Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

, East Coast of the United States and the Gulf. Todd Shipyards were a major part of the

Emergency Shipbuilding Program The Emergency Shipbuilding Program (late 1940 – September 1945) was a United States government effort to quickly build simple cargo ships to carry troops and materiel to allies and foreign theatres during World War II. Run by the U.S. Maritime ...

for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Vigor Shipyards

In February 2011,

Vigor Industrial Vigor Industrial (Vigor) is an American shipbuilding, shiprepair, and industrial service provider in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Based in Portland, Oregon, the company consists of several subsidiary companies for a combined total of seven ...

purchased Todd for US$130 million. This included the Seattle, Everett and Bremerton operations. Today, Vigor Shipyards is a government repair subsidiary of Vigor Industrial. Originally, the Coast Guard wanted to acquire 25 Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPC) and spend about $8 billion for them. In April 2013, it was reported that Vigor proposed an Ulstein X-bow hull in the design competition for the OPC vessels. If successful in landing the contract, Vigor would have assembled the vessels at its Portland, Ore., shipyard. However, in February 2014, the USCG announced that Bollinger Shipyards, Eastern Shipbuilding, and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works had been awarded design contracts for the OPC. In September 2017, Vigor was contracted to produce the US Army's Maneuver Support Vessel (Light).

Todd Shipyards

Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916 as the William H. Todd Corporation when properties of the Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Company of

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

were bought in 1916 by a syndicate headed by Bertron Griscom & Company of New York and placed under management of William H. Todd president of the Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co., Erie Basin,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. That acquisition was followed by acquisition of the Tebo Yacht Basin, Brooklyn, and the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company. The Seattle shipyard traces its history back to 1882, when Robert Moran opened a marine repair shop at Yesler's Wharf. This shop became the Moran Brothers Shipyard in 1906 and the Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Company at the end of 1911. The shipyard has performed building and maintenance work for, among others, the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Royal Australian Navies, the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

, and the

Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals loc ...

. Its headquarters and operations are on Harbor Island at the mouth of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

's Duwamish Waterway. Todd ranked 26th among United States corporations in the value of World War II production contracts. The hull of Disneyland's ''Mark Twain'' riverboat was built at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California, in 1955. Frank Sinatra worked after high school as a rivet catcher at Todd Shipyard in Hoboken, New Jersey. From 1940 to 1945, during World War II, Todd shipyard's built or repaired 23,000 ships is many shipyards with 57,000 workers. Todd Shipyards came out of Chapter 11 protection in 1991, and continues shipyard on the west coast. In 1995 Todd brached out and started a radio subsidiary campany called Elettra Broadcasting Corporation. Elettra Broadcasting opereted three FM radio stations in Carmel.

Locations

Vigor current locations

Vigor currently operates four shipyards, in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

: *

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

() ** established at the location in 1918 *

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremer ...

() * Everett, Washington () ** near the site of the former Everett-Pacific Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company *

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

() ** on the site of the former Swan Island Shipyard

Todd Shipyards locations

* #Brooklyn * #Hoboken * #Alameda * #Galveston * #Houston Irish Bend * #Houston Green Bayou

New York

*Todd Brooklyn. Todd Shipyard's first shipyard was in Brooklyn, New York, along the waterfront of the Red Hook neighborhood (). William H. Todd purchased the Robins Dry Dock & Repair Company in 1916. Robins Dry Dock was founded in 1869, as Handren and Robins. The company was renamed J. N. Robins Co. in 1892 after Handren's death. J. N. Robins Co. merged with the Erie Basin Dry Dock Company, started by Delamater Iron Works, and renamed the Campony Robins Dry Dock & Repair. William H. Todd had worked for both Erie Basin and Robins Dry Dock. Todd and some of his associates purchased not only Robins Dry Dock & Repair Company, but also Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Company of

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

Weehawken Cove Weehawken Cove is a cove on the west bank of the Hudson River between the New Jersey municipalities of Hoboken to the south and Weehawken to the north. At the perimeter of the cove are completed sections the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, o ...

