Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

and the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

. Todd Shipyards were a major part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Vigor Shipyards

In February 2011, Vigor Industrial purchased Todd for US$130 million. This included the Seattle, Everett and Bremerton operations. Today, Vigor Shipyards is a government repair subsidiary of Vigor Industrial. Originally, the Coast Guard wanted to acquire 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) and spend about $8 billion for them. In April 2013, it was reported that Vigor proposed an Ulstein X-bow hull in the design competition for the OPC vessels. If successful in landing the contract, Vigor would have assembled the vessels at its Portland, Ore., shipyard. However, in February 2014, the USCG announced that

Bollinger Shipyards Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels. Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas. Its drydocks range in capacity from vessels of 100 tons displacement to 22,000 t ...

, Eastern Shipbuilding, and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works had been awarded design contracts for the OPC. In September 2017, Vigor was contracted to produce the US Army's Maneuver Support Vessel (Light).

Todd Shipyards

Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916 as the William H. Todd Corporation when properties of the Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Company of

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

were bought in 1916 by a syndicate headed by Bertron Griscom & Company of New York and placed under management of William H. Todd, president of the Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co., Erie Basin,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. That acquisition was followed by acquisition of the Tebo Yacht Basin, Brooklyn, and the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company. The Seattle

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

traces its history back to 1882, when Robert Moran opened a marine repair shop at Yesler's Wharf. This shop became the Moran Brothers Shipyard in 1906 and the Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Company at the end of 1911. The shipyard has performed building and maintenance work for, among others, the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and Royal Australian Navies, the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

, and the

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget ...

. Its headquarters and operations are on Harbor Island at the mouth of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

's Duwamish Waterway. Todd ranked 26th among United States corporations in the value of World War II production contracts. The hull of Disneyland's ''Mark Twain'' riverboat was built at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California, in 1955.

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

worked after high school as a rivet catcher at Todd Shipyard in Hoboken, New Jersey. From 1940 to 1945, during World War II, Todd Shipyards built or repaired 23,000 ships in many shipyards with 57,000 workers. Todd Shipyards came out of Chapter 11 protection in 1991, and continues shipyard on the west coast. In 1995 Todd branched out and started a radio subsidiary company called Elettra Broadcasting Corporation. Elettra Broadcasting operated three FM radio stations in Carmel.

Locations

Vigor current locations

Vigor currently operates four shipyards, in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (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 no official boundary exists, the most common ...

: *

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

() ** established at the location in 1918 *

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...

() *

Everett, Washington Everett (; ) is the county seat and most populous city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the Seattle metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett ...

() ** near the site of the former Everett-Pacific Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company *

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

() ** on the site of the former Swan Island Shipyard

Todd Shipyards locations

* #Brooklyn * #Hoboken * #Alameda * #Galveston * #Houston Irish Bend * #Houston Green Bayou * #Robins Dry Dock and Repair Company

New York

*Todd Brooklyn. Todd Shipyard's first facility was acquired in 1916, in Erie Basin in Brooklyn, New York, along the waterfront of the Red Hook neighborhood. As background, Erie Basin dry dock was the first

graving 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, ...

in the United States, built at the site in 1866. J. N. Robins Company acquired it in 1869, then merged with Erie Basin Dry Dock Company, started by Delamater Iron Works, and was renamed the Robins Dry Dock and Repair Company. William H. Todd had worked for both Erie Basin Dry Dock and Robins Dry Dock. In 1916, Todd and some of his associates purchased Robins Dry Dock and Repair Company, the Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Company of Hoboken in

Weehawken Cove Weehawken Cove is a cove on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River between the New Jersey municipalities of Hoboken, New Jersey, Hoboken to the south and Weehawken, New Jersey, Weehawken to the north. At the perimeter of ...

, the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company on the West Coast, the Tebo Yacht Basin Company, and the Gowanus shipyard in Brooklyn. The Erie Basin yard was sold in 1986 to Rodermond Industries, which closed in the 1990s. 03-4-4 Todd-Erie-25

* For the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

: ** 9 of 49 s (1918 - 1919, in the Tebo Yacht Basin, no more than three built concurrently) *** ... , ... ** conversion Robins DD *** (1941) *** (1940) *** (ca. 1941) **** See also: Two-Ocean Navy Act#AUX ANV ** conversion Tietjen and Lang *** (1940) *** (1940) *** (1940) *** *** ** conversion (unspecified) of *** (1943) *** (1943) *** (1944) *** (1944) *** (1944) *** (1945) *** (1945) *** (1945) *** USAHS Frances Y. Slanger (1945) *** converted back to merchant (1947) *** (1953)

Los Angeles and San Francisco

* Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division,

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

, () was formerly Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Corporation, opened in 1917 and closed in 1989. From 1918 to 1924 Los Angeles Shipbuilding built cargo ships for the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting ...

