Major American shipyard company
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
,
East Coast of the United States
and the
Gulf
. Todd Shipyards were a major part of the
Emergency Shipbuilding Program
for
World War II
.
[1]
Vigor Shipyards
[
edit
]
In February 2011,
Vigor Industrial
purchased Todd for US$130 million.
[2]
This included the Seattle, Everett and Bremerton operations. Today, Vigor Shipyards is a government repair subsidiary of Vigor Industrial.
[3]
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.
[4]
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
,
Eastern Shipbuilding
, and
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works
had been awarded design contracts for the OPC.
[5]
In September 2017, Vigor was contracted to produce the US Army's
Maneuver Support Vessel (Light)
.
Todd Shipyards
[
edit
]
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
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
.
[6]
That acquisition was followed by acquisition of the Tebo Yacht Basin, Brooklyn, and the
Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company
.
[7]
The Seattle
shipyard
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.
and
Royal Australian
Navies, the
United States Coast Guard
, and the
Washington State Ferries
. Its headquarters and operations are on
Harbor Island
at the mouth of
Seattle
's
Duwamish Waterway
. Todd ranked
26th
among United States corporations in the value of World War II production contracts.
[8]
[9]
The 105-foot-long (32 m) hull of Disneyland's
Mark Twain
riverboat
was built at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California, in 1955.
Frank Sinatra
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
.
[10]
Locations
[
edit
]
Vigor current locations
[
edit
]
Vigor currently operates four shipyards, in the
Pacific Northwest
:
[11]
Todd Shipyards locations
[
edit
]
Hidden anchors in the article
New York
[
edit
]
Los Angeles and San Francisco
[
edit
]
- Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division
,
San Pedro, California
, (
33°45′11″N
118°16′48″W
/
33.753°N 118.280°W
/
33.753; -118.280
) 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
. In the 1920 and 1930 Los Angeles Shipbuilding built
tankers
and
ferries
. For
World War II
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
Oliver Hazard Perry
-class
frigate
contract and after failing to win an
Arleigh Burke
-class
destroyer
contract.
[22]
Property is now part of the
Port of Los Angeles
, and has been completely converted into Berth 100 / West Basin Container Terminal.
[23]
- Todd Alameda
(San Francisco Division),
Alameda, California
. to the west of Webster Street (
37°47′26″N
122°17′17″W
/
37.79057°N 122.28812°W
/
37.79057; -122.28812
).
[24]
Opened in 1940 by the
United Engineering Company
. Mostly used as a repair or conversion facility, it was closed in 1956.
[25]
The Bethlehem
Alameda Works Shipyard
to the east of Webster Street was leased by Todd according to,
[26]
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
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
37°55′15″N
122°21′47″W
/
37.920887°N 122.362920°W
/
37.920887; -122.362920
.
[27]
[28]
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:
Ocean Victory
,
Ocean Vigour
,
Chief Ouray
,
Logan Victory
and
Northeastern Victory
.
Puget Sound, Washington
[
edit
]
- Todd Tacoma Division,
Commencement Bay
,
Tacoma, Washington
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
Bogue
and
Commencement Bay
-class
escort carriers
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.
[29]
- Todd Dry Dock & Construction Co. of
Seattle, Washington
(
47°35′10″N
122°21′25″W
/
47.586°N 122.357°W
/
47.586; -122.357
) 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
Gleaves
,
Fletcher
,
Allen M. Sumner
and
Gearing
-class
destroyers
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.
[1]
[30]
Houston / Galveston
[
edit
]
- Todd
Galveston, Texas
(
29°18′55″N
94°47′38″W
/
29.3154°N 94.794°W
/
29.3154; -94.794
) 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
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.