(), and Seattle Construction and Drydock Company. In 1915 they purchased the Tebo Yacht Basin Company and opened a construction yard there, which operated till 1937 when it was sold and became

Sullivan Drydock and Repair Corporation Sullivan Drydock and Repair Corporation was a shipyard located in Brooklyn, New York. It was located off 23rd Street in Greenwood Heights/ Sunset Park, in the Tebo Basin. Sullivan DD&RC built Submarine chasers (PC boats), and altered, repaired and ...

. The Erie Basin yard was sold in 1986 to Rodermond Industries which closed in the 1990s. Red Hook graving dock was a

graving dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

located at site. In 1917 Todd purchased the Gowanus shipyard in Brooklyn. 1916–1965 03-4-4 Todd-Erie-25

* For the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

: ** 9 of 49 s (1918 - 1919, no more than 3 built concurrently) *** ... , ... ** conversion Robins DD *** (1941) *** (1940) *** (ca. 1941) **** See also: Two-Ocean Navy Act#AUX_ANV ** conversion Tietjen and Lang *** (1940) *** (1940) *** (1940) *** *** ** conversion (unspecified) of *** (1943) *** (1943) *** (1944) *** (1944) *** (1944) *** (1945) *** (1945) *** (1945) *** USAHS Frances Y. Slanger (1945) *** converted back to merchant (1947) *** (1953)

Los Angeles and San Francisco

Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division was a shipyard in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. Before applying its last corporate name, the shipyard had been called Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company and Todd Shipyards, Los Angele ...

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: "St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

, () was formerly Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Corporation, opened in 1917 and closed in 1989. From 1918 to 1924 Los Angeles Shipbuilding built cargo ships for the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

. In the 1920 and 1930 Los Angeles Shipbuilding built tankers and

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

. For

they yard built the USS Ajax (AR-6), USS Hector (AR-7), USS Jason (AR-8), Seaplane tender and Klondike-class destroyer tenders. Post war the yard was sold to Todd. Todd built Allende-class frigate at the site and in Seattle, also built were

Shenandoah-class destroyer tender The ''Shenandoah''-class destroyer tenders were a class of destroyer tenders built for the United States Navy that served from 1945 to 1984. History The ''Shenandoah''-class destroyer tenders were modified United States Maritime Commission Type C3 ...

and Leahy-class cruiser. The yard closed was following completion of its contract and after failing to win an contract. Property is now part of the Port of Los Angeles, and has been completely converted into Berth 100 / West Basin Container Terminal. * Todd Alameda (San Francisco Division),

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for " tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda Island, but also spans Bay Farm Island and Coast Guard Island, as we ...

. to the west of Webster Street (). Opened in 1940 by the United Engineering Company. Mostly used as a repair or conversion facility, it was closed in 1956. The Bethlehem

Alameda Works Shipyard The Alameda Works Shipyard, in Alameda, California, United States, was one of the largest and best equipped shipyards in the country. The only building remaining from the yard is the Union Iron Works Powerhouse, which is listed on the National R ...

to the east of Webster Street was leased by Todd according to, but the Corps of Engineers survey 1953 claims it was owned and operated by Bethlehem. * Richmond shipyard No. 1 was a new shipyard built to support the demand for ships for World War 2. Kaiser purchased the contact and the Richmond yard to built type

Ocean ship The Ocean ships were a class of sixty cargo ships built in the United States by Todd Shipyards Corporation during the Second World War for the British Ministry of War Transport under contracts let by the British Purchasing Commission. Eighteen w ...

from the Todd Shipyards in 1940. Todd then Kaiser built yard No. 1 to build the Ocean ships. Yard No. 1 was built on unoccupied land with construction starting in December 1940. In April 1941 the keel for the first British bound Ocean ship was laid. The next series of ships built were Liberty ships, with the first keel laid on May 15, 1942. Needing faster cargo ships the next series of ships built were

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were sli ...

s, with the first keel laid on January 17, 1944. After the war, in 1946, the yard closed. Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard was at 700 Wright Ave, Richmond on the Parr Canal. The site now has general docks for construction supplies. Located at GPS . Built at Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard:* Ocean ship, 30 cargo ships, 7,174 GRT. (sometimes credited to Todd Shipyards Corporation), * Liberty ship, 138 model EC2-S-C1 ships, 7,176 GRT., *

, 82 Model VC2-S-AP3 ships, 7,612 GRT.,Notable ships: , , , and . *

California Shipbuilding Corporation __NOTOC__ California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including ''Haskell''-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship. The ''Dictionary of Ame ...

opened as an emergency yard in 1940 by Todd and Kaiser at Terminal Island in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Kaiser bought Todd share in 1942. Often referred to as Calship, they built 467 Liberty ships and Victory ship during

, including ''Haskell''-class

attack transport Attack transport is a United States Navy ship classification for a variant of ocean-going troopship adapted to transporting invasion forces ashore. Unlike standard troopships – often drafted from the merchant fleet – that rely on ...

