Former Site of Walsh-Kaiser Company, Inc Shipyard (Providence, Rhode Island)
USA /
Rhode Island /
East Providence /
Providence, Rhode Island
World
/ USA
/ Rhode Island
/ East Providence
World / United States / Rhode Island
Second World War 1939-1945, navy, marine, place with historical importance, shipyard, historical layer / disappeared object
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Founded in early 1942 by the US Maritime Commission as an emergency shipyard for the construction of cargo vessels, this yard was constructed and placed into operation by mid 1942, under the management of the Rheem Company. Beginning it's construction with a series of 6 Liberty Ships, the yard was ordered to retool for the production of Tacoma Class Frigates which were desperately needed to protect shipping convoy's in the dangerous waters of the North Atlantic. All 21 of the Frigates built here were sold to Britain upon their completion.
Following operational difficulties and several missed delivery dates, the Rheem Corporation sold their interest in the yard to Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser who quickly brought the yard up to standard and increased it's size to 6 shipbuilding ways and a workforce of nearly 21,000 people working around the clock. In mid-1944 the yard re-tooled for the production of US Navy Attack Cargo Ships, which it built 31 of before the end of hostilities in World War Two.
Following the war, the yard was closed and it's assets liquidated to repay war bonds. Today, little evidence of the yard remains, aside from the once-appropriately named Shipyard Street.
For a complete list of ships built here, please see:
www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergenc...
Following operational difficulties and several missed delivery dates, the Rheem Corporation sold their interest in the yard to Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser who quickly brought the yard up to standard and increased it's size to 6 shipbuilding ways and a workforce of nearly 21,000 people working around the clock. In mid-1944 the yard re-tooled for the production of US Navy Attack Cargo Ships, which it built 31 of before the end of hostilities in World War Two.
Following the war, the yard was closed and it's assets liquidated to repay war bonds. Today, little evidence of the yard remains, aside from the once-appropriately named Shipyard Street.
For a complete list of ships built here, please see:
www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergenc...
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 41°47'14"N 71°23'17"W
- Camp Hero State Park 90 km
- Wreck of USS PE-56 220 km
- Former location of New England Shipbuilding Company 228 km
- Alexander Macomb and U-215 Wreckage 417 km
- The Alvira Bunkers 470 km
- Curtiss-Wright Plant 2/Westinghouse Electric Plant (Site) 617 km
- Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (Site) 644 km
- The New Auschwitz 652 km
- Wreck of USS Ingraham (DD-444) 935 km
- Argentia (Formerly NAS Argentia) 1506 km
- Johnson & Wales University 0.3 km
- Washington Park 0.8 km
- Silver Spring Golf Club 1.8 km
- Roger Williams Park 2 km
- Edgewood 2.2 km
- Metacomet Country Club 2.3 km
- Lower South Providence 2.3 km
- Kent Heights 2.7 km
- Elmwood 2.8 km
- Riverside 4.4 km