Marinette, Wisconsin’s Combat Ship: USS Marinette Launch

Building a

L E G A C Y The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the

USS Marinette

A publication of the EagleHerald

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

Victory at sea begins on local shores I

By JAN ALLMAN Chief Executive Officer at Fincantieri Marinette Marine

t is an esteemed honor for Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) to build the Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ships.

The future USS Marinette stands out in its class because it represents all the work and tireless contributions of our team and the local community.

The future USS Marinette is a tribute to the men and women who have worked hard to make the LCS program a true success for the U.S. Navy and for our country. It commemorates the patriotic values of FMM which epitomizes the ideal Midwestern work ethic that occurs in the shipyard every day. The future USS Marinette is a symbol of recognizing the exponential growth, opportunity and success down the road ahead, which has positioned FMM as an economic powerhouse for our beautiful community.

After humble beginnings starting with a few employees and a small contract to build wooden barges during the second World War, FMM has transitioned into one of America’s premier naval shipyards and remains committed to building “Tomorrow’s Navy” in partnership with thousands of suppliers and businesses across the Midwest.

Today, thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements by our parent company, Fincantieri, we have an expansive shipyard with climate-controlled facilities, state-of-the-art computer-guided manufacturing equipment and staffed by an elite team of shipbuilding professionals. We’re a shipyard with the ability to build complex warships in serial production. Our recent award by the U.S. Navy to build the Constellation Class guided missile frigates FFG 62 will ensure prosperity for our region for many years to come.

I want to congratulate the exceptional men and women of FMM for their uncompromising efforts to deliver quality, and for accepting the deep personal responsibility of building ships that will carry our sailors into harm’s way. I ²Ď ÑÕÕįĈŚ ²įįIJÕË÷²ľ÷ŗÕ Ėë ĖŃIJ ŘĖIJąëĖIJËÕ ëĖIJ įĖŘÕIJ÷ďì ľòIJĖŃìò ľòÕ Ñ÷ëť ËŃĈľ÷ÕĶ ľòÕŚ ò²ŗÕ ë²ËÕÑ ŘĖIJą÷ďì ľòIJĖŃìò ľòÕ current viral pandemic. We are a critical infrastructure, and our employees’ dedication to come in every day is really a testament to their pride and work ethic.

To the citizens of Marinette and Menominee, you have our promise that the shipyard will continue to value and maintain our close relationship with the community; that we will actively participate in charitable and community events; that we will continue to provide safe working conditions and good-paying jobs; that our commitment to the health, safety and personal growth of each employee remains steadfast; and that we will ensure our future by continuing our outreach to local schools to recruit and train the next generation of shipbuilders.

To the men and women who crew the future USS Marinette, please know that the thoughts and prayers of our Ķò÷įÊŃ÷ĈÑ÷ďì ľÕ²Ďʏ ²ďÑ ľòÕ Ë÷ľ÷ÕĶ Ėë \²IJ÷ďÕľľÕ ²ďÑ \ÕďĖĎ÷ďÕÕ Ř÷ĈĈ Ķ²÷Ĉ Ř÷ľò ŚĖŃ ²Ķ ŚĖŃ įIJĖŃÑĈŚ Ñ÷ĶįĈ²Ś ĖŃIJ Ŧ ²ì ²ËIJĖĶĶ ľòÕ ĖËÕ²ďĶ Ėë ľòÕ ìĈĖÊÕʕ ò²ďą ŚĖŃ ëĖIJ ŚĖŃIJ ĶÕIJŗ÷ËÕ ²ďÑ Ķ²ËIJ÷ť ËÕʕ

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Hometown Proud!

All of us at Jack’s Fresh Market congratulate the team at Marinette Marine on the launch of the USS Marinette!

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

Retired Dr. Jim Boren shares some history of Fincantieri Marinette Marine.

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EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard

The history book begins with Boren The son of its founder reflects on one ‘fairytale’ of a story

By JOHN MORTON Special to the EagleHerald MARINETTE — It was five years ago when Dr. Jim Boren was invited to check out his old stomping grounds.

As the , who founded Marinette Marine Corporation as the result of what he thought was his civic duty, he has powerful memories of his teenage years when World War II inspired his father to balance his medical practice with, of all things, ship building.

“I was amazed at how they reorganized the process and made it into an assembly line,” he said of the modern-day facility, still at its original site along the Menominee River on Ely Street. “It’s unbelievable.”

Equally unbelievable, Boren said, was the scene in 1943 when he watched his mother Gertrude and sister Esther christen the first two wooden barges built by his father’s team. They were completed in less than a year from when the company was awarded its first government contract.

“It’s a good story of a company starting from scratch, and it’s by an eyelash that it ever survived,” Boren, now 96, said. “There were 24 bidders when my father approached the Navy to build five ships, and his bid was the lowest (at $178,731 each). He didn’t even have a shipyard.

“But what he did have were lots of trees in his county and lots of people accustomed to working with wood.”

He paused, thought more about it, and said: “Actually, it’s more like a fairytale.”

So, what would his father think of the idea that, 80 years after he first dreamed of being a shipbuilder, a $500-plus-million combat ship named the USS Marinette, would be launching from Marinette Marine?

“Oh, I’m sure he’d be proud of that,” Boren said. “Very proud.”

THIS ONE’S FOR UNCLE SAM Pride is among the words that described C. H. Boren’s initiative, but greed is not.

