Site for the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston prior to ground breaking

The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded 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 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, in 1942 as a subsidiary of

Brown and Root KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) is a U.S. based company operating in fields of science, technology and engineering. KBR works in various markets including aerospace, defense, industrial and intelligence. After Halliburton acquired Dress ...

(now

KBR KBR can stand for: * KBR (company), formerly Kellogg, Brown & Root, US * KBR (news agency), an Indonesian radio news agency * KBR Park, Hyderabad, India * Kafa language, spoken in Ethiopia * Key-based routing in computer networking * Potassium bro ...

) by brothers Herman and

George R. Brown George Rufus Brown (May 12, 1898 – January 22, 1983) was a prominent Houston entrepreneur. With his brother Herman, Brown led Brown & Root Inc. to become one of the largest construction companies in the world and helped to foster the political ...

to build ships for the

U.S. 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 o ...

during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Brown Shipbuilding Company ranked 68th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. In 1941, Navy officials asked the Brown brothers to build four

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War I ...

s. The brothers had no shipbuilding experience, but had helped build

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is a United States Navy naval air base located six miles (10 km) southeast of the central business district (CBD) of Corpus Christi, in Nueces County, Texas. History A naval air station for Corpus Christi ...

. In 1942, the brothers formed Brown Shipbuilding and, with $9 million in Navy funding, built the Green's Bayou Fabrication Yard at the juncture of the

Houston Ship Channel The Houston Ship Channel, in Houston, Texas, is part of the Port of Houston, one of the busiest seaports in the world. The channel is the conduit for ocean-going vessels between Houston-area terminals and the Gulf of Mexico, and it serves a ...

and Green's Bayou. After delivering the ships, Brown received orders for landing craft and more sub chasers, and eventually won an order for

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s at $3.3 million per ship. Between May 1943 and August 1944, Brown turned out 61 destroyer escorts, an average of one per week. Perhaps the most famous was , part of the outgunned Taffy 3 unit that turned back a Japanese battleship force during the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fo ...

. Brown also built 254 amphibious assault ships, known as LSMs, between May 1944 and March 1946. By the end of the war, it had produced over 350 Navy warships in contracts totaling over $500 million. After the war, the shipyard was sold to

Todd Shipyards Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

. After Todd's Houston division closed in 1985, the yard was once again used by Brown and Root, this time for barge construction and repair. The property was sold piecemeal to multiple buyers in 2004. In 1961, the company won the $200 million contract to build the

Manned Spacecraft Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

in Houston, Texas.

Ships built here

Destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s (built July 1942 - March 1944) * 38 of 85 (built July 1942 - December 1943) ** (commissioned 31 May 1943) ** (16 June 1943) ** (1 July 1943) ** (19 July 1943) ** (27 July 1943) ** (5 August 1943) ** (6 August 1943) ** (16 August 1943) ** (23 August 1943) ** (7 August 1943) ** (31 August 1943) ** (8 September 1943) ** (30 August 1943) ** (16 September 1943) ** (27 September 1943) ** (23 September 1943) ** (5 October 1943) ** (12 October 1943) ** (19 October 1943) ** (12 October 1943) ** (25 October 1943) ** (30 October 1943) ** (29 October 1943) ** (1 November 1943) ** (11 October 1943) ** (16 November 1943) ** (17 November 1943) ** (22 November 1943) ** (27 November 1943) ** (29 November 1943) ** (1 December 1943) ** (12 October 1943) ** (18 December 1943) ** (16 December 1943) ** (24 December 1943) ** (31 December 1943) ** (13 January 1944) ** (18 January 1944) * 23 of 83 (built August 1943 - March 1944) ** (commissioned 26 February 1944) ** (9 March 1944) ** (21 March 1944) ** (20 March 1944) ** (3 April 1944) ** (4 April 1944) ** (6 April 1944) ** (20 April 1944) ** (13 April 1944) ** (19 April 1944) ** (2 May 1944) ** (28 April 1944) ** (5 October 1944) ** (13 May 1944) ** (16 May 1944) ** (14 June 1944) ** (23 May 1944) ** (17 June 1944) ** (19 June 1944) ** (3 July 1944) ** (11 July 1944) ** (21 July 1944) ** (2 August 1944) 12 of 343 s: *

USS PC-565 USS ''PC-565'' was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was later renamed ''Gilmer'' (PC-565) but never saw active service under that name. Career ''PC-565'' was laid down by Brown Shipbuilding Company in Houston, Texas o ...

