New York Shipbuilding Corporation

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The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United States Coast Guard, and other maritime concerns. At its peak during World War II, NYSB was the largest and most productive shipyard in the world.Template:Citation needed Its best-known vessels include the destroyer Template:USS, the cruiser Template:USS, the aircraft carrier Template:USS, the nuclear-powered cargo ship Template:Ship, and a quartet of cargo-passenger liners nicknamed the 4 Aces.

History

It was founded in 1899 by Henry G. Morse (1850–2 June 1903),<ref group=note>Not to be confused with architect Henry Grant Morse, Jr. (1884 – May 28, 1934).</ref> an engineer noted in connection with bridge design and construction and senior partner of Morse Bridge Company.Template:Sfn The original plan was to build a shipyard on Staten Island, thus the name of the company,Template:Sfn but plans to acquire a site there failed. The company then explored other potential sites as far south as Virginia, particularly in the Delaware River area, and ultimately chose a location in the southern part of Camden, New Jersey.Template:Sfn Site selection considered the needs of the planned application of bridge-building practices of prefabrication and assembly-line production of ships in covered ways.Template:Sfn Construction of the plant began in July 1899; the keel of the first ship was laid in November 1900.Template:Sfn That ship, contract number 1, was M. S. Dollar, which was later modified as an oil tanker and renamed J. M. Guffey.Template:Sfn<ref group=note>U.S. Navy as USS J. M. Guffey (ID-1279) commissioned 14 October 1918 at Invergorden, Scotland, decommissioned Philadelphia 17 June 1919 (DANFS).</ref> Two of the first contracts were for passenger ships that were among the largest then being built in the United States: #5 for Template:SS and #6 for Template:SS.Template:Sfn Morse died after securing contracts for 20 ships. He was followed as president by De Coursey May.Template:Sfn

On November 27, 1916, a special meeting of the company's stockholders ratified sale of the "fifteen million dollar plant" to a group of companies composed of American International Corporation, International Mercantile Marine Co., W. R. Grace and Company and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.Template:Sfn<ref group=note>On page 510 of the reference notes that American International Corporation holds interests in the International Mercantile Marine Company, Pacific Mail Steamship, Grace Lines and other ocean transportation companies. The same journal in the October issue, page 440, states American International Corporation had "control of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company."</ref> From about 1933 to 1937 the shipyard was part of Errett Lobban Cord's business empire.

New York Ship's unusual covered ways produced everything from aircraft carriers, battleships, and luxury liners to barges and car floats.

File:Air view, Yorkship Village ca 1920.png
Air view of Yorkship Village
File:Camden Shipyard 1919.jpg
Eight destroyers of the Template:Sclass, New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, 1919

During World War I, New York Ship expanded rapidly to fill orders from the U.S. Navy and the Emergency Fleet Corporation. A critical shortage of worker housing led to the construction of Yorkship Village, a planned community of 1,000 brick homes designed by Electus Darwin Litchfield and financed by the War Department. Yorkship Village is now the Fairview section of the City of Camden.

New York Ship's World War II production included all nine Template:Sclass light carriers (CVL), built on Template:Sclass light cruiser hulls; the 40,000-ton battleship Template:USS; all three of the six 30,000-ton Alaska-class cruisers that were built (Template:USS, Template:USS, and Template:USS), four 15,000-ton Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, and 98 LCTs (Landing Craft, Tank), many of which took part in the D-Day landings at Normandy.

After World War II, a much-diminished New York Ship subsisted on a trickle of contracts from the United States Maritime Administration and the U.S. Navy. In 1959, the yard launched the NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship. The yard launched its last civilian vessel (Template:SS) in 1960, and its last naval vessel, Template:USS, was ordered in 1967. The company's final completed submarine was Template:USS, which had been ordered in the early 1960s, but construction was halted from 1963 to 1965 because of the loss of the Template:USS. Guardfish was commissioned in December 1967.

In 1968, lacking new naval orders, NYS ceased operations. Template:USS, then under construction, was towed to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for completion.

The yard's site is now part of the Port of Camden. The caisson previously used in NYS's graving dock is still in use today in the former Philadelphia Navy Yard's dry dock number 3.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

World War II Slipways

Slipway Width Length Date Notes
J Template:Convert<ref name="Hearings_Before_Committee_on_Naval_Affai">Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett/> 1900-41 Length originally 600 ft,<ref name="Hearings_Before_Committee_on_Naval_Affai"/> lengthened to 840 ft<ref name=Fassett/> for construction of Alaska-class cruisers<ref name="A_Place_Called">Template:Cite web</ref>
K Template:Convert<ref name="Hearings_Before_Committee_on_Naval_Affai"/> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett/> 1900-41
L Template:Convert<ref name="Hearings_Before_Committee_on_Naval_Affai"/> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett/> 1900-41
M Template:Convert<ref name="Hearings_Before_Committee_on_Naval_Affai"/> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett/> 1912<ref name="A_Place_Called"/>-41 Length originally 700 ft,<ref name="Hearings_Before_Committee_on_Naval_Affai"/> lengthened to 840 ft<ref name=Fassett/> for construction of Alaska-class cruisers<ref name="A_Place_Called"/>
O Template:Convert<ref name="Hearings_Before_Committee_on_Naval_Affai"/> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett>Template:Cite book</ref> 1915<ref name="A_Place_Called"/>
T Template:Convert<ref group="note" name="Slipway_remains.">Based upon measurements made with Google Earth of slipway remains.</ref> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett/> 1941
U1 Template:Convert<ref group="note" name="Slipway_remains."/> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett/> 1941 Could be extended up to 1,000 ft<ref name=Fassett/>
U2
U3 Template:Convert<ref group="note" name="Slipway_remains."/> Template:Convert<ref name=Fassett/> 1941 Could be extended up to 1,000 ft<ref name=Fassett/>
U4

Ships built

Ships built by New York Ship include:

Athletic

An athletic team for the 16,000 employees was created in the 1910s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

Footnotes

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References

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Bibliography

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