Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Company was established in 1942 to build ships needed for

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 ...

. As part of the

Emergency Shipbuilding Program The Emergency Shipbuilding Program (late 1940 – September 1945) was a United States government effort to quickly build simple cargo ships to carry troops and materiel to allies and foreign theatres during World War II. Run by the U.S. Maritime ...

the

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 ...

provided some of the capital to start Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding at Stockton, California. The shipyard was located at

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

and Stockton Channel, near Louis Park. After the war the shipyard closed down in February 1946.

Background

George Pollock (1886-1950) had started the Pollock Construction Company which built

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

over the Sacramento River that opened on December 15, 1935. Pollock Construction Company also help built the

Shasta Dam Shasta Dam (called Kennett Dam before its construction) is a concrete arch-gravity dam across the Sacramento River in Northern California in the United States. At high, it is the List of tallest dams in the United States, eighth-tallest dam in ...

started in 1938, 5 miles of the All American Canal,

Caldecott Tunnel The Caldecott Tunnel is an east–west highway tunnel through the Berkeley Hills between Oakland and Orinda, California. Its four bores carry California State Route 24. Named after Thomas E. Caldecott, former mayor of Berkeley, it opened in 19 ...

opened in 1937 and the

Boulder Dam #REDIRECT Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression a ...

Center for Sacramento History, Pollock, Mrs. Gordon
/ref> Pollock Construction Company also built part of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The Pollock Construction Company was chosen to build ships, because of their reputation and skills, particularly welding. Since the coastal shipyards were busy building large vessels for the war effort, such as aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers, there was no alternative but to use other builders, like bridge builders for the production of small and medium ships. George Pollock received US government contracts also because he met the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, ...

's requirement that manufacturing of strategic military materiel be produced 60 miles or more from the Ocean in order to be outside the range of naval gunfire. George Pollock and his brother Gordon Pollock leased 50 acres on the north side of the Stockton Channel near Louis Park and started the Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Company. The Navy need large floating dry docks to repair ships in the

Asiatic-Pacific Theater The Asiatic-Pacific Theater was the theater of operations of U.S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941–1945. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, two U.S. operational commands were in the Pacific. The Pacific ...

or war. The advanced base sectional docks were built in sections and towed in sections across the

Pacific ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

to remote naval bases, then assembled them there. Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding built some of these sections that were 93 feet long and five stories high. Later Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding also built rescue boats, barges, supply boats, salvage boats and net laying ships. Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding reached a peak employment of 8,000 in 1944. George Pollock closed the shipyard in 1946. Pollock worked on fixing up a number of naval installations in the Philippines, Guam and the Hawaiian Islands. He retired from construction and moved to Bakersfield, California, were he grew his passion for

cattle raising A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

and became a breeder of heifer cattle. George Pollockne at his peak owned more that 2,000 head of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

. George Pollock died on January 15, 1950 in Bakersfield, California at age 64. Building the Navy's Bases in World War II, History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940-1946 Chapter IX, Floating Drydocks
/ref>

Ships built by Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding

Large Auxiliary Floating Dry Docks (AFDB)

Auxiliary Floating Docks, Big, came in sections that are 3,850 tons and are 93 feet long each. Each Section had a 165 feet beam, a 75 feet molded depth and had 10,000 tons lifting capacity each. They are also known as Advance Base Sectional Docks (ABSD). Sections could be put together to lift larger ships. AFDB were needed to repair battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, and large auxiliary ships. AFDB-1 ''Artisan'' had 10 sections (A to J) for a total lift of 100,000 tons and was 1,000 feet long with all 10 sections installed. AFDB-1 to 7 were built between 1943 and 1945 and then towed to remote navy bases. An AFDB would have a crew of 600 to 1000 men, have a fresh-water distilling plant and be self-sustaining. They had a rail traveling 15-ton capacity crane with an 85-foot radius and two or more support

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s. To pump out the water in the tanks there were two 24-inch discharge pumps on each section, each pump rated 15,000 gpm. For power there were two 350-kw diesel AC generators on each section, producing 440 volts 3-phase 60-cycle power. Had steam plants to run the pumps. Each section could store 65,000 gal. of fuel oil, this was to supply the ships under repair. For the crew to live next to the AFDB the Navy had

barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for s ...

s called APL, that dock next to the AFDB. Sections of the: * USS Artisan (ABSD-1) * USS ABSD-3 *

Los Alamos (AFDB-7) ABSD-7, an advanced base sectional dock, was constructed of seven advance base docks (ABD) as follows: ABD-37, ABD-38, ABD-39, and ABD-40 were built by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, Morgan City, Louisiana, and completed in December 1944 and Jan ...