Puget Sound, Washington

*Todd Tacoma Division,

Commencement Bay Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

opened in 1917 to build Design 1014 ship ships for the United States Shipping Board. It operated as part of Todd Dry Dock & Construction until shut down after World War I in 1924. The yard reopened in partnership with

Kaiser Shipbuilding The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaiser ...

in 1939 as

Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation The Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation (also operating as Todd Pacific) was an American corporation which built escort carriers, destroyers, cargo ships and auxiliaries for the United States Navy and merchant marine during World War II i ...

. The yard built 56 and s and various auxiliaries. In 1942 Todd bought out Kaiser's share and the yard eventually became part of Todd Pacific Shipyards. Sold to the Navy after World War II, further sold to the Port of Tacoma in 1959. The site today is the Commencement Bay Industrial Development District. * Todd Dry Dock & Construction Co. of

() was started in 1916 when Todd bought Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co. Ltd. Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co. Ltd. was in the past Seattle Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company started by Robert Moran and his brothers as ship repair shop in Seattle in 1882. The yard was destroyed by fire in 1889 and then rebuilt as Moran Brothers Company. For World War II the yard built 45 , , and s under the name

. After the war the yard was renamed Todd Shipyards Corp., Seattle Division. For the US Navy built

Charles F. Adams-class destroyer The ''Charles F. Adams'' class is a ship class of 29 guided-missile destroyers ( DDG) built between 1958 and 1967. Twenty-three were built for the United States Navy, three for the Royal Australian Navy, and three for the West German ''Bundes ...

Knox-class frigate The 46 ''Knox''-class frigates were the largest, last, and most numerous of the US Navy's second-generation anti-submarine warfare (ASW) escorts. Originally laid down as ocean escorts (formerly called destroyer escorts), they were all redesig ...

s, Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates,

Hamilton-class cutter The ''Hamilton''-class cutter was the largest class of vessel in the United States Coast Guard until replaced by the Legend-class cutter, aside from the . The hull classification symbol is prefixed WHEC. The cutters are called the ''Hamilton'' ...

s. The yard is now owned and operated by Vigor. *Todd Bremerton Shipyard in

() is a satellite ship repair yard. Close to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Todd Bremerton Shipyard works on US Navy ships. *Todd Everett Shipyard in 2008 Tood purchased Everett Shipyard, Inc. in Everett, Washington (). The site, Everett Ship Repair & Drydock, Inc., will continue ship repair work. The yard as since 1960 served the

and the United States Navy.

Houston / Galveston

*Todd Galveston, Texas () opened in 1934. Todd took over the Galveston Dry Dock & Construction on Pelican Island. In 1943 Todd took over the yard next door, Gray's Iron Works and renamed the yards Todd Galveston Drydocks, Inc.. For World War II the yard built T1 Tankers T1-M-A1. Post-war they built three ferries for Texas. In 1949 Todd moved the main operation to the Brown Shipbuilding yard in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

that they had leased. The Pelican Island Galveston yard was used only for ship repair and in 1965 also started tanker conversions, as Todd Shipyards Corporation, Galveston Division. Todd Galveston built Type C6 ships. Todd Galveston yard went into Chapter 11 and closed in 1990. The yard was sold. The yard had two Panamax floating dry-docks that were moved to the Alabama Shipyard and Bender Shipbuilding. In 1993, the remainder of Todd Galveston on Pelican Island was sold to the Port of Galveston. It is now part of Newpark Marine, Gulf Copper runs an offshore repair yard there. Southwest Shipyard now operates a shipyard at the side. *Todd Houston Shipbuilding, in Houston, Texas, was an emergency shipyard operated by Todd Shipbuilding Corp. and Kaiser Corp. to build ships for World War II. Todd bought Kaiser's interest in the company. The yard was built at Irish Bend (a former island in the channel) Houston . During the war Todd Houston employed 23,000 workers built 208

