The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States

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 ...

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active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to build ships for the

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. Unlike many shipyards, it remained active during the shipbuilding slump of the 1920s and early 1930s that followed the World War I boom years. During

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 ...

, it built merchant ships as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding program, at the same time producing more destroyers 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 ...

than any yard other than the

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest ...

. Operated by a subsidiary of the

United States Steel Corporation The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

, the shipyard was located at Kearny Point where the mouth of the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, about 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban ar ...

meets Newark Bay in the

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. Around 570 vessels were contracted for construction by Federal SB&DD Company with about 100 not delivered fully completed due to the end of the World War II. Federal also had a yard at

Port Newark A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

during World War II that built destroyers and landing craft.

History of the Federal Yard at Kearny

Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was founded July 24, 1917, as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

to supply ships for the

during

. The site on Kearny Point was first surveyed during the summer of 1917. The shipyard was to consist of everything needed to fully complete a ship from a facility power plant to a wood joining shop. A steel plate mill and boiler shop were to be built as well. $10 million ($ today) was allocated for construction. The American Bridge Company was contracted to provide 10,000 tons of steel for the structures. E.H. Gary was president of Federal in August 1917. The ship-ways were completed by the fall of 1917 with keels being laid by November 1917. Federal completed a 9,600-ton ship around six weeks before World War I ended as well as two other ships before the close of 1918. 27 ships were delivered to the Emergency Fleet Corporation in 1919. Federal accounted for 5% of the steel merchant tonnage built in 1919. By June 1921, the Federal yard at Kearny had a boiler construction shop to build Scotch marine boilers, exhaust stacks, tanks, uptakes and other related items. 235 boilers had been constructed from September 1919 to June 1921. Boilers constructed there were mostly diameter or larger. At that time, 250 men were able to construct three boilers a week with a single 8-hour shift each day. By November 1921, Federal had shipbuilding ways for twelve 15,000-ton vessels and had constructed a 9,000-ton floating dry dock. The dry dock was first used June 23, 1921, when Transmarine corp's SS ''Suhulco'' docked. The Kearny yard was with of frontage on the Hackensack River. A wet basin was located at the southern end with a 100-ton 3-legged jib crane for fitting out new ships. On Sunday night, May 18, 1924, a fire destroyed the largest building at the Kearny yard causing an initially estimated $500,000 in damage. Other estimates were $1.6 million or as high as several million dollars in damage. Firemen used four mobile cranes to try to extinguish fires in the pattern building and the plate shop. Over a thousand workers were idled by the fire. The shipyard had around 5,000 workers at the time and was said to be one of the largest steel fabrication plants in the world.

Fireboat A fireboat or Fire-float Pyronaut, fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with ...

s and numerous firemen from around the area were called in to fight the fire which spread rapidly through the wooden structures at the Kearny yard. The Federal yard at Kearny remained operational during the difficult

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and

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

when many shipyards across the country did not.

1940 to closure

Federal made national news when around 16,000 workers went on strike at Kearny from August 7 to August 25, 1941. Work was stopped on $493 million ($ today) in Navy and merchant shipbuilding contracts as the nation ramped up ship construction before entering World War II. The strike was ended when President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

ordered the Navy to seize control of the facility. The final sticking point in negotiations had been the refusal of management at Federal to accept demands to require a "maintenance of membership" clause which would effectively make the shipyard a

closed shop A pre-entry closed shop (or simply closed shop) is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times to remain employed. This is different fr ...

. Company president Lynn H. Korndorff offered the shipyard to the Navy rather than accept the demands to become a closed shop. When the Navy took over, the yard fell under the supervision of Rear Admiral Harold G. Bowen Sr. as Officer-in-charge. It was the first take over of an industrial plant by the Navy in that era. While the union was enthusiastic about the seizure, they did not get the response they were expecting when the Navy took control. According to Rear Admiral Bowen in his autobiography, while he was cordial with labor, he refused to acknowledge any union's right to collectively bargain for the workers at Kearny. He also refused to take steps to implement the "maintenance of membership" issue. By November 1941, the "maintenance of membership" clause was still not being enforced and the union sought relief from the Defense Mediation Board. After 134 days of operation by the Navy, control of the shipyard was returned to the company on January 6, 1942. Under Navy control the shipyard laid 12 keels, launched 10 and commissioned 7 ships.