“His goal was never to make money, but to give something to the community and to the country,” Boren said. “He felt Marinette could help arm America and the jobs could help Marinette.”

C. H. Boren’s time in Vienna in 1928 planted the seed for his premonition that another world war was looming.

“My father served in World War I as a medical officer in France,” Boren said. “He returned to Europe later for four months of studies and visited Germany and saw the deplorable conditions. ‘There’s going to be another war,’” he said.

Relaxing in his Marinette home, long retired after 35 years as a surgeon and general practitioner in town, Boren recently shared his father’s improbable story: C. H. Boren began to knock on doors in Washington, D.C. in 1940 to inquire about shipbuilding, only to be rejected. When the war finally involved the U.S., he approached local businesses to invest in his idea, but landed no backers.

He’d have to go it alone, mortgaging his house and life insurance while

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

“

... Boren continued also spending his personal savings and acquiring loans.

He would also have to be opportunistic. When Boren learned a storm had wiped out many white pines in Athelstane, he was off to purchase as many logs as he could.

“He was always going up into the county, looking for logs, often after work,” Boren said. “All this while being the busiest family practitioner in town.”

And C. H. Boren would have to be persuasive. He traveled to Chicago and tapped a naval architect named Gus Deering and a renowned shipbuilder named Pete Kargaard to take a chance and join his ranks, providing his company with some key players.

A board of directors was also established: Boren was president, Max Hellermann was vicepresident and general manager, Louis Staudenmaier was secretary, and Esther Boren was treasurer.

On April 14, 1942, formation of the company was on record.

When that first contract was awarded that year, those white pines came in handy. The first boats Boren built were called the White Pine Fleet, consisting of five 192-foot-long ships capable of carrying 1,400 tons each. They were

JIM BOREN son of the late Dr. C. H. Boren

ocean-going white-pine tugs came late in 1943 and were completed by late 1944. By this time, Marinette Marine had exploded in size with more than 550 employees.

Soon thereafter, Marinette Marine would begin to power its ships with motors and propellers, and next it took the leap into the use of steel.

“But wouldn’t you know it, they suddenly wanted them to build vessels that didn’t show up on radar and fall victim to underwater mines, so they went back to wood,” Boren said of the business and the builders. “They had to be versatile.”

and the business was on its way.

Here’s an excerpt of what Boren wrote to his employees and guests on May 23, 1943, the day of that historic first launch: “Today we briefly pause after gaining our first goal.

These launchings renew in us the firm determination to tackle the tasks ahead with even greater effort. The needs of these days demands a ‘total’ production from all of us, whether it be shipbuilding, farming, manufacturing, retailing or distribution. Our individual life and family future have a stake in this grim war.”

A second contract for six 65-foot

A MAN OF SAILING SHIPS, BUT NOT BUILDING THEM As for Jim Boren, despite his father’s hardcore commitment to his shipbuilding dreams, this son never worked at Marinette Marine.

Not even for a summer job.

“Nope, I never hammered a single nail. The pursuit of a medical career was always on my front burner,” said Boren, who attended medical school at Northwestern.

“Residencies would follow. I spent time in Chicago and up in Rochester (Minnesota).

“Like my father, I would become a wartime medical officer — I served on an 800-bed floating hospital (the USS Haven) during the Korean War.”

“His goal was never to make money, but to give something to the community and to the country. He felt Marinette could help arm America and the jobs could help Marinette.”

supply boats and needed to be towed by tugs, as they were without power. They were similar to barges.

Boren acquired the riverfront land from the city, which had been abandoned by a previous shipyard for delinquent taxes and now stood barren, and a mold loft with a 40foot by 180-foot concrete floor was constructed. Meanwhile, an airplane hangar in Menominee was purchased and brought to the yard to house equipment.

Finally, an administrative office from the Erdlitz Coal and Dock plant was moved to the shipbuilding site to complete the original setup.

A $10,000 loan from the local chamber of commerce followed,

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Recreational boating has been a passion in life, and Boren has sailed every nook and cranny of Green Bay a hundred times over. He’s long been a fixture at the M&M Yacht Club, with seven decades of competitive sailing under his belt. Boren has exceeded 2,000 miles of sailing in a year on many occasions, and for his 90th birthday he treated himself to a new boat.

“I got this Hunter 30 and the family threw me under the bus,” Boren said to a reporter with a sailing magazine in 2015. “My wife of 63 years, who is a good sailor in her own right, didn’t approve. She’s never been aboard the boat.

But we laugh about it; she’s a good sport.”

Doris Boren, Jim’s wife, passed away in 2016. Jim sold the boat shortly thereafter but still manages to hit the water with friends, including an outing during the summer of 2020.

“Sailing is a family tradition and I was involved in it as far back as the ’20s, when I was just a tot,” Boren said.

“The love of boats was always there for all of us.”

POST-WAR CHALLENGES, PROMISING FUTURE Now, back to Marinette Marine history: After the war the defense contracts dried up and Marinette Marine hit some tough times, Boren said.

“They were down to about 40 employees and scrambling to survive,” he said. “They ventured into more steel work, and aluminum, and built bridges for the Army.

Anything to stay afloat.”

Diversification became critical, he said.

“They even built some ferry boats that ended up in the harbor in New York City,” Boren said.