Medium Auxiliary Floating Dry Docks (AFDM)

USS Kinkaid (DD-965) in floating drydock Steadfast

AFDM are from 6,800 to 8,000 tons and are from 528 to 622 feet long. AFDM has crew of 140 to 200 men. AFDM had a lift capacity 18,000 tons and armed with two 40mm and four 20mm guns. Had two -ton cranes with 16 ballast tank compartments. AFDM were built in three pieces, a long center section and two shorter sections at each end. All AFDM had Yard Floating Docks (YFD) class numbers also. * USS ''Steadfast'' (AFDM-14) Also called ''YFD 71'', sold private in 1998

Net layer ships

Net laying ship A net laying ship, also known as a net layer, net tender, gate ship or boom defence vessel was a type of naval auxiliary ship. A net layer's primary function was to lay and maintain steel anti-torpedo or anti-submarine nets. Nets could be laid ...

s that were 1,100 tons and 194 feet long. A net layer's primary function was to lay and maintain steel anti-torpedo or anti-submarine nets. Nets could be laid around an individual ship at anchor, or around

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

s or other

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

ages. As World War II progressed, net layers were pressed into a variety of additional roles including salvage, troop and cargo transport, buoy maintenance, and service as

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

Ailanthus-class net laying ship The ''Ailanthus'' class were a group of 35 wooden-hulled net laying ships of the United States Navy built during World War II as part of the huge building programs of late 1941 and early 1942 for small patrol and mine warfare vessels. Five of th ...

s: * USS Lancewood (AN-48) 18-Oct-43 - YN 67, Was ''Ironwood'' renamed in 1944, to France 1947 * USS Papaya (AN-49) 1-Dec-43 YN 68, to MARAD 1946 * USS Cinnamon (AN-50) 10-Jan-44 - YN 69, was ''Royal Palm'' renamed in 1944, to Taiwan 1947 * USS Silverbell (AN-51) 16-Feb-44 - YN 70, to Taiwan 1947, discarded *

USS Snowbell (AN-52) USS ''Snowbell'' (YN-71/AN-52) was a which served the U.S. Navy during World War II. She operated in the Pacific Ocean until she was destroyed by Typhoon Louise off Okinawa, 9 October 1945. Career ''Snowbell'' (AN-52) was laid down on 3 May 19 ...

16-Mar-44 - YN 71, damaged by typhoon off Okinawa 1945 gone in 1946 * USS Spicewood (AN-53) 7-Apr-44 - YN 72, sold 1946 * USS Manchineel (AN-54) 26-Apr-44 YN 73, Was ''Sumac'' renamed in 1943, sold 1947 * USS Torchwood (AN-55) 12-May-44 YN 74, to Taiwan 1946 * USS Winterberry (AN-56) 30-May-44 YN 75, sold 1947 * USS Viburnum (AN-57) 2-Jun-44 YN 76, sold 1947

Barracks Barge

Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding's US Navy Barracks Barges was 1,300 tons and 261 feet long. Used for use as a temporary barracks for sailors or other military personnel. A barracks ship also were used as a receiving unit for sailors who need temporary residence prior to being assigned to their ship. Barracks Barge are a type of

auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

, called an APL for auxiliary personal living. *APL 23 Scrapped 1974 *APL 24 To MARAD 1962 *APL 25 Scrapped 1973 *APL 25 (Green Apple)

Repair Barge

Repair Barge or Floating Workshops were self sustaining, 530 tons and 153 feet long built in 1944. They had a beam with of 36 feet and draft of 6 feet. Repair Barge had a machine shop, living accommodations. They repaired small boats and craft. The barge had generators, distilling plant, air compressor and steam boiler. The living space had bed berths, mess hall to support 48 men: 47 enlisted ones, and one

Chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...

. *YR 67 renamed YRB 32 *YR 68 renamed YRB 34

Freight Barges (YFN)

YFN-958-Covered_Lighter_Barge-Non-Self-Propelled

Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding's YFN barges were 700 tons and 261 feet long. They were not self-propelled. A Navy class

Type B ship The Type B ship is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for World War II barges. Barges are very low cost to build, operate and move. Barges were needed to move large bulky cargo. A tug boat, some classed as Type V ships, co ...

. Also called a ''Lighter''. shipbuildinghistory.com Freight Barges (YF, YFN) and Refrigerated Freight Barges (YFR, YFRN) Built or Acquired Since WWII
/ref> *YFN 619 *YFN 620 *YFN 621 Later YFNB 5, sold 2004 *YFN 622 *YFN 623 *YFN 738 *YFN 739 *YFN 740 Later YRBM 19, YFNB 19, YRBM 56 *YFN 741 *YFN 742 *YFN 998 *YFN 999 *YFN 1000 *YFN 1001 *YFN 1002 *YFN 1003 *YFN 1004 *YFN 1005 *YFN 1006 *YFN 1007 *YFN 1008 *YFN 1009 *YFN 1010 *YFN 1011 *YFN 1012 *YFN 1013 *YFN 1014 *YFN 1015 *YFN 1016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States 1943 establishments in California Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States American companies established in 1943 Manufacturing companies established in 1943