sold in 1995.
See also
*
Robert Logan, general manager.
*
Pendleton Shipyard Company
Pendleton Shipyard Company was a shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana started by Pendleton E. Leyde in 1941. Pendleton Shipyard Company build ships for World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. The shipyard was at the Florida Avenue Wh ...
References
External links
AmShip Lorain, Lorain OH
{{Authority control
Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Cleveland
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio
Manufacturing companies established in 1888