The Cold War would lead to another surge of business, Boren said, as Marinette Marine would once again thrive on Navy contracts. It was during this time that his father stepped aside, in 1955.

“He said he had accomplished everything he set out to do — he created something great for Marinette,” Boren said.

Going forward, the company was led by Harold Derusha, a man who worked his way up through the trenches.

“He started as a pipefitter, later became in charge of the yard, and eventually earned his way through the ranks of management,” Boren said. “He was a hard worker.”

Derusha would incorporate his children into the business, which in the 1970s saw expansion of the plant and contracts that included the building of the world’s largest commercial tugs at 500 feet in length.

In 2000, the Manitowoc Company bought the operation, and then in 2008 sold it to Italy’s Fincantieri Marine Group Holdings. That company further expanded the location to more than 550,000 square feet of manufacturing, warehousing and receiving space.

Over the years, more than 1,500 vessels have been built at the Marinette site. That includes nine littoral combat ships with more to come, and the USS Marinette will soon to be added to that list. It was awarded on March 31, 2016, and it certainly serves as a feather in the company’s cap.

“Yes, that was something. Those ships are almost the size of a destroyer,”” Boren said. “It’s quite a tribute.”

Would Boren like to be present when it launches this fall?

“If I’m invited, I’d love to be there,” he said. “I’m the last of the original Boren bunch, so it would be an honor.”

Meanwhile, this spring’s announcement by the Navy that 10 high-tech, high-powered frigates have also been ordered guarantees a solid future at Marinette Marine. The deal even brought President Donald Trump to little old Ely Street.

“What a great thing for this community,” Boren said of the deal that collectively could produce nearly $5.5 billion worth of ships. “It’s a pleasure to know my father is the one who’s so instrumental in this great shipbuilding history and it continues on and on.”

EagleHerald/ Rick Gebhard Marinette Marine Corp. workers wind down a staircase to hear company leaders and state and national politicians talk about the Navy’s all-butcertain bid of a 10-ship contract to the company Nov. 5, 2010.

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

navsource.org/ Craig Rothhammer Marinette (YTB-791) tied up at Norfolk, Virginia, circa December 1972. The large harbor tugs behind Marinette are from (from left), Paducah (YTB-758) and Menominee (YTB-790) are decorated for Christmas. Photo contributed by Craig Rothhammer to the National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors.

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USS Marinette Naming LCS was an uphill battle, spearheaded by F&MB&T

By PENNY MULLINS EagleHerald Retired News Editor MARINETTE — It all starts with an idea.

In the case of the naming of LCS 25, Fincantieri’s 25th Freedom-Class Littoral Combat Ship to be made in Marinette, it seemed only fitting that it should bear the name of the city in which it was created.

After all, many other ships had been gifted with the names of small- to medium-sized cities across the nation.

Why not Marinette?

To learn how the idea for the name came about, you have to go back almost three decades with Marinette resident Jerry Steppke, 83, who traveled with his brother in 1991 to attend the decommissioning of the USS Wisconsin (BB-64), an Iowa-class battleship.

The USS Wisconsin was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the State of Wisconsin. She was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia and launched on Dec. 7, 1943 (the second anniversary of the Pearl Harbor raid), sponsored by the wife of Gov. Walter Goodland of Wisconsin.

“The tugboat in front of the USS Wisconsin was named the Marinette,” Steppke said recently of his visit in 1991 with his brother, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps. “It got us back to shore from the Wisconsin.” He wanted to take a photograph of the tug, but he and just about everyone else was out of film. He said he was surprised and pleased to hear the tug had been built in Marinette.

Steppke, who served in the Wisconsin National Guard as an E-5 sergeant, has in his own history of service during the Berlin Crisis and as an honor guard at one point for then-President John F. Kennedy.

According to research, the Marinette (YTB-791) was placed in service in July 1967.

She was built at Marinette Marine Corp.

Fast-forward to 2011 — two decades later — when Steppke was in conversation with Tom Maxwell Sr. at Farmers & Merchants Bank & Trust in Marinette.

Steppke was telling Maxwell about an old life preserver he came across, one that bore the name of the City of Marinette, and he happened to mention the tugboat he ran across in 1991, named after Marinette.

“He said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could have one of these LCS ships named the USS Marinette?’” Maxwell said Steppke asked.

Maxwell loved the idea.

“Shortly thereafter, we got a committee together,” Maxwell told the EagleHerald. “In this day of divisive politics, if there is anything that cries out for bipartisan support, it’s something like this. So I got both Democrats and Republicans to be on the committee.”

He contacted legislators in multiple levels of government — Sen. Ron Johnson and then-Sen. Herb Kohl; later Sen. Tammy Baldwin, as well as Rep. Reid Ribble, to see what needed to be done.

Ship-naming is a political child, and often the names are given to areas of the country where particular elected officials wield considerable influence. The people of Marinette and Menominee had their work cut out for them, Maxwell said.

A letter-writing campaign was started and led to more than 3,700 signed letters requesting the Marinette name to be shared with Ribble, who delivered them to the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, in April 2012. Maxwell said the Secretary of the Navy is “really the key person in the naming of the ships.”

That handover was made to Mabus in 2012, Maxwell said, “and he just sat on it.”

He said the committee continued to press the Navy for the Marinette name, especially after hearing that the Navy was considering other names by 2016.

Within a week, the decision was made and in September 2016, it was announced by the Navy that the LCS 25 would be named “USS Marinette.”