. In the 1920 and 1930 Los Angeles Shipbuilding built tankers and

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

. For

they yard built the USS Ajax (AR-6), USS Hector (AR-7), USS Jason (AR-8), Seaplane tender and Klondike-class destroyer tenders. Post war the yard was sold to Todd. Todd built Allende-class frigate at the site and in Seattle, also built were Shenandoah-class destroyer tender and Leahy-class cruiser. The yard closed was following completion of its contract and after failing to win an contract. Property is now part of the

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...

, and has been completely converted into Berth 100 / West Basin Container Terminal. * Todd Alameda (San Francisco Division),

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

. to the west of Webster Street (). Opened in 1940 by the United Engineering Company. Mostly used as a repair or conversion facility, it was closed in 1956. The Bethlehem Alameda Works Shipyard to the east of Webster Street was leased by Todd according to, but the Corps of Engineers survey 1953 claims it was owned and operated by Bethlehem. * Richmond shipyard No. 1 was a new shipyard built to support the demand for ships for World War 2. Kaiser purchased the contact and the Richmond yard to build type

Ocean ship The Ocean ships were a class of sixty cargo ships built in the United States by Todd Shipyards Corporation during the Second World War for the British Ministry of War Transport under contracts let by the British Purchasing Commission. Eightee ...

from the Todd Shipyards in 1940. Todd then Kaiser built yard No. 1 to build the Ocean ships. Yard No. 1 was built on unoccupied land with construction starting in December 1940. In April 1941 the keel for the first British bound Ocean ship was laid. The next series of ships built were Liberty ships, with the first keel laid on May 15, 1942. Needing faster cargo ships the next series of ships built were Victory ships, with the first keel laid on January 17, 1944. After the war, in 1946, the yard closed. Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard was at 700 Wright Ave, Richmond on the Parr Canal. The site now has general docks for construction supplies. Located at GPS . Built at Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard:* Ocean ship, 30 cargo ships, 7,174 GRT. (sometimes credited to Todd Shipyards Corporation), * Liberty ship, 138 model EC2-S-C1 ships, 7,176 GRT., * Victory ship, 82 Model VC2-S-AP3 ships, 7,612 GRT.,Notable ships: , , , and .

Puget Sound, Washington

*Todd Tacoma Division, Commencement Bay,

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

opened in 1917 to build Design 1014 ship ships for the United States Shipping Board. It operated as part of Todd Dry Dock & Construction until shut down after World War I in 1924. The yard reopened in partnership with Kaiser Shipbuilding in 1939 as Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation. The yard built 56 and s and various auxiliaries. In 1942 Todd bought out Kaiser's share and the yard eventually became part of Todd Pacific Shipyards. Sold to the Navy after World War II, further sold to the Port of Tacoma in 1959. The site today is the Commencement Bay Industrial Development District. * Todd Dry Dock & Construction Co. of

() was started in 1916 when Todd bought Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co. Ltd. Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co. Ltd. was in the past Seattle Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company started by Robert Moran and his brothers as ship repair shop in Seattle in 1882. The yard was destroyed by fire in 1889 and then rebuilt as Moran Brothers Company. For World War II the yard built 45 , , and s under the name Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation. After the war the yard was renamed Todd Shipyards Corp., Seattle Division. For the US Navy built Charles F. Adams-class destroyer, Knox-class frigates, Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, Hamilton-class cutters. The yard is now owned and operated by Vigor. *Todd Bremerton Shipyard in

() is a satellite ship repair yard. Close to the

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

. Todd Bremerton Shipyard works on US Navy ships. *Todd Everett Shipyard in 2008 Tood purchased Everett Shipyard, Inc. in

(). The site, Everett Ship Repair & Drydock, Inc., will continue ship repair work. Since 1960, the yard has served the

and the United States Navy.

Houston / Galveston

*Todd

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

() opened in 1934. Todd took over the Galveston Dry Dock & Construction on Pelican Island. In 1943 Todd took over the yard next door, Gray's Iron Works and renamed the yards Todd Galveston Drydocks, Inc.. For World War II the yard built T1 Tankers T1-M-A1. Post-war they built three ferries for Texas. In 1949 Todd moved the main operation to the Brown Shipbuilding yard in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

that they had leased. The Pelican Island Galveston yard was used only for ship repair and in 1965 also started tanker conversions, as Todd Shipyards Corporation, Galveston Division. Todd Galveston built Type C6 ships. Todd Galveston yard went into Chapter 11 and closed in 1990. The yard was sold. The yard had two Panamax floating dry-docks that were moved to the Alabama Shipyard and Bender Shipbuilding. In 1993, the remainder of Todd Galveston on Pelican Island was sold to the Port of Galveston. It is now part of Newpark Marine, Gulf Copper runs an offshore repair yard there. Southwest Shipyard now operates a shipyard at the side. *Todd Houston Shipbuilding, in Houston, Texas, was an emergency shipyard operated by Todd Shipbuilding Corp. and Kaiser Corp. to build ships for World War II. The company was formally established on 6 January 1941. The yard was built at Irish Bend (a former island in the Houston Ship Channel) . During the war Todd Houston employed 23,000 workers, built 208

