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The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio^[1] in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio in 1898. It changed its name to the American Ship Building Company in 1900, when it acquired Superior Shipbuilding, in Superior, Wisconsin; Toledo Shipbuilding, in Toledo, Ohio; and West Bay Shipbuilding, in West Bay City, Michigan. With the coming of World War I, the company also acquired Buffalo Dry Dock, in Buffalo, New York; Chicago Shipbuilding, in Chicago, Illinois; and Detroit Shipbuilding, in Wyandotte, Michigan. American Shipbuilding ranked 81st among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.^[2]

The Lorain Yard

The Lorain, Ohio Yard served as the main facility of the company after World War II and to this day five of the 13 separate 1,000 ft (300 m) ore carriers on the Great Lakes were built in Lorain, including the M/V Paul R. Tregurtha which is the largest vessel on the Great Lakes (1,013'06" long). Built in 1898, the Lorain Yard quickly grew in size and importance. The facilities eventually included two dry docks over 1,000 feet (300 m) long built to handle the largest of the Great Lakes ore carriers. The Lorain Yard closed in 1984 after a series of labor disputes. The land is now being redeveloped as an upscale housing development.

Ships built by the company

• 
  SS Andaste, launched in 1892 in Cleveland


• 
  SS Clifton, launched in 1892 as a lake freighter, originally as the SS Samuel Mather


• 
  SS Milwaukee, launched in 1902, in Cleveland originally as the Manistique-Marquette & Northern No. 1
  


• 
  SS Isaac M. Scott, built in 1909 in Lorain, Ohio, sunk in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913
  


• 
  SS Henry B. Smith, built in 1906 for the Acme Transit Company, later sunk in the Great Lakes Storm of 1913
  


• 
  SS Anna C. Minch, built in 1903 in Cleveland, Ohio


• 
  SS Milwaukee Clipper, built in 1904 in Cleveland, originally as the Juniata, for the Anchor Line


• 
  USS Wolverine (IX-64), originally built in 1913 as the Seeandbee in Lorain


• 
  USS Sable (IX-81), originally built in 1924 as the Greater Buffalo in Lorain


• 
  USS Annapolis (PF-15), launched in 1943 in Lorain


• 
  SS Arthur M. Anderson, built in 1952 in Lorain


• 
  SS Carl D. Bradley, built in 1927 in Lorain


• 
  USS Seer (AM-112), launched in 1942 in Lorain


• 
  USS Key West (PF-17), launched in 1943 in Lorain


• 
  USS Alexandria (PF-18), launched in 1943 in Lorain


• 
  USS Huron (PF-19), launched in 1943 in Cleveland


• 
  USS Gulfport (PF-20), launched in 1943 in Cleveland


• 
  USS Lorain (PF-93), launched in 1944 in Lorain


• 
  USS Milledgeville (PF-94), launched in 1944 in Lorain


• 
  USS Orlando (PF-99), launched in 1943, Cleveland


• 
  USS Racine (PF-100), launched in 1943, Cleveland


• 
  USCGC Valiant (WMEC-621), launched in 1967 in Lorain


• 
  USCGC Courageous (WMEC-622),launched in 1967 in Lorain


• 
  USCGC Steadfast (WMEC-623),launched in 1967 in Lorain


• 
  USCGC Dauntless (WMEC-624),launched in 1967 in Lorain


• 
  USCGC Venturous (WMEC-625),launched in 1968 in Lorain


• 
  USCGC Dependable (WMEC-626),launched in 1968 in Lorain


• 
  USCGC Vigorous (WMEC-627), launched in 1968 in Lorain


• 
  MV Roger Blough, launched in 1972 in Lorain.


• 
  USNS Paul Buck (T-AOT-1122), launched in 1985, Tampa Shipyards (subsidiary of The American Ship Building Company)

Delta Shipbuilding

During the Second World War, the company managed Delta Shipbuilding Company for the United States Maritime Commission. Delta had a yard at New Orleans and built a total of 188 ships.^[3]

Toledo Shipbuilding Company

The Toledo Shipbuilding Company, which became an operating unit of the American Shipbuilding Company by consolidation, was itself the builder of several of the most well-known coal-fired steamships of the Great Lakes, such as the SS Chief Wawatam (built in 1911).

Steinbrenners

In the early 1960s, the American Shipbuilding Company acquired Kinsman Marine Transit Company, which was owned by the Steinbrenner family. As a result of the transaction, the Steinbrenner family acquired a controlling interest in American Shipbuilding. Frustrated after years of fighting with unions over cost-saving work changes, the Steinbrenners closed the Lorain shipyard in December 1983 and moved all operations to Tampa, Florida. The principal member of the Steinbrenner family who was involved in the operation of the transit company at this time was George Steinbrenner, who became better known later as the principal owner of the New York Yankees.

The company began having difficulties in the 1980s, going through a bankruptcy in 1993. The company was sold in 1995.

See also

• 
  Robert Logan, general manager.

External links

AmShip Lorain, Lorain OH

References