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Frank Knox returned the shipyard and asked that the company and union work out the remaining issue. Failing that, the two parties would use newly established national machinery to resolve the dispute. The "maintenance of membership" issue had still not been resolved. In May 1942, Federal finally gave in to demands to require membership in the CIO Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers. Company president Lynn H. Korndorff said Federal only complied with the order of the National War Labor Board because of the war emergency. The incident was viewed as one of the first major tests of the NWLB. According to John T. Cunningham in "Made in New Jersey," Federal "completely proved its might". On one day alone in May 1942, the company launched four destroyers in a 50-minute period. By 1943, Federal Shipbuilding was employing 52,000 people and building ships faster than any other yard in the world." Federal continued to set company construction speed records throughout the war. In July 1943, Federal claimed records of 170 days from keel to commissioning on the 2,050-ton destroyer and 137 days on the 1,630-ton destroyer . Federal also said

Type C2 ship Type C2 ships were designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in 1937–38. They were all-purpose cargo ships with five holds, and U.S. shipyards built 328 of them from 1939 to 1945. Compared to ships built before 1939, the C2s we ...

s were being built in an average time of 82 days. In July 1943, destroyer escorts were being launched about once a week since spring of 1943. Between the Newark and Kearny yards, Federal launched a company record of 11 ships in 29 days during March 1943. After World War II ended, a number of destroyers were cancelled including some that were partially constructed. Federal had contracts to build several cargo ships for the United States Maritime Commission. Five

Type C3-class ship Type C3-class ships were the third type of cargo ship designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in the late 1930s. As it had done with the Type C1 ships and Type C2 ships, MARCOM circulated preliminary plans for comment. The d ...

s were for Lykes Lines and six for American South African Line. Two bulk carriers were built for National Gypsum and three

s for Grace Line's "Santa" / South American passenger-freight service. Federal also converted from wartime service for Moore-McCormack starting in 1946. 4,000 shipyard workers at Federal joined 90,000 other east coast shipyard workers in a strike action on 1 July 1947. The strike at Federal ended in November 1947 after 140 days. On April 23, 1948, Lynn H. Korndorff, the President of Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company announced that the US Navy had agreed to purchase facilities at Kearny for around $2,375,000 ($ today), its depreciated book value. The Navy planned to hold the facility in a standby state for potential emergency reactivation.

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regarded this sale price to be "astounding low". In July 1948, Federal's large floating dry dock was towed 1,700 miles in 19 days to Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation's Chickasaw, Alabama, shipyard, which had been constructed during World War I by U.S. Steel, parent of Federal SB&DD. Around 465 ships were delivered by Federal SB&DD Company out of its 569 hull numbers allocated. 325 were delivered from the Kearny yard and 140 from Port Newark. Instead of building ships, the site eventually hosted a salvaging operation where numerous ships were scrapped. In 1975, the former Federal yard was described as one of the nation's largest

ship breaking Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

yards. According to the 1975 head of the River Terminal Development Corp, the first ship to be scrapped at the yard was in 1959. Other carriers scrapped there included ''Essex'', ''Randolph'', ''Boxer'', ''Wasp'' and ''Antietam''. Battleships, battle cruisers, cruisers and submarines had also been scrapped at the former Federal yard as of the mid-1970s. Texas Tower 3 was also scrapped at the Federal yard by Lipsett Corp.

Current use

Portions of the Federal yard have been converted into warehouses and mixed-use business parks by property developers including River Terminal Development Corp. and the Hugo Neu Corporation. In November 2013, Federal's Building 77 completed its renovation and reopened as the USS Juneau Memorial Center, which now houses

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

's Office of Emergency Management. During the

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, the ''Juneau'' Center became a county-operated

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mega-site.

Ships built at Kearny

Military ships

The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company built eleven classes of ships for the U.S. military. Of the 387 ships of those classes constructed nationally, 108 came from Kearny. Of the 415 World War II–era destroyers of ''all'' classes produced nationally, 69 came from Kearny. * Light cruisers ** (2 of 8) – – in 1940 – 1941 ** (all 3) – – in 1945 – 1946 * Destroyers ** (2 of 18) – – ** (2 of 5) – , ** (3 of 10) – – ** (2 of 12) – – ** (26 of 66) ***(4 of 18, interwar era) – –, – ***(22 of 48, WWII era) – –, –, –, – ** (29 of 175) – –, –, –, –, – ** (18 of 58) – – * Attack cargo ships ** (21 of 32) – –, , , –, –

Canceled orders

USS ''Buffalo'' (CL-84) and USS ''Newark'' (CL-88) were cancelled 16 December 1940.

Merchant ships

The last ships for the

were delivered by January 1920. Federal Kearny built 30 of the 48 Design 1037 ships. These were the very first ships built at the site, with yard numbers 1 through 30. * USSB #955–#964 ** ''

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

'', ''Federal'' -> '' Fukuzan Maru''. '' Piave'', '' Mercer'', ''Marne'' → '' Yuzan Maru'', ''

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a New York City social club that nurtures those active in the arts, as well as those who are supporters of the arts, by providing activities and a clubhouse for its members. It is America's old ...