Maxwell said many people were involved in the committee and the effort, and he singles out Donn Williams, a former radio announcer and reporter with the EagleHerald, who worked at F&MB&T in public relations, as well as the late Robert Harbick, a former mayor, who saw that letters were made available to all the schools in Marinette County.

“We didn’t have a set number of letters,” Maxwell said, “we just got as many as we could gather.”

Maxwell said he was more than pleased with the outcome.

“I think it is a great tribute to this area and especially to the workers down there,” he said of the communities of Marinette and Menominee, and Fincantieri Marinette Marine, which employs people from both sides of the river as well as other parts of the country.

Steppke said he was excited to hear the decision. “They deserved it,” he said of the workers at the local shipyard over the years.

òÕ \²IJ÷ďÕľľÕ Ř÷ĈĈ ÊÕ ľòÕ ť IJĶľ commissioned ship and second overall in U.S. naval service to be named after the city along the Menominee River, according to navalnews.com.

The initial Marinette in Navy service was a Nantick-class large harbor tug (YTB-791), also built in Marinette and in active service for nearly four decades (1967-2005).

“LCS 25 is named to recognize the ľĖŘďʰĶ Ķ÷ìď÷ť Ë²ďľ ËĖďľIJ÷ÊŃľ÷ĖďĶ ľĖ Navy shipbuilding. Fincantieri Marinette Marine began operations in 1942 to provide U.S. ships for World War II. Marinette is the birthplace of Lockheed Martin’s Freedom-variant LCS, which Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine have partnered to produce for more than 16 years.

Each day, more than 1,500 residents of Marinette, Wisconsin and Menominee, Michigan, enter the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard to build LCS,” navalnews.com stated.

THE FIRST “MARINETTE”

BY THE NUMBERS Natick Class District Harbor Tug, built by Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, WI Laid down, Sept. 8, 1966 Launched, 10 April 10, 1967 Delivered, June 10, 1967 Placed in service as Marinette (YTB-791), July 3, 1967 Assigned to Fifth Naval District at Norfolk, VA. Placed out of service, date unknown Struck from the Naval Register, May 25, 2005 Sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) to John Van Puffelen, Savanah Marine Services Inc., for $125,000, Aug. 2, 2006 Final disposition, fate unknown

SPECIFICATIONS "÷ĶįĈ²ËÕĎÕďľ ɺʀɻ ľĖďĶ ʡĈľʢ ɻɽɾ ľĖďĶ ʡ Ŧ ʢ Length 109 ft.

Beam 31 ft.

Draft 14 ft.

Speed 12 knots Complement 12 Armament unknown Propulsion diesel, single screw

EagleHerald | 11

We are proud... to have been instrumental in organizing the letter-writing campaign to name the next Littoral Combat Ship, the...

USS Marinette This is a real tribute to the

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

Submitted to the EagleHerald Fourteen employees of Marinette Marine Corporation were honored at a dinner at Riverside Country Club on a Tuesday evening for more than a quarter century of service with the company. Pictured, from left, are: Top row: Donald Thompson, Auther S. Homa, George F. Mueller, Erwin M. Hellermann, Elmer J. Johnson, and Louis G. Englund; and bottom row: Edward E. Vogltanz, Nelson G. Taylor, Ernest G. Bauer, Alvin J. Hanson, President Harold H. Dershal, Alvin Duellette, Lawrence W. Rebideau and Ralph G. Holub. Harry MacFarlane was absent when the photo was taken.

Keeping family in the mix Mary Ann Nyman shares fond memories of Marinette Marine

By ABBY KNIPFEL EagleHerald Staff Writer | aknipfel@eagleherald.com Mary Ann Nyman had just been born when Marinette Marine was founded in 1942.

Nyman’s father, Lawrence Rabideau, was a welder who spent his early life and career working on several ships operating in the Great Lakes. When Mary Ann was born, he was working on a wooden barge called the Yankunak.

Rabideau, who needed a better paying job to help support his young, growing family, heard about a man in Marinette, Harold Derusha, who was working at a fledgling shipbuilding company.

So the next day Rabideau went to Marinette, met Derusha, and by the end of the day, he had a

new job, as the second-ever employee of the new company, Marinette Marine.

When Marinette Marine began, the company was only building wooden barges that were common to American waterways during this period. The company had to slowly work its way up to becoming the massive, Navy-contracted shipbuilding operation we all know today.

In the early years of the company, its main goal was just to outgrow his local competition.

Derusha started as a general employee and worked his way up to the head of the company.

“Harold wanted to be bigger and better than

Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, I remember him saying,” explained Mary Ann. “He wanted the company to be the biggest shipyard in the (Green) Bay, and I do think that he achieved that dream. Marinette Marine took off after a few years and started to get more and more contracts and hiring many more people.”

Because Rabideau was one of the first hires, he and Derusha had a close working relationship all their lives. Every summer, Marinette Marine, would host a special picnic for workers and their families. These picnics is where Mary Ann interacted with the company’s old guard the most.

See Family ...

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

... Family continued “There would always be something exciting going on for workers with younger kids. Harold would always hand out these toys to the younger kids. I remember that he once gave all the little boys complete sets of Lone Ranger toys, with the guns, and the belts and the hats. And he would give all the little girls these great big dolls. It was always something I looked forward to,” Mary Ann recalled. “When the kids were older, usually teenagers, they were in charge of serving the ice cream at the picnic. I still remember doing that with my siblings.”

