History of
Shipbuilding in Quincy
For centuries the
banks of the Town and Fore River have been a center of American
shipbuilding. The first recorded local vessel was the ketch UNITY,
launched at Ship Cove in 1696.
On September 21, 1789,
the 116 ft. MASSACHUSETTS was launched from Germantown. It was the
largest mercantile vessel built in North America. Several clipper
ships were built locally, the RED CLOUD built in 1877 at the Thomas
Shipyard was the final clipper ship built (site of the former
Procter & Gamble Company). Quincy's largest and most renowned
shipyard at Fore River was the site of the shipbuilding and engine
development by Thomas Watson and his partner, Frank Wellington.
The Spanish-American
War marked the entry of the Quincy Yard into the destroyer
construction. Congress authorized Quincy to build the Lawrence
and McDonough (torpedo boat destroyers) and the armed cruiser
Des Moines was also launched.
In February, 1901, the
yard was renamed For River Ship and Engine Company and work was
diversified to include coastal defense guns, printing presses, shoe
machinery and refrigeration plants. Soon many high-grade vessels
were built, one of which was the City of Quincy, a passenger steamer
which ran between Quincy and Boston. The Yard also received rights
to produce Curtis Marine Turbines. Shortly after this, the Navy
contracted with the Quincy Yard to build two giant battleships of
15,000 tons each, the New Jersey and the Rhode Island.
In 1913, Bethlehem
Steel Company purchased the Quincy Yard and the battleship Nevada
was launched on July 11, 1914. As a testimonial to the
seamanship of her crew and the craftsmanship of her builders, the
Nevada was the only capital ship able to get underway at Pearl
Harbor.
Not even an atomic
bomb in the 1946 test could sink her! She had to be sunk later by
naval gunfire.
During World War I,
Fore River and The Victory Plant produced a total of 35 destroyers
in the 27 months. This outpaced all other shipyards in America
combined! A world record was set with the delivery of the USS
Reid in 45 days.
The 1920s and the 30s saw the
USS Lexington converted from a battle cruiser to the Navy's
first true aircraft carrier. The Lexington was a basis for
many of the early developments in naval aviation. In May of 1942,
the Lexington was sunk in the Coral Sea.
As the clouds of World War II
darkened, the Quincy Yard was truly a vital part of the arsenal of
democracy. On September 23, 1941, the battleship Massachusetts's
was launched. She was delivered 15 months ahead of schedule and
continued on to serve meritoriously in Northern Africa, where she
destroyed the French battleship Jean Bart. She joined the
Pacific Fleet in 1943 and operated with the fast carrier forces
attacking Japan.
In response to Admiral King's visit
to the Quincy Yard, where he told the shipbuilders, "You build'em
we'll fight'em," the Quincy Yard went on to build a total of 121
ships during the war years and received the coveted Navy "E" award
for outstanding productive achievement. No other shipyard in the
United States built such a diversification of naval vessels. In view
of the tonnage, speed and delivery and quality of construction,
Quincy Yard was called the Greatest Shipyard of World War II.
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