'' ** '' Homestead'', '' Duquesne'', '' McKeesport'', '' Braddock'' * USSB #1422–#1441 ** ''Donora'', '' Lorain'' ** ''Waukegan'', ''Youngstown'', ''Ambridge'', '' Clairton'', ''Innoko'', ''Wytheville'' ** ''Belfort'', ''Westmoreland'', ''Bellbuckle'', ''Vincent'', '' Bellhaven'', '' Winona County'' ** ''Bellepline'', '' Anaconda'', ''Bellerose'', ''Kearny'', '' Bellflower'', '' Bellemina'' For private contractors * 18 cargo ships for the parent company U.S. Steel / the

Isthmian Steamship Company The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910. Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship ...

** '' Steel Age'', ''Steel Maker'', '' Steel Voyager'', '' Steel Worker'', ''Steel Mariner'' (6,000t, 1920) ** ''Steel Trader'', ''Steel Exporter'', ''Steel Engineer'', ''Steel Inventor'', ''Steel Ranger'' (6,000t 1920) ** '' Steel Seafarer'', '' Steel Scientist'', '' Steel Navigator'' (6,000t, 1921) ** ''Steel Traveler'' (7,000t, 1922) ** ''Steel Motor'', ''Steel Vendor'' (1,700t, 1923) ** ''Steel Chemist'', ''Steel Electrician'' (1,700t, 1926) ** See also: related work done in Chicksaw * 11 tankers for

Standard Oil of New Jersey Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was formed ...

** '' Walter Jennings'', ''E. T. Bedford'',https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/Search; covers name, approximate tonnage, launch year, original owner ''J. A. Moffet Jr.'' (9,600t / 9,800t, 1921) ** , '' T. C. McCobb'' (7,500t, 1936) ** ''Esso Bayonne'', ''Esso Bayway'' (7,700t, 1937) ** '' Esso Houston'', '' Esso Boston'' (7,700t, 1938) ** ''Esso Montpelier'', ''Esso Concord'' (7,700t, 1940) * 4 passenger ships for the Grace Line (9,100t) ** , (1932) ** '' Santa Lucia'', ''Santa Elena'' (1933) * 5 tankers for Pan-American Patroleum ** ''Pan-Maine'', ''Pan-Florida'' (7,200t, 1936) ** ''Pan-New York'', ''Pan-Maryland'' (7,700t, 1938) ** ''Pan-Rhode Island'' (7,700t, 1941) * 2 tankers for Imperial Oil in 1921 (11,000t, 1921) ** ''Vancolite'', ''Victolite'' * tanker ''Gulfpride'' for

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...

in 1927 (12,500t) * passenger ''

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

'' for the Southern Pacific SS Line 1928 (8.200t) * 2 tankers for Standard Shipping in 1930 ** ''G. Harrison Smith'', ''W. S. Farish'' Several ships for the Maritime Commission were built before the war broke out. * 3 T3 in 1939 ** ''Markey'', ''Neosho'', ''Esso Trenton'' * 6 C2 in 1939 and 1940 ** , , , , * 6 C3 in 1940 and 1941 ** , , , , , * 5 C1-B in 1940 and 1941 ** , , , , ** 2 DeLaval Trenton. steam turbines, double reduction gears, 1 shaft, uncertain: Fred Morris

Federal Yard at Port Newark

In January 1942, Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company announced they were expanding their facilities to increase capacity and employ an additional 10,000 workers. They expanded to the site of the former Submarine Boat Corporation at

(). After nine months of construction to rebuild the facility, the first ships were launched at the Port Newark yard on October 10, 1942. All of the Gearing-class destroyers built at Federal were built at the Newark yard. The Port Newark yard closed after the war and the site gained some notoriety in late 1947 during a dispute over the scrapping of the battleship and two others by Lipsett Corp. The site was an automobile terminal parking lot in the 2010s. * 36 of 923 LCI(L) ** #161 ... #196 * 52 of 563 destroyer escorts and APDs ** 36 of 72 s (built October 1942 - January 1944) *** ... ** 16 of 83 s (built November 1943 - August 1944) *** ... *** ... * 10 of 415 destroyers ** 10 of 98 *** ... *** – completed by

*** – scrapped incomplete *** – scrapped incomplete * 42 of 558 Landing Ship Medium: LSM-253 - LSM-294

References

External links

Detailed record of all ships built at Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny and Newark
* * - Yard background and photographs from 1945 and 2003 * - A web exhibit of ship christening photos that includes half a dozen images of launching ceremonies at the Kearny Yard * - on the site of the shipyard. {{coord, 40.723790, -74.106168, region:US, format=dms, display=title Kearny, New Jersey Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Companies based in Hudson County, New Jersey Military installations in New Jersey 1917 establishments in New Jersey Shipyards of New Jersey Shipyards building World War II warships