Because of special events like this, being well paid and a general aura of solidarity, each of the first 14 workers who were first hired stayed with the company for over 25 years.

After 25 years of success, Marinette Marine held a massive dinner party at Riverside Country Club to celebrate the company and to honor the 14 employees who had been employed there since the beginning.

During this party, Rabideau and the other men who had worked at Marinette Marine received praise and a gift of watches. The other 13 men who had worked at Marinette Marine since its inception were: Donald Thompson, Arthur Homa, George Mueller, Erwin Hellermann, Elmer Johnson, Louis England, Edward Vogltanz, Nelson Taylor, Ernest Bauer, Alvin Hanson, Alvin Ouellette, Ralph Houb and Harry MacFarlane.

During the celebration, Derusha did something

See Family ...

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Submitted by Mary Ann Nyman People enjoy one of many events Marinette Marine put on for employees and their families.

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

Submitted by Mary Ann Nyman Workers and their wives gather at the bar for conversation during a Marinette Marine employee event.

Photo Credit: AerialPicPro

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... Family continued very special for Mary Ann’s mother, Bernice. He gave her a specially made corsage to wear on her dress during the event. When asked why he did this, Mary Ann said, “Harold did a lot of things for a lot of people just because he was nice. And he never told people what he did, he wasn’t that type of guy.”

And this view of Harold that Mary Ann held throughout her life seems to be rather accurate. She recounts another story of the first time Harold met her son, “When my son was only a few years old, Harold asked my father if I was going to come around to that year’s picnic, and my father told him that I had some young children of my own now, so Harold said to my father ‘Well bring those kids along!’ and my father did. I had to stay home, but my father took my son to the company picnic and when they came back my son had a toy firetruck that was almost as big as he was!”

Rabideau ended up working for Marinette Marine for nearly 40 years. He worked there from its founding in 1942 until his unfortunate passing in 1983, at the age of 63. Sadly, Rabideau’s death was due to several health complications and a broken heart. Mary Ann’s mother, Bernice, passed away a few years after Marinette Marine celebrated its 25 anniversary.

“My father never really recovered after she died, he kept going into work up until the end, but his heart just wasn’t in it anymore,” Mary Ann said.

While Mary Ann has never worked at Marinette Marine personally, several of her family members have continued working at the company in some capacity for several years.

But still, after all these years, Mary Ann is still extremely proud of the company that her father helped to build from the ground up.

“

“There would always be something exciting going on for workers with younger kids.

Harold would always hand out these toys to the younger kids. I remember that he once gave all the little boys complete sets of Lone Ranger toys, with the guns, and the belts and the hats. And he would give all the little girls these great big dolls. It was always something I looked forward to. When the kids were older, usually teenagers, they were in charge of serving the ice cream at the picnic. I still remember doing that with my siblings.”

MARY ANN NYMAN Daughter of Lawrence Rabideau, second hire at Marinette Marine

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The Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship is a resilient,

USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) December 4, 2010 USS Freedom (LCS 1) September 23, 2006

Photos provided by Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Lockheed Martin and EagleHerald Photographer Rick Gebhard.

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Ŧ Õř÷ÊĈÕ Ř²IJĶò÷įʏ ÑÕĶ÷ìďÕÑ ëIJĖĎ ľòÕ ąÕÕĈ Ńį ľĖ ²ëëĖIJѲÊĈŚ ľ²ąÕ Ėď ďÕŘ Ë²į²Ê÷Ĉ÷ľ÷ÕĶ including advanced sensors, missiles and cutting-edge cyber systems. Its speed, strength and versatility make it a critical tool to help sailors achieve their missions.

LCS can serve surface, anti-submarine and mine countermeasure missions. LCS can also deploy manned and unmanned aerial, surface or sub-surface missions.

Additionally, more than a third of the hull is open and ready to take on new capability. LCS has Aegis-derived COMBATSS-21 combat management system to quickly add capabilities

USS Milwaukee ( December 1

Freedom-variant Specs BEAM (OVERALL) 17.6 meters (57.7 feet)

CORE CREW 50; Accommodations for 98 sailors

DRAFT 4.3 meters (14.1 feet)

HANGAR SPACE Two MH-60 helicopters or one MH60 helicopter and one Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MQ-8 Firescout) FLIGHT DECK Over 1.5 times that of traditional surface combatants

CORE SELF-DEFENSE SUITE TRS-4D Air Search Radar, SeaRAM (r) medium caliber 57 mm Mk 110 gun, gunfire control system and decoy launching system

2019

2018

2016

2015

2014

PROPULSION Combined diesel and gas turbine with steerable water jet propulsion

2017

FULL LOAD DISPLACEMENT Approximately 3.450 metric tons

MISSION SYSTEMS Includes COMBATSS-21 combat management system, automated radio room and an open architecture total ship computing environment

2021

SPEED Greater than 40 knots

2020

LENGTH 118.1 meters (387 feet)

USS Billings (LCS 15) July 1, 2017

USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (LCS 21) June 15, 2019

USS Detroit (LCS 7) October 18, 2014 USS Sioux City (LCS 11) January 30, 2016

USS Indianapolis (LCS 17) April 18, 2018

(LCS 5) 18, 2013 USS Little Rock (LCS 9) July 18, 2015

USS Cooperstown (LCS 23) January 19, 2020 USS Marinette (LCS 25) October 31, 2020

