View source for Walsh-Kaiser Company

{{short description|American shipyard during World War II}}
{{Infobox military installation 	
|name         = Walsh-Kaiser Company
|location     = [[Cranston, Rhode Island|Cranston]] and [[Providence, Rhode Island]], U.S.	
|image        = USS Devosa (AKA-27) in 1945.jpg
|caption      = [[USS Devosa (AKA-27)|USS ''Devosa'' (AKA-27)]], built at<br>Walsh-Kaiser Company in 1944
|type         = Shipyard	
|built        = 1942
|used         = 1942–1945
|controlledby = [[United States Navy]]
|ownership    = [[United States Maritime Commission]]
|operator     = {{ubl
 |[[Rheem Manufacturing Company|Rheem Manufacturing]] (1942–1943)
 |[[Kaiser Shipyards]] (1943–1945)
 }}	
|coordinates  = {{coord|41|47|16|N|71|22|59|W|display=inline,title}}
|pushpin_map  = Rhode Island#USA
|site_other_label = Ships built
|site_other       = 63
}}
'''Walsh-Kaiser Company''' was a [[shipyard]] along the [[Providence River]] on the border of [[Cranston, Rhode Island|Cranston]] and [[Providence, Rhode Island]]. It was built during [[World War II]] and financed by the [[United States Maritime Commission|Maritime Commission]] as part of the country's [[Emergency Shipbuilding Program]]. It was originally operated by [[Rheem Manufacturing Company|Rheem Manufacturing]], a company with no previous shipbuilding expertise. When Rheem had difficulty managing the yard, [[Kaiser Shipyards]] was retained to manage the operation.

==Operational history==
In 1942, the [[United States Maritime Commission|Maritime Commission]] selected [[Fields Point]] for the location of an emergency shipyard. It was planned to be able to build ships on six different [[Slipway|way]]s. The construction of the shipyard was financed as part of the country's [[Emergency Shipbuilding Program]]. Storekeepers and housewives, clerks and youths fresh out of school worked side by side, turning out ship after ship. Construction began on March 28, 1942. The shipyard construction swallowed the popular Kerwin's Beach, which drew thousands to the shores of the [[Providence River]] before it was covered over. Although {{convert|1|e6sqyd}} of fill from a nearby hillside was dumped onto the mud flats, this still failed to stabilize the area. The total cost of the shipyard was $26 million.<ref name="Journal">{{cite web|url=http://www.projo.com/specials/century/month6/628met1.htm|title=Three years, 63 ships at Fields Point|last=Chiapinelli|first=S. Robert|date=June 28, 1999|website=[[The Providence Journal]]|access-date=17 March 2010|location=[[Providence, Rhode Island]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628220551/http://www.projo.com/specials/century/month6/628met1.htm |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |via=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref>

On December 31, 1942, the first of many misfortunes hit the plant.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122573194/fbi-is-investigating-rheems-plant-fire/ |title=FBI Is Investigating Rheems Plant Fire |newspaper=[[The Birmingham News]] |page=25 |date=January 1, 1943 |accessdate=April 9, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> The plate shop, the first step in the production process, burned to the ground. In February 1943, after the Rheem company showed difficulty managing the yard, [[Kaiser Shipyards]] was asked to manage the operation of the yard.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dayton-herald-kaiser-to-get-shipyard/122572959/ |title=Kaiser To Get Shipyards |newspaper=[[The Dayton Herald]] |page=1 |date=February 22, 1943 |accessdate=April 9, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> As a result of the takeover, the size of the yard increased from 9,000 employees to over 14,000 just four months later. Eventually, {{convert|7|mi|km}} of road wound about the yard.<ref name="Journal" />

The first ships that the yard produced were [[Liberty ship]]s. After 10 ships were completed, 21 frigates were built. After those ships were finished, 32 [[Amphibious cargo ship|attack cargo ships]] (Navy hull designation AKA) were constructed and launched. In the three years that the yard was in operation, 63 ships were eventually launched and completed.<ref name="Journal" />