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

s and 14 T1-M-BT2 tankers. In 1946, after the war the yard closed. In 1949 the Brown Shipbuilding yard in Houston, now Todd's became known as Todd Houston. 08-2-2b Houston-SB-25-not-Brown

* 208 EC2-S-C1 (built July 1941 - March 1945) ** ''Sam Houston'' (MC-95) ... ''Joseph T. Robinson'' (MC-119) ** ''Stephen F. Auston'' (MC-265) ... ''Stephen C. Foster'' (MC-276) ** ''William Eustis'' (MC-828) ... ''E. A. Peden'' (MC-859) ** ''Sam Houston II'' (MC-1936) ... ''Henry Austin'' (MC-1966) ** ''Charles Morgan'' (MC-2420) ... ''Isaac Van Zandt'' (MC-2431) ** ''John G. Tod'' (MC-2908) ... ''Edward N. Hinton'' (MC-3003) * 14 T1-M-BT2 (delivered July 1945 - December 1945) ** ''Tarascon'' (MC-2636) ... ''Taveta'' (MC-2649) * First keel laid on slipways 1 through 9 ** 23 October 1941 ** 23 October 1941 ** 25 July 1941 ** 25 July 1941 ** 18 July 1941 ** 18 July 1941 ** 23 October 1941 ** 30 December 1941 ** 30 December 1941 * refs: *Todd Houston on the Buffalo Bayou () was opened in 1949, when Todd took over the Brown Shipbuilding's yard at Green's Bayou. Todd ran the yard as a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

construction and repair shop. Todd closed the operation in 1987 selling to Platzer Shipyard. The yard returned to Brown, which renamed it Brown & Root, a construction facility for the

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...

industry, which closed in 2004. The site is now the Brown Shipbuilding Industrial.

Other

*Todd New Orleans, in 1934 Todd joined with Johnson Iron Works in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

to build and repair shipyard called Todd-Johnson Dry Docks. Todd took over the yard and in 1987 sold the yard to Port of New Orleans, which leases to Avondale Ship Repair. In * Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation at

South Portland, Maine South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-largest city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 census, the city population was 26,498. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is sit ...

opened in 1940 as an emergency shipyards to build Ocean class cargo ships for Britain. At the two yards , they built Liberty ships, closing after the war. The Corporation was renamed New England Shipbuilding in 1943 after Kaiser sold its shares in the corporation. Durning the was New England Shipbuilding employed 30,000 workers. *

Oregon Shipbuilding Company Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was a World War II emergency shipyard located along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. The shipyard built nearly 600 Liberty and Victory ships between 1941 and 1945 under the Emergency Shipb ...

() opened as a World War II emergency yard by Todd and Kaiser. Built in 1941 it opened with 8 shipways, with the high demand for ships it grew to 8 shipways. Soon after the shipyard opened Kaiser bought out Todd share in the shipyard. The yard built Liberty ships and

Victory Ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were sli ...

s. The yard closed after the war. * Todd Charleston, from 1946 to 1949 Todd operated for the US Navy the Charleston Dry Dock & Machine Company as repair yard. The yard was located in Charleston, South Carolina, on the Cooper River . 32.788711, -79.924533 *New Jersey Shipbuilding Company, at the US Navy's request for World War II Todd took over New Jersey Shipbuilding to build LCI. Landing Craft LCI(L) in 1942, the yard closed after the war. The yard was in Perth Amboy, New Jersey , the site is now Chevron asphalt plant. *Todd

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

Drydock, Alabama. In 1936 this repair yard was leased to the nearby Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company and stripped.

References

External links

*
Ships built at Todd Dry Dock, Seattle-Tacoma, and Todd Pacific at ShipbuildingHistory.com
{{WWII US ships Shipbuilding companies of the United States Companies based in Seattle Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1916 American companies established in 1916 Privately held companies of the United States Shipbuilding in Washington (state) Shipyards of New Jersey