Dravo Corporation was 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 ...

company with

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 ...

s in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

. It was founded by Frank and Ralph Dravo in Pittsburgh in 1891. The corporation went public in 1936 and in 1998 it was bought out by

Carmeuse {{Infobox company , name = Carmeuse , logo = Logo_Carmeuse.jpg , type = Private , foundation = 1860 , location = Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium , key_people = Axel Miller (Chairman of the board), Rodolphe Collinet (Chief Executive Officer) , ind ...

for $192 million ($ million today). On March 5, 1942, it became the first corporation to receive the

Army-Navy "E" Award The Army-Navy "E" Award was an honor presented to companies during World War II whose production facilities achieved "Excellence in Production" ("E") of war equipment. The award was also known as the Army-Navy Production Award. The award was cr ...

for outstanding war time production. Dravo ranked 72nd 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.

Facilities

Neville Island Neville Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its land area consists entirely of Neville Island, which is an island on the Ohio River. The population was 1,084 at the 2010 census. History The island was form ...

shipyard, Pittsburgh started 1919, constructed LST's during World War II employing 16,000 people, closed 1982. () *Wilmington Shipyard, Delaware employed 10,500 during World War II, constructing

Destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s. Now closed. Traces back to

Harlan and Hollingsworth Harlan & Hollingsworth was a Wilmington, Delaware, firm that constructed ships and railroad cars during the 19th century and into the 20th century. Founding Mahlon Betts, a carpenter, arrived in Wilmington in 1812. After helping construct many ...

()

Ships

From 1942 to 1945 Dravo Corporation built

Landing Ship, Tank Landing Ship, Tank (LST), or tank landing ship, is the naval designation for ships first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto shore with ...

, (LST). LST were built to support

amphibious operation Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted u ...

s able to land

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s, vehicles, cargo, and

landing troops A landing operation is a military action during which a landing force, usually utilizing landing craft, is transferred to land with the purpose of power projection ashore. With the proliferation of aircraft, a landing may refer to amphibious warfa ...

on to beaches. No

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

s or

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

s were required for these

amphibious assault Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

s. The LST had a special bow with a large door that could open. Then a

ramp An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...

was installed for unloading allied vehicles. The LST had a

flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

, so it could be beached and stay upright. The

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

s were protected from grounding damage. Many were used in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

and in the

European theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

, especially on

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

. In 1942 and 1943 Dravo Corporation also built

Submarine 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. Dravo Corporation, Pittsburgh PA - Ships/Boats
/ref> * Pittsburgh yard ** 3 of 148 s *** ... ** 16 of 343 s *** 490 - 495, 573, 592 - 595 *** 1593 - 1597 (see ) ** 146 of 1052

Landing Ship Tank Landing Ship, Tank (LST), or tank landing ship, is the naval designation for ships first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto shore with ...

*** 1 - 60 (except 6, 16, 21, 25) *** 730 - 753, 775 - 796, 884 - 905, 1038 - 1059 * Wilmington yard ** 15 of 72 s *** ... ** 4 of 343 s *** PC-574 - PC-577 ** LST6, LST16, LST21, LST25 ** 65 of 558

Landing Ship Medium Landing Ship Medium (LSM) were amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy in World War II. Of a size between that of Landing Ships Tank (LST) and Landing Craft Infantry (LCI), 558 LSMs were built for the USN between 1944 and 1945. The ...

*** LSM-201 - LSM-232, LSM-414 - LSM-446

References

External links

Heinz History Center Library and Archives
(activity prior to Dravo)
Final Remedial action for cleanup at Wilmington

Historical Marker
{{Authority control Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies based in Pittsburgh Manufacturing companies established in 1891 1891 establishments in Pennsylvania Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1998 1998 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Ships built by Dravo Corporation

Facilities

Ships

See also

References

External links