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

s and 14 T1-M-BT2 tankers. In 1946, after the war the yard closed. In 1949 the Brown Shipbuilding yard in Houston, now Todd's, became known as Todd Houston. 08-2-2b Houston-SB-25-not-Brown

* Facilities (MCc-ESP-3, MCc-ESP-604, MCc-19054): $13,081,267.95 * 208 EC2-S-C1 (built July 1941 - March 1945) ** MCc-ESP-12, $34,586,494.42 *** ''Sam Houston'' (MC-95) ... ''Joseph T. Robinson'' (MC-119) *** only built on ways 1 through 6 ** MCc-ESP-602, $16,447,537.33 *** ''Stephen F. Auston'' (MC-265) ... ''Stephen C. Foster'' (MC-276) *** only built on ways 7, 8, 9 ** MCc-ESP-603, $33,333,892.35 *** ''William Eustis'' (MC-828) ... ''E. A. Peden'' (MC-859) ** MCc-13099, $32,293,383.60 *** ''Sam Houston II'' (MC-1936) ... ''Henry Austin'' (MC-1966) ** MCc-15923, $91,389,292.53 *** ''Charles Morgan'' (MC-2420) ... ''Isaac Van Zandt'' (MC-2431) *** ''John G. Tod'' (MC-2908) ... ''Edward N. Hinton'' (MC-3003) * 14 T1-M-BT2 (delivered July 1945 - December 1945) ** DA-MCc-859, $12,983,883.50 *** ''Tarascon'' (MC-2636) ... ''Taveta'' (MC-2649) * Total fees and profits received on all the cost-plus contracts: $7,510,000 * Refs: *Todd Houston on the Buffalo Bayou () was opened in 1949, when Todd took over the

Brown Shipbuilding The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1942 as a subsidiary of Brown and Root (now KBR (company), KBR) by brothers Herman and George R. Brown to build ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Brown Shipbuilding Company ...

's yard at Green's Bayou. Todd ran the yard as a

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

construction and repair shop. Todd closed the operation in 1987 selling to Platzer Shipyard. The yard returned to Brown, which renamed it Brown & Root, a construction facility for the

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the ter ...

industry, which closed in 2004. The site is now the Brown Shipbuilding Industrial.

Other

*Todd New Orleans, in 1934 Todd joined with Johnson Iron Works in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

to build and repair shipyard called Todd-Johnson Dry Docks. Todd took over the yard and in 1987 sold the yard to Port of New Orleans, which leases to Avondale Ship Repair. In * Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation at

South Portland, Maine South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the List of municipalities in Maine, fourth-most populous city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population wa ...

opened in 1940 as an emergency shipyards to build Ocean class cargo ships for Britain. At the two yards , they built Liberty ships, closing after the war. The corporation was renamed New England Shipbuilding in 1943 after Kaiser sold its shares in the corporation. Durning the war New England Shipbuilding employed 30,000 workers. * Oregon Shipbuilding Company of

() opened as a World War II emergency yard by Todd and Kaiser. Built in 1941 it opened with 8 shipways, with the high demand for ships it grew to 8 shipways. Soon after the shipyard opened Kaiser bought out Todd share in the shipyard. The yard built Liberty ships and Victory Ships. The yard closed after the war. * Todd Charleston, from 1946 to 1949 Todd operated for the US Navy the Charleston Dry Dock & Machine Company as repair yard. The yard was located in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, on the Cooper River . 32.788711, -79.924533 *New Jersey Shipbuilding Company, at the US Navy's request for World War II Todd took over New Jersey Shipbuilding to build LCI. Landing Craft LCI(L) in 1942, the yard closed after the war. The yard was in

Perth Amboy, New Jersey Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in northeastern Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area, New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city' ...

, the site is now Chevron asphalt plant. *Todd Mobile Drydock, Alabama. In 1936 this repair yard was leased to the nearby Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company and stripped.

References

External links

*
Ships built at Todd Dry Dock, Seattle-Tacoma, and Todd Pacific at ShipbuildingHistory.com
{{WWII US ships Shipbuilding companies of the United States Companies based in Seattle Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1916 American companies established in 1916 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1987 Privately held companies of the United States Shipbuilding in Washington (state) Shipyards of New Jersey