(25 May 1942) *PC-566 (15 June 1942) (named Honesdale 1956, to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

1960 as Calamar, struck 1978) *PC-567 (27 June 1942) (named Riverhead 1956, to

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

1960) *

USS PC-568 USS ''PC-568'' was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was later named USS ''Altus'' (PC-568) in honor of Altus, Oklahoma, but never saw any active service under that name. After she was struck from the Naval Vessel R ...

(13 July 1942) *PC-608 (18 August 1942) (to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

1952 as Guardacosta, scrapped 1964) *PC-609 (7 September 1942) (to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

1947 as Khamronsin) *PC-610 (28 September 1942) (wrecked 1950 and used as a target) *PC-611 (26 October 1942) (sold to Dulien Steel 1948, scrapped) *PC 1251 (27 February 1943) (named Ukiah 1956, scrapped 1960) *PC 1252 (27 March 1943) (named Tarrytown 1956, to

1960, used for parts ) *PC 1253 (30 March 1943) (to

as PC-7) *PC 1254 (13 April 1943) (to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

1954 as Po Kiang) 32 of 923

Landing Craft Infantry The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during the Second World War. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious assaul ...

:http://shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/lcil.htm * Hull numbers 319 - 350 *LCI(L)-327 (31 October 1942) (destroyed at Kwajalein 30 October 1947) *LCI(L)-328 (31 October 1942) (sold 1946) *LCI(L)-329 (31 October 1942) (scuttled at Kwajalein 16 March 1948) *LCI(L)-330 (8 November 1942) (sold 1946 as ferry Siasconset) *LCI(L)-331 (9 November 1942) (sold 1946) *LCI(L)-332 (16 November 1942) (scuttled at Kwajalein 28 September 1947) *LCI(L)-333 (17 November 1942) (destroyed 1946) *LCI(L)-334 (24 November 1942) (sold 1946) *LCI(L)-335 (27 November 1942) (to NDRF 1946) *LCI(L)-336 (3 December 1942) *LCI(L)-337 (21 December 1942) (sold 1947) *LCI(L)-338 (26 December 1942) (to NDRF 1948) *

USS LCI(L)-339 USS ''LCI(L)-339'' was an amphibious assault ship (Landing Craft Infantry – Large), commissioned in 1942 by the United States Coast Guard. She participated in the Australian Army's 9th Division's landing at Lae The Landing at Lae was an ...

(30 December 1942) (destroyed by aerial bombs at the

landing at Lae The Landing at Lae was an amphibious landing to the east of Lae and then the subsequent advance on the town during the Salamaua–Lae campaign of World War II. Part of Operation Postern, which was undertaken to capture the Japanese base at L ...

) *LCI(L)-340 (12 December 1942) (sold 1946) *LCI(L)-341 (26 December 1942) (sold 1946) *LCI(L)-342 (30 December 1942) (to NDRF 1948) *LCI(L)-343 (8 January 1943) (sold 1946) *LCI(L)-344 (18 January 1943) (to NDRF 1948) *LCI(L)-345 (22 January 1943) (sold 1948) *LCI(L)-346 (25 January 1943) (sold 1946) *LCI(L)-347 (27 January 1943) (to NDRF 1948) *LCI(L)-348 (27 January 1943) (to NDRF 1948) *LCI(L)-349 (31 January 1943) (to NDRF 1948) *LCI(L)-350 (4 February 1943) (to NDRF 1948) 254 of 558

Landing Ship Medium Landing Ship Medium (LSM) were amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy in World War II. Of a size between that of Landing Ships Tank (LST) and Landing Craft Infantry (LCI), 558 LSMs were built for the USN between 1944 and 1945. The ...

* LSM-1 - LSM-125, LSM-354 - LSM-388, LSM-459 - LSM-552

References

External links

List of World War II ships built by Brown Shipbuilding
{{coord, 29.753, -95.181, type:landmark_region:US-TX, display=title Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Shipyards of the United States History of Houston Manufacturing companies based in Houston 1942 establishments in Texas American companies established in 1942 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1942 Industrial buildings and structures in Texas Defunct manufacturing companies based in Texas

Ships built here

See also

References

External links