USS Wichita (LCS 13) September 17, 2016

USS St. Louis (LCS 19) December 15, 2018 EagleHerald | 19

BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

Home away from home Navy has strong relationship with Best Western Riverfront Inn

By EMILY HARWOOD EagleHerald Staff Writer | eharwood@eagleherald.com MARINETTE — Anyone who has lived or worked in the Marinette area has likely seen U.S. Navy personnel walking to and from their temporary (and often long-term) home: The Best Western Riverfront Inn. The hotel, located at 1821 Riverside Ave. in Marinette, is known locally for hosting crews of the U.S. Navy, as well as other personnel who work on ships at Fincantieri Marinette Marine. The Best Western’s relationship with the U.S. Navy began in 2008, when Fincantieri Marinette Marine was commissioned to build its first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the USS Freedom.

The impact this business relationship has been abundantly positive for the Best Western. Owners K.C. and Tara Wilson said the hotel has benefitted economically as well as culturally by the navy’s presence over the past 12 years.

The navy personnel have treated

the hotel and its staff respectfully and have contributed to the local community, the Wilsons said.

“With the number of sailors that have been here in the past 10 years, we have had almost zero problems,” K.C. said. “When they are here, they get involved in the community and we could never get a better customer base than them.”

Tara added that the navy crews and other personnel working at Marinette Marine have also actively helped the hotel with maintenance.

“With their volunteer hours, they’re painting rooms and helping out with a lot of other stuff.”

Tara said that ensuring the crews’ comfort is a top priority of the Wilsons and hotel staff and she understands how difficult it must be for many of them to be away for their homes for as long as they often are.

“They’re away from their families for a long time and we try to make this place their home away from

Congratulations on the launch of the USS Marinette!

“

“They’re away from their families for a long time and we try to make this place their home away from home, so they’re comfortable and happy with their experience here. They’re a great group of men and women.”

TARA WILSON Co-owner of the Best Western Riverfront Inn home, so they’re comfortable and happy with their experience here,” Tara said. “They’re a great group of men and women.”

During their stay, the navy crews become extended members of the hotel family, she said. Even after they leave the Best Western, Tara said she remains in contact with

many of them and has visited several on other bases throughout the country.

“I stay in contact with at least five people from each crew,” Tara said.

Like any “family,” the Best Western and Navy crews share a tradition that is passed along over the years: The wing sauce competition.

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The hotel’s restaurant, The Avenue Grille & Bar, is known for its signature wing sauces, several of which are named after the littoral combat ship (LCS) which are built at Fincantieri Marinette Marine. A new sauce, named after the newest LCS, is added to the menu during the stay of each crew.

To choose the sauce’s flavor, a competition is held among the ship’s crew.

“When a crew comes in, we have a contest with five judges and we will have five people on the crew come up with a sauce,” K.C. explained. “The five judges will pick a winning sauce and that becomes a permanent item on our menu.”

The restaurant has 11 sauces named after ships so far.

K.C. said the top three most popular sauces on the menu so far are Fortworth (strawberry habanero), Mackinaw (traditional sauce, dusted in Cajun) and Wichita (honey chipotle).

“I drop off a lot to the fire department and their favorites are the St. Louis (spicy garlic parmesan), Billings (Caribbean spices) and the honey barbecue, but those three (Fort Worth, Mackinaw and Wichita) are definitely the most popular ordered here,” Tara agreed.

She said there is a variety of flavors and each are popular menu items.

“It’s nice that when we have the contest, they often come up with different flavors and not just ‘even hotter buffalo sauce’ or something like that,” K.C. explained. “Our sauc-

es are really, really popular and we’ve been voted best wings in the area for eight years in a row.”

At the time of this interview, The Avenue Grille & Bar did not have a sauce named for the USS Marinette, because its crew had not arrived at the hotel.

Every Thursday night, The Avenue Grille & Bar has ‘Wing Night’ when its wings and signature sauces are featured. K.C. said these nights act as a “melting pot” for the many agencies that work on the navy ships built at Fincantieri Marinette Marine.

“They get together and sometimes I think more progress gets made over here than in the meeting rooms,” K.C. said.

K.C. said the navy crews have always been great guests but he does not deny the positive impact the navy has had on the hotel’s revenue as well.

“In a year’s time it provides a pretty good amount of revenue,” he said. “It’s really good for budgeting because we know that revenue is coming and we can plan for it.”

He said the navy allows the hotel to have a planned spike in business about two times a year, that has been helpful when budgeting for an upcoming season.

Overall, K.C. said the navy continues to be a welcomed guest who positively affect almost every aspect of the Best Western Riverfront Inn. “They just top notch. It’s a real tribute to our military,” he added.

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

Dennis Kaczmarczyk: Employee at FMM 45 years Family has worked at company for generations, with tradition continuing on

By WES BEYER EagleHerald Staff Writer | wbeyer@eagleherald.com MARINETTE — How long have you had the job you have? Who’s the person who has worked where you work the longest? At Fincantieri Marinette Marine, that person is Dennis Kaczmarczyk, who has been working at the shipyard laying pipes in their watercraft for nearly 45 years.

“I like my job,” Kaczmarczyk said. “I’ve been here longer than some of these younger people I work with have been alive.”

