The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio[1] in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio in 1898. It changed its name to the American Ship Building Company in 1900, when it acquired Superior Shipbuilding, in Superior, Wisconsin; Toledo Shipbuilding, in Toledo, Ohio; and West Bay Shipbuilding, in West Bay City, Michigan. With the coming of the World War I, the company also acquired Buffalo Dry Dock, in Buffalo, New York; Chicago Shipbuilding, in Chicago, Illinois; and Detroit Shipbuilding, in Wyandotte, Michigan.
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The Lorain, Ohio Yard served as the main facility of the company after World War II and to this day five of the 13 separate 1,000 ft (300 m) ore carriers on the Great Lakes were built in Lorain, including the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha which is the largest vessel on the Great Lakes (1,013'06" long). Built in 1898, the Lorain Yard quickly grew in size and importance. The facilities eventually included two dry docks over 1,000 feet (300 m) long built to handle the largest of the Great Lakes ore carriers. The Lorain Yard closed in 1984 after a series of labor disputes. The land is now being redeveloped as an upscale housing development.
During the Second World War, the company managed Delta Shipbuilding Company for the United States Maritime Commission. Delta had a yard at New Orleans and built a total of 188 ships.[2]
The Toledo Shipbuilding Company, which became an operating unit of the American Shipbuilding Company by consolidation, was itself the builder of several of the most well-known coal-fired steamships of the Great Lakes, such as the SS Chief Wawatam (built in 1911).
In the early 1960s, the American Shipbuilding Company acquired Kinsman Marine Transit Company, which was owned by the Steinbrenner family. As a result of the transaction, the Steinbrenner family acquired a controlling interest in American Shipbuilding. Frustrated after years of fighting with unions over cost-saving work changes, the Steinbrenners closed the Lorain shipyard in December 1983 and moved all operations to Tampa, Florida. The principal member of the Steinbrenner family who was involved in the operation of the transit company at this time was George Steinbrenner, who became better known later as the principal owner of the New York Yankees.
The company began having difficulties in the 1980s, going through a bankruptcy in 1993. The company was sold in 1995.