Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1949. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Operated by a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, the shipyard was located at Kearny Point where the mouth of the Hackensack River meets Newark Bay. in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The shipyard is now part of River Terminal,[1] a massive distribution facility that is partially a foreign trade zone.[2]
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. By 1943, Federal Shipbuilding was employing 52,000 people and building ships faster than any other yard in the world."[2]
Ships built
An incomplete list of ships built by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company include:
- Cruisers
- Destroyers
- Maritime Commission tankers converted into escort carriers
- Liberty Ship
- SS Louise Lykes one of the first Liberty ships launched Liberty Fleet Day 27 September 1941
References
- ^ River Terminal
- ^ a b Genovese, Peter (October 07, 2011), "'Jersey State of Mind': A gritty little hub with heart", The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/jersey_state_of_mind_a_gritty.html, retrieved 2011-10-06, "The Federal Shipbuilding Co., a U.S. Steel subsidiary based in South Kearny, played a key role in supplying ships for both World Wars. Scarcely six months after Pearl Harbor, according to John Cunningham in “Made in New Jersey,” Federal ”completely proved its might. On one day alone in May 1942, the company launched four destroyers. By 1943, Federal Shipbuilding was employing 52,000 people and building ships faster than any other yard in the world.""