After learning from their initial mistakes, workers became more skilled with the building of ships. It took only 136 days from the keel laying to delivery of the attack cargo ships. The fastest turnover took a mere 82 days.<ref name="Journal" /> On September 1, 1945, [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]] [[James Forrestal]] wrote to T.{{nbsp}}J. Walsh, the head of the company, praising the work of the local yard and saying that it was preeminent in building the great arsenal that helped save the world.<ref name="Journal" />{{efn|While one source mentions that President [[Harry S. Truman]] visit the site, escorted by [[J. Howard McGrath]],<ref name="Journal" /> then [[Governor of Rhode Island]], contemporary reporting of such a visit is lacking.}}

Work was described as decent by the workers who labored there. Wages were also high due to the influence that the [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL) had in the area. Common laborers at the yard earned 85 cents an hour.<ref name="Journal" />

The steady employment actually helped the local economy as the yard employed 18,767 on September 30, 1944. Three months later the payroll included 20,879. During the yard's peak in January 1945, 21,264 people were employed. Among these numbers were over 3,000 women. At the end of the war, the shipyard closed after laying off over 3,000 people in three months.<ref name="Journal" /> In October 1945, it was reported that the Maritime Commission agreed to sell the property to the [[Providence, Rhode Island|City of Providence]] for approximately $308,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122638198/company-may-request-shipyard-buildings/ |title=Company May Request Shipyard Buildings |newspaper=[[Newport Mercury]] |location=[[Newport, Rhode Island]] |page=5 |date=October 19, 1945 |accessdate=April 10, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Post-war use==
A [[drive-in theater]] with a 1,700 car capacity operated on the site of the yard from 1957 to 1976.<ref name="Cinematreasures">{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/theater/10481/|title=Shipyard Drive-In|date=2010|publisher=Cinematreasures.org|access-date=18 March 2010|location=[[Providence, Rhode Island]]}}</ref> In the late 1970s, there were plans to construct a cargo [[container port]] at the site, but efforts fell through and two cranes are all that remained.<ref name="Journal" />

The area has subsequently been reused by a few companies. Circa 1999, [[Johnson & Wales University]] had taken over a portion of the yard for their culinary arts program.<ref name="Journal" />

==Ships built==
===Liberty Ships===
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* {{SS|James De Wolf}}
* {{SS|John Clarke}}
* {{SS|Lyman Abbott}}
* {{SS|Moses Brown}}
* {{SS|Samuel Gorton}}
* {{SS|William Coddington}}
{{div col end}}

===Colony-class frigates===
[[File:HMS Anguilla 1944 IWM FL 669.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|[[HMS Anguilla|HMS ''Anguilla'']]]]
Most of the [[Colony-class frigate]] names corresponded to an island or archipelago—such as [[Anguilla]], [[Antigua]], [[Ascension Island|Ascension]], and so forth—that was (in the era built) a [[Crown colony]] or [[British protectorate]]. Exceptions were [[Nyasaland]] and [[British Somaliland|Somaliland]], British protectorates in Africa.
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[HMS Anguilla|HMS ''Anguilla'' (K500)]]
* {{HMS|Antigua|K501}}
* [[HMS Ascension|HMS ''Ascension'' (K502)]]
* [[HMS Bahamas|HMS ''Bahamas'' (K503)]]
* {{HMS|Barbados|K504}} 
* {{HMS|Caicos|K505}}
* {{HMS|Cayman|K506}}
* {{HMS|Dominica|K507}}
* {{HMS|Labuan|K584}}
* {{HMS|Tobago|K585}}
* {{HMS|Montserrat|K586}}
* {{HMS|Nyasaland|K587}}
* {{HMS|Papua|K588}}
* {{HMS|Pitcairn|K589}}
* {{HMS|St. Helena|K590}}
* {{HMS|Sarawak|K591}}
* {{HMS|Seychelles|K592}}
* {{HMS|Perim|K593}}
* {{HMS|Somaliland|K594}}
* {{HMS|Tortola|K595}}
* {{HMS|Zanzibar|K596}}
{{div col end}}