Kaczmarczyk’s relationship goes back several generations to his grandfather, Leo Kaczmarczyk Sr., who also spent his career in the shipyard.

Kaczmarczyk’s father, Leo Kaczmarczyk Jr., also worked at Marinette Marine, and for a short period of time, all three of them worked there together.

“I’d see my grandpa driving through and I’d wave at him as he went by; it was kind of a weird feeling,” he said.

He couldn’t remember exactly how long his grandfather had worked at the shipyard, but Kaczmarczyk said his father had worked at Marinette Marine for nearly the same amount of time as him, meaning that there’s been at minimum one Kaczmarczyk employed by

Marinette Marine for roughly 100 years or more.

And that streak is going to continue, as Kaczmarczyk’s son, Jason Kaczmarczyk, started working at Marinette Marine about two years ago installing machinery into the ships.

“I don’t really work with him at all,” Jason said.

“He’s particular about a lot of stuff, but he’s really great at his job. Just having him around is great.”

Kaczmarczyk said some of the biggest changes to the shipyard came with the new buildings that were put up in his time there. As the shipyard grew, he said older buildings were replaced and newer buildings were added, and there aren’t too many of the old buildings still left.

As FMM grew, the ships they built also grew with them. When walking through the hallways in the main office building, the walls are covered in pictures of the ships that have come out of the shipyard. “You look at all of those pictures of those ships; I’ve worked on them all,” he said.

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EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard Dennis Kaczmarczyk, standing in front of the USS Marinette, has worked at Fincantieri Marinette Marine for 45 years.

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

... Kaczmarczyk continued Kaczmarczyk said he had working at FMM was when the shipyard received a visit from a sitting U.S. president.

When President Donald Trump visited the shipyard, Kaczmarczyk said he got a brief chance to talk with him. “He came right up to our group and chatted for a while and went on to another group,” he said.

Kaczmarczyk also said he almost got to see the president’s secret service in action. During Trump’s tour of the shipyard, Kaczmarczyk said one of the organizers was trying to get to another worker to tell him to stop working before the president came by his area. “She was, you know, running over there, and I see the secret service guys with pistols drawn, and she said, “I’m just going over to tell him to stop working,’” he said.

Kaczmarczyk not only holds the record at FMM for longest-tenured employee, but also a

26 | EagleHerald

“

“I like my job. I’ve been here longer than some of these younger people I work with have been alive.”

DENNIS KACZMARCZYK Employee at FMM for 45 years unique safety record. He, along with about seven or eight other employees, have gone more then 40 years without having a reportable accident.

Accidents still happen at the shipyard, but for Kaczmarczyk and the others who hold this safety streak with him, theirs haven’t been more serious than a small slip. “I think I broke a finger once, but that was at home,” he said.

As with all things, however, Kaczmarczyk’s time at FMM will likely come to a close in the coming year. He said he plans to retire in April of 2021. Jason said he is honored to work at the same place his dad, grandfather and greatgrandfather worked and will be carrying on his family tradition of employment at Marinette Marine.

AP Photo/Evan Vucci President Donald Trump speaks as he tours Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Thursday, June 25, 2020, in Marinette, Wisconsin.

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard This photo, taken in October 2011, shows the already large expanse of buildings Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) had built looking from the Interstate Bridge, with FMM to the right. FMM has invested millions of dollars in its shipyard along the

Community grows wit Local government on board to make sure growth is possible

By PENNY MULLINS EagleHerald Retired News Editor

MARINETTE — Fincantieri Marinette Marine has invested millions of dollars in its shipyard along the banks of the Menominee River, and that investment continues to benefit our community and beyond.

The growth of the shipyard over the last decade can be measured not only in the number of buildings and manufacturing upgrades, but in the increase of personnel and relationships with other companies and suppliers.

Jan Allman, president and chief executive officer at Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), said that the shipyard will add approximately 700 new employees to the existing 1,300 people

28 | EagleHerald

currently working there as the shipyard ramps up in the next few months for production of the FFG(X) frigates.

FFG(X) is the notional designation for the Constellation class multi-mission guided-missile frigates for the United States Navy; it was to be contracted from July 2020 as a follow-on to the modular littoral combat ship.

The first ship should be delivered in 2026 and should be operational by 2030, with final operational capability declared by 2032.

While Fincantieri Marinette Marine will not complete its LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) program until 2023, it is under contract with the U.S. Navy to begin the FFG(X) program. There already is a plan in place for new buildings — Buildings 34 & 35 — while the FFG(X) is still in the design phase.

The shipyard is currently involved in installing

the synchrolift, a modernized boat-launching facility that gently floats the ships rather than dropping them sideways into the water, and in finalizing the building expansion. Allman said the building design is complete and FMM recently selected the supplier who will do the construction. Barriers to mark the construction of Buildings 34 and 35 were expected to be in place before the end of October.

Fincantieri has invested more than $180 million in its U.S.operations since 2009, which include FMM, as well as Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay and Fincantieri ACE Marine in Green Bay, both of which are involved in the modular design system.

See Growth ...

banks of the Menominee River over the last decade. The growth can be measured not only in the number of buildings and manufacturing upgrades, but in the increase of personnel and relationships with other companies and suppliers.

th shipyard

“

“If you look at it from just the size of a ship, an LCS is 3,500 metric tons and FFG(X) is 7,400 metric tons and you’re building two of those, so you need more workers, more materials. You’re basically doubling your quantity, your order area, your magnitude of what is needed. So, as we grow, all of them grow as well.”

