The New England Shipbuilding Corporation was a shipyard located in the city of South Portland,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, United States. The yard originated as two separate entities, the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation and the South Portland Shipbuilding Corporation, which were created in 1940 and 1941 respectively, in order to meet the demand created by

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 opposing ...

. The two merged in 1943, then continued to produce ships as the New England Shipbuilding Corporation's East Yard and West Yard. New England Shipbuilding ranked 97th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. Both closed at the end of the war. The two yards built 266 ships: 154 in the East Yard, 112 in the West Yard. The first 30 East Yard ships were ''Ocean'' class cargo ships built for the United Kingdom. The remaining ships were of the

Liberty ship 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. Ma ...

design, derived from the ''Ocean'' class, and were built 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 ...

. Among them was the SS ''Jeremiah O'Brien'', a Liberty ship that is preserved as a museum ship in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. In contrast to many museum vessels, she is in seaworthy condition in compliance with U.S. Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping standards, making regular cruises on San Francisco Bay. Liberty ship Portland

Five of the British Ocean ships, hulls 19–24 ''Ocean Wayfarer'', ''Ocean Stranger'', ''Ocean Traveller'', ''Ocean Seaman'', and ''Ocean Gallant'', were launched along with two destroyers, and , and the Liberty Ship at a record breaking mass launching on August 16, 1942. The ships were launched and they raced to see which one was the fastest; ''Natasha Allen'' won. At the peak of production, the yards employed 30,000 people.

References

{{Authority control Shipyards of the United States Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Casco Bay South Portland, Maine Companies based in Cumberland County, Maine American companies established in 1943 Manufacturing companies established in 1943 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1946 1943 establishments in Maine 1940s disestablishments in Maine Industrial buildings and structures in Maine Defunct manufacturing companies based in Maine Vigor Shipyards