===''{{visible anchor|Artemis}}''-class attack cargo ships===
A July 1945 newspaper report stated that the Walsh-Kaiser Company had named each of its [[Artemis-class attack cargo ship|''Artemis''-class attack cargo ship]] after stars.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122569227/uss-xenia-named-for-star-not-city/ |title='USS Xenia' Named For Star, Not City |newspaper=[[Springfield News-Sun]] |location=[[Springfield, Ohio]] |page=10-A |date=July 29, 1945 |accessdate=April 9, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> However, this was questioned at the time,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/122571311/new-sidelights/ |title=News Sidelights |newspaper=[[Dayton Daily News]] |page=A-3 |date=August 2, 1945 |accessdate=April 9, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> and appears to be in error. Most of the ship names correspond to the names of [[minor planet]]s (asteroids): [[105 Artemis]],  [[881 Athene]], [[419 Aurelia]], and so forth through [[840 Zenobia]]. There are three exceptions, in which ships were named for [[constellation]]s: [[Corvus (constellation)|Corvus]], [[Hydrus]], and [[Lacerta]].

[[File:USS Lacerta (AKA-29) underway, circa in 1945.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.8|[[USS Lacerta|USS ''Lacerta'']]]]
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* {{USS|Artemis|AKA-21}} 
* [[USS Athene|USS ''Athene'' (AKA-22)]] 
* [[USS Aurelia|USS ''Aurelia'' (AKA-23)]] 
* [[USS Birgit|USS ''Birgit'' (AKA-24)]] 
* {{USS|Circe|AKA-25}} 
* {{USS|Corvus|AKA-26}} 
* {{USS|Devosa|AKA-27}} 
* {{USS|Hydrus|AKA-28}} 
* {{USS|Lacerta|AKA-29}} 
* {{USS|Lumen|AKA-30}}
* {{USS|Medea|AKA-31}} 
* {{USS|Mellena|AKA-32}} 
* {{USS|Ostara|AKA-33}} 
* [[USS Tanner (AGS-15)|USS ''Pamina'' (AKA-34)]]
* {{USS|Polana|AKA-35}} 
* [[USS Maury (AGS-16)|USS ''Renate'' (AKA-36)]]
* {{USS|Roxane|AKA-37}} 
* {{USS|Sappho|AKA-38}} 
* {{USS|Sarita|AKA-39}}
* {{USS|Scania|AKA-40}}
* {{USS|Selinur|AKA-41}}
* {{USS|Sidonia|AKA-42}} 
* {{USS|Sirona|AKA-43}} 
* {{USS|Sylvania|AKA-44}} 
* {{USS|Tabora|AKA-45}} 
* {{USS|Troilus|AKA-46}} 
* {{USS|Turandot|AKA-47}}
* {{USS|Valeria|AKA-48}} 
* [[USS Thor|USS ''Vanadis'' (AKA-49)]] 
* {{USS|Veritas|AKA-50}}
* {{USS|Xenia|AKA-51}} 
* {{USS|Zenobia|AKA-52}}
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/kwalsh.htm List of ships built by Walsh-Kaiser Company, Inc.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130409023625/http://www.liberty-ship.com/html/yards/walshkaiser.html History of Walsh-Kaiser] via [[Wayback Machine]]

{{Liberty ships}}
{{Tacoma class patrol frigate}}
{{Artemis class attack cargo ship}}
{{MARCOMships}}
{{WWII US ships}}


[[Category:United States Navy shipyards]]
[[Category:Shipyards of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipyards of Rhode Island]]
[[Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States]]
[[Category:United States home front during World War II]]
[[Category:Companies based in Providence, Rhode Island]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Rhode Island]]
[[Category:Cranston, Rhode Island]]
[[Category:Military installations in Rhode Island]]
[[Category:1942 establishments in Rhode Island]]