A

Brief

 History

of the

New York

Shipbuilding

Company

 

Photo- National Archives

New York Ship was the dream of Henry G. Morse.  After spending 25 years building iron bridges and tunnels for a variety of companies, and two years as president of the Harlan & Hollingsworth shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware, Morse decided it was time to start his own company.  With the financial support of Andrew Mellon and Henry Frick, Morse set out to build a state of the art shipyard.  He named his company New York Ship, because it was originally intended to be located on Staten Island.  Instead, Morse decided on a site in Camden, NJ, which offered better land, rail facilities, and access to a great number of experienced shipyard workers.  The name was kept, and in 1899 Morse began constructing his shipyard.
New York Ship opened in 1900.  It operated according to Morse's five principals, which made it the most modern and efficient shipyard in the country, if not the world.  First, New York Ship used the template system, which called for fabrication and assembly to be done separately.  The second was that all major parts should be prefabricated.  Third, overhead cranes connected all parts of the yard, for easy movement of parts. Fourth, the shipbuilding ways were roofed to avoid delays caused by bad weather.  Fifth, many tasks that were usually completed during outfitting were completed before launching.

The first ship, MS Dollar, was launched in 1901.  Among the notable ships built during the pre-war period were a series of tankers for Gulf Oil, and New York Ship's first warship, the cruiser Washington.  The success of its first dreadnought battleship, USS Michigan, led to a series of contracts for battleships, including USS Utah, USS Arkansas, and USS Oklahoma.  By 1914, New York Shipbuilding (NYS) was a leader in naval construction

The First World War saw NYS become the largest shipyard in the world, with the creation of the middle and southern yards.  These additions were necessary due to a growing backlog of civilian and naval construction orders.  A number of vessels, including battleships Oklahoma, Colorado  and Idaho, completed too late to serve in WWI, would see action during the Second World War.  The most famous ship built by NYS during this era was the USS Saratoga (CV-3).  Originally designed as a battle cruiser, she was converted to an aircraft carrier in accordance with the "Washington Treaty" limiting naval armaments.  She was the first fast carrier in the United States Navy.  "Sara" can be considered the forerunner of the Independence  class carriers built by NYS sixteen years later.  They too would be transformed from cruisers.  It was also during the years of WWI that New York Ship began to build communities designed to attract and house an ever increasing work force.  Yorkship Village, today known as Fairview, was an example of this type of self-contained neighborhood.

On July 5, 1939, while the citizens of Camden and Philadelphia went about their everyday business, the men and women of New York Shipbuilding (NYS) went to war.  Technically the United States of America was still considered a neutral nation in the midst of an expanding World War, but in actuality the "arsenal of democracy" was, belatedly, preparing to enter a conflict that President Roosevelt felt would eventually engulf our nation.  To this end, the United States Navy had begun a massive rebuilding program which would place our country's naval forces on a level playing field with those of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.  Over the next six years New York Shipbuilding Corporation would play a vital role in the construction of the most powerful Navy to ever sail the oceans of the world.  Laying the keel for the battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57) on July 5, 1939 was just the beginning.

During the Second World War New York Shipbuilding Corporation would supply 26 heavy combatant ships for service in the U.S. Navy.  Among this number were 2 destroyer tenders, 3 seaplane tenders, 1 repair ship, 8 light cruisers, 9 light aircraft carriers, 2 battle cruisers and 1 battleship.  This is not to mention 44 other ships that were on active duty prior to America's official entry into the war.  In all, 70 ships originally built by NYS for the Navy saw service during WWII.  This number does not include 148 landing craft (LCIs and LCTs) constructed at NYS during the year 1942.

New York Shipbuilding had been a major builder of civilian vessels during its first 43 years in business.  Military needs necessitated the conversion of its entire facility to the production of naval combatant ships during the Second World War.  To say that the workers of NYS responded magnificently to needs of their country's Navy would be an understatement.  In a one-year period, from March 15, 1942 until March 15, 1943 the "Yard" delivered new naval construction representing an aggregate value of $217,000,000.  The bulk of these deliveries consisted of heavy combatant ships from 12,000 to 35,000 tons displacement, which were completed from 8 to 13 months ahead of contract delivery dates.  This total output of large naval combatant ships, in twelve months, has never been exceeded by a single shipyard in the history of shipbuilding. At its peak period of production during the War, well over 30,000 men and women were employed at New York Shipbuilding.

Following the war, New York Ship moved into the nuclear age, by producing a series of nuclear submarines, and the first commercial nuclear ship NS Savannah.  The contract to build the carrier Kittyhawk  also kept the yard running for a while, but as military contracts dried up in the mid-sixties, the company could not continue.  The last ship to leave the yard, USS Guardfish, was completed in October 1967, and then New York Ship went out of business.

 

Copyright 2003  New York Shipbuilding Company Historical Site