[37]
[38]
[39]
- 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
First keel laid
Way
|
Date
|
1
|
23 Oct 1941
|
2
|
23 Oct 1941
|
3
|
25 Jul 1941
|
4
|
25 Jul 1941
|
5
|
18 Jul 1941
|
6
|
18 Jul 1941
|
7
|
23 Oct 1941
|
8
|
30 Dec 1941
|
9
|
30 Dec 1941
|
|
Liberty Launchings
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Total
|
1942
|
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
5
|
34
|
1943
|
5
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
4
|
7
|
7
|
5
|
72
|
1944
|
5
|
6
|
8
|
6
|
8
|
8
|
6
|
7
|
7
|
8
|
8
|
7
|
84
|
1945
|
8
|
7
|
3
|
|
18
|
|
Other
[
edit
]
- Todd New Orleans
, in 1934 Todd joined with Johnson Iron Works in
New Orleans
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
[45]
- Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation
at
South Portland, Maine
opened in 1940 as an emergency shipyards to build Ocean class cargo ships for Britain. At the two yards
43°39′11″N
70°14′18″W
/
43.653027°N 70.238267°W
/
43.653027; -70.238267
, 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.
[46]
- Oregon Shipbuilding Company
of
Portland, Oregon
(
45°37′52″N
122°47′02″W
/
45.6312°N 122.7838°W
/
45.6312; -122.7838
) 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
, on the
Cooper River
32°47′19″N
79°55′28″W
/
32.788711°N 79.924533°W
/
32.788711; -79.924533
.
[47]
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
40°32′05″N
74°15′16″W
/
40.53469°N 74.25446°W
/
40.53469; -74.25446
, the site is now Chevron asphalt plant.
[48]
- Todd
Mobile
Drydock
, Alabama. In 1936 this repair yard was leased to the nearby
Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company
and stripped.
[49]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Todd Seattle Moran Seattle Dry Dock Vigor Industrial"
.
- ^
"Vigor completes $130M purchase of Todd Shipyards"
.
Puget Sound Business Journal
. 15 February 2011.
- ^
"Companies"
.
Vigor Industrial
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-04-26
. Retrieved
2013-06-06
.
- ^
"New Coast Guard Cutter Sparks Fierce Competition Among Shipbuilders"
. National Defense Magazine. April 2013. Archived from
the original
on 1 April 2013
. Retrieved
29 March
2017
.
- ^
CAVAS, CHRISTOPHER P. (14 February 2014).
"3 Firms Win Design Contracts for New US Coast Guard Cutter"
.
www.defensenews.com
. Gannett Government Media. Archived from
the original
on February 15, 2014
. Retrieved
14 February
2014
.
- ^
"Shipyard News"
.
International Marine Engineering
.
21
(July 1916). New York/London: Aldrich Publishing Co.: 349 July 1916
. Retrieved
27 October
2021
.
- ^
"Shipyard News"
.
International Marine Engineering
.
21
(October 1916). New York/London: Aldrich Publishing Co.: 476 October 1916
. Retrieved
27 October
2021
.
- ^
Peck, Merton J;
Scherer, Frederic M
(1962).
The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis
.
Harvard Business School
. p. 619.
- ^
Herman, Arthur.
Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,
pp. 121, 124, 133, 137, 202, Random House, New York, NY, 2012.
ISBN
978-1-4000-6964-4
.
- ^
Wilhelm, Steve (May 29, 2005).
"Todd Shipyards still building after nearly 90 years"
.
Puget Sound Business Journal
.
- ^
"Vigor Shipyards"
.
Vigor Industrial
. Archived from
the original
on March 24, 2013
. Retrieved
June 6,
2013
.
- ^
"Shipyard News"
.
International Marine Engineering
. October 1916.
- ^
"Todd Shipyards, Robins Dry Dock"
.
- ^
"Todd to Shut Hoboken Shipyard And Shift the Work to Brooklyn"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
January 13,
2019
.
