 |
Home | Search | Browse | About IPO | Staff | Links |
|
Home | Search | Browse | About IPO | Staff | Links |
|
Seneca Shipyard's
Jennifer O'Brien Built in 1942 and 1943 the Seneca, Illinois, shipyards played an important role in Illinois' military history. After Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, more American naval vessels were needed to replace those destroyed in the harbor and to serve America during World War II. A thirty-inch layer of top soil was removed from a sub-base of sandstone to start building the shipyards. The land was already bought from the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company; it was centrally located near communities that could provide labor, and it was on the banks of the Illinois River. A shipyard could not be built by the Navy or the company alone. The federal, state, and local organizations had to combine their efforts to complete the yard. Cutting thirty miles of trench in solid sandstone was necessary to accommodate underground sewer mains, water mains, air lines, electric power, and conduits to serve as drainage ditches. Water wells were drilled and storage tanks erected. Eight were constructed on one side of the center line and seven on the other, staggered so that fifteen ships could be pulled to the center. The construction of a ship consisted of the erection, fitting, and welding of the hull; the installation of machinery as the hull progressed; and finally the mechanical, piping, sheet metal, electrical, pipe insulation, painting, outfitting, and other tasks were completed. The hull department erected, fitted, and welded 23,300 separate pieces of metal per ship. The hull required 1,340 tons of steel. There were four construction stages—unloading, erecting, welding, and testing. The types of ships that were built were Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs). LSTs were designed with a shallow draft and large carrying capacity and were fitted with doors and a ramp to unload cargo on a flat surface and carry sufficient armament for protection. To simplify the purchasing of materials for the shipbuilding program, the Navy, acting as central design agent for the shipyards, made plans to purchase contractor-furnished items. These included the steering gear, the stern, anchor, handling gear, snaking winch, main generator, as well as various parts including pumps, tanks, heaters, fire-fighting equipment, valves, and pipes for all systems needed to produce the LSTs. There were between twenty-five and thirty service departments. Peak employment of 11,000 was reached in 1944, and 27,000 people were hired to maintain a normal working force over the three years the shipyard operated. Over 20,000 Navy officers and crew members were required to man all of the Seneca ships. In all, more than $82 million in wages was paid to Seneca shipbuilders. The shipyard cafeteria served six million meals altogether. The events the shipbuilders were involved in were baseball, basketball, boxing, and golfing. There were also chess, pinochle, and dart games provided during lunchtime. There were 157 LSTs built in Seneca. The first LST ship, #197, was built on December 13, 1942. All were delivered to the U.S. Navy on schedule. Three Caterpillar tractors were needed to move ships onto launching ways. Thirty-nine gallons of champagne were used for christenings. On June 18, 1945, LST #1152 was the last LST launched from Seneca. On May 22, 1943, the Army and Navy E award was presented to Seneca. It was a token of appreciation for high production standards. The Seneca shipyards played an important role in World War II because they helped American people by providing money and many jobs to the local communities of Illinois. As a result of the combined efforts of everyone who worked on the building of the LSTs, the Seneca shipyards were able to produce these very important vessels that were needed to support our military during World War II. To this day there are still people who live in Marseilles and Seneca who remember the Seneca shipyard days and the jobs they did in the building of the LSTs.— [From Walter Colby, Our Prairie Shipyard; Candee Ferguson, "Shipyard Cafeteria," The Daily Times, Nov. 8, 1992.]
|
|
|