- ^
"Todd Shipyards Corporation - Founded in 1916 as the William H. Todd Corporation. It was formed by the purchase and merger of several shipyards in the New York region including Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Co. that was purchased by Todd in that year. Located in Weehawken Cove, the Hoboken - Weehawken city line passes through the site. The company used a Hoboken address in all its literature and was given as Seventeenth Street and Park Avenue. Called Tietjen & Lang Plant then Todd Hoboken Dry Docks, Inc. and later Todd Shipyards, Hoboken Division. Closed September 1, 1965. Todd became a national company with shipyards in all major shipbuilding regions and had a significant role in World War II shipbuilding and repair"
.
hoboken.pastperfectonline.com
. Retrieved
January 13,
2019
.
- ^
"History of Todd Shipyards Corporation ? FundingUniverse"
.
www.fundinguniverse.com
. Retrieved
January 13,
2019
.
- ^
"Hudson Reporter - The days of factories and shipbuilding Catching a glimpse of Hoboken s industrial past"
.
www.hudsonreporter.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2010-06-16.
- ^
"Sullivan Dry Dock"
.
- ^
"Recent Launchings"
.
International Marine Engineering
. October 1918. p. 608.
- ^
a
b
Navy Department Appropriation Bill for 1942
. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1941. p. 247.
- ^
grep (Todd + Brooklyn) through navsource.org
- ^
"Todd Los Angeles Division"
.
GlobalSecurity.org
. Retrieved
2012-07-15
.
- ^
"Container Facilities"
.
Port of Los Angeles
.
?Shows an aerial view of Berth 100, the former location of Todd - San Pedro.
- ^
Port Series
. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1953.
- ^
Herman, Arthur.
Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,
p. 124, 178, Random House, New York, NY, 2012.
ISBN
978-1-4000-6964-4
.
- ^
"Todd San Francisco Division"
. GlobalSecurity.org
. Retrieved
2012-07-15
.
- ^
"Kaiser Permanente No. 1"
.
shipbuildinghistory.com
. Retrieved
2021-02-11
.
- ^
"Richmond Shipyards"
.
www.globalsecurity.org
. Retrieved
2021-02-11
.
- ^
"Todd Tacoma Todd Dry Dock Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding"
.
shipbuildinghistory.com
. Retrieved
January 13,
2019
.
- ^
"Skinner & Eddy"
.
- ^
"Todd Pacific Shipyards lands deal to work on Navy aircraft carriers | The Seattle Times"
.
archive.seattletimes.com
.
- ^
"JOINT PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY TODD SHIPYARDS AND VIGOR INDUSTRIAL LLC"
.
www.sec.gov
.
- ^
"Todd Shipyards gets $5.2M Navy contract for Bremerton"
.
Offshore Energy
. July 10, 2006.
- ^
"Home"
.
everettshiprepair.com
.
- ^
"Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation Announces U"
.
www.sec.gov
.
- ^
"State's top shipbuilder buys Everett Shipyard"
.
HeraldNet.com
. January 21, 2008.
- ^
"Todd Galveston"
.
- ^
a
b
"Brown Shipbuilding"
.
- ^
"Southwest Shipyard"
.
- ^
Investigation of Shipyard Profits
. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1946. p. 497.
- ^
"Bureau of Ships, Aerial Photographs of U.S. Shipyards, 1943-1945"
.
- ^
a
b
"Todd Houston Shipbuilding"
.
- ^
Investigation of Shipyard Profits
. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1946. p. 500.
- ^
"Todd Houston"
.
- ^
"Johnson Iron Works"
.
- ^
"New England Shipbuilding"
.
- ^
"Charleston Shipbuilding"
.
- ^
"New Jersey Shipbuilding"
.
- ^
"Eighth Naval District (Cochrane Collection)"
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
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Lists
| |
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Subtypes
| |
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Survivors
| |
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Other
| |
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See also
| |
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|
World War II Maritime Commission ship designs
|
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Cargo designs
| |
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Emergency cargo
| |
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Tanker
| |
---|
Special-purpose
| |
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Miscellaneous-cargo
| |
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Tugs
| |
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|