JAN ALLMAN President and Chief Executive Officer at Fincantieri Marinette Marine

Salute to the USS Marinette!

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

“

“It was a shining light ( for the community) when they got that contract. They were up against some tough competition and they won.

While she admits “there are challenges with housing and parking” when FMM brings in more workers, Boudreau said the chamber and its members are more than willing to help in any way possible.”

JACQUELINE BOUDREAU Executive Director of the Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce ... Growth continued Since 2009, Fincantieri Marinette Marine has doubled the volume of production man hours from 1.5 million to 3 million. FMM has paid an estimated $1.6 billion in wages and salaries to local employees.

“Over 2,500 people enter the shipyard each day,” Allman said of the FMM employees, as well as all of the suppliers and construction partners. The number of shipyard employees has increased by 90% since 2009, by adding 1,200 new jobs.

Fincantieri is the largest employer in the region, drawing full-time employees from Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as other parts of the country.

It is estimated 40% of the workforce comes

EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard Marinette Marine builds another building Wednesday, July 20, 2011.

Committed to Our Communities

Best Wishes on the Launch of the USS Marinette!

from Michigan.

In addition to the full-time employees, there are numerous subcontractors and suppliers passing through the gates.

“We have a vast supply chain,” Allman said.

“There are over 200 (companies) in Wisconsin alone, and 900 nationwide.” FMM has paid out more than $3.3 billion to that supply chain from 2009-2019, with $1.2 billion going to firms in Wisconsin alone.

Some of those companies that have forged an ongoing relationship with Marinette Marine have opened facilities in Marinette or created satellite offices, including Trident Maritime Systems out

See Growth ...

USS Marinette: Built Strong, Built Proud Congratulations Ship Builders and Suppliers!

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“

“It was a shining light ( for the community) when they got that contract. They were up against some tough competition and they won.

While she admits “there are challenges with housing and parking” when FMM brings in more workers, Boudreau said the chamber and its members are more than willing to help in any way possible.”

JACQUELINE BOUDREAU Executive Director of the Marinette Menominee Area Chamber of Commerce ... Growth continued Since 2009, Fincantieri Marinette Marine has doubled the volume of production man hours from 1.5 million to 3 million. FMM has paid an estimated $1.6 billion in wages and salaries to local employees.

“Over 2,500 people enter the shipyard each day,” Allman said of the FMM employees, as well as all of the suppliers and construction partners. The number of shipyard employees has increased by 90% since 2009, by adding 1,200 new jobs.

Fincantieri is the largest employer in the region, drawing full-time employees from Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as other parts of the country.

It is estimated 40% of the workforce comes

from Michigan.

In addition to the full-time employees, there are numerous subcontractors and suppliers passing through the gates.

“We have a vast supply chain,” Allman said.

“There are over 200 (companies) in Wisconsin alone, and 900 nationwide.” FMM has paid out more than $3.3 billion to that supply chain from 2009-2019, with $1.2 billion going to firms in Wisconsin alone.

Some of those companies that have forged an ongoing relationship with Marinette Marine have opened facilities in Marinette or created satellite offices, including Trident Maritime Systems out

See Growth ...

USS Marinette: Built Strong, Built Proud Congratulations Ship Builders and Suppliers!

Chart your course in The Real North therealnorth.com

EagleHerald | 31

BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

... Growth continued

EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard A welder works on the USS Marinette Dec. 17, 2019, at Fincantieri Marinette Marine.

32 | EagleHerald

of Arlington, Virginia; Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy.

“If you look at the ones who have moved locally — some of those are our subcontractors that help us actually build the ships — and we have longstanding partnerships,” Allman said, adding that those partnerships continue from the LCS program to the FFG(X) program.

“There are about the same number of suppliers that you are going to have for the FFG(X) program as you have on the littoral combat ships … however, there is a difference in the magnitude of growth,” she said.

“If you look at it from just the size of a ship, an LCS is 3,500 metric tons and FFG(X) is 7,400 metric tons and you’re building two of those, so you need more workers, more materials. You’re basically doubling your quantity, your order area, your magnitude of what is needed.

So, as we grow, all of them grow as well,” she said.

“The good news is we have been able to help leverage our system of shipyards,” Allman said.

“We have Bay and ACE. ACE, for instance, helps build the superstructure and Bay helps make steel modules. So, even though we are able to grow and expand, we also are growing those businesses, especially Bay Ship — they are growing and expanding as well.”

The flow of work is what allows FMM to get the projects done on time.

“We’re maximizing our system of shipyards to meet the needs of the Navy,” Allman said. “And

we are leveraging our system of shipyards to ensure we can hit the capacity.”

Although somewhat limited by the physical footprint of its holdings along the Menominee River, FMM has reached beyond that area to expand its services. Work is underway to convert the former Younkers store in the Pine Tree Mall as an office and training annex.

Bethany Skorik, senior manager, public affairs and government relations at FMM, said the shipbuilder will move more than 100 employees to the new location, which could ultimately see that number double with training programs.

“We have a 10-15 year lease,” Skorik said of the strong relationship FMM has formed to create the office base at the mall.

As FMM works to complete one contract, it begins plans to put the others in motion gradually, Allman said.

“We have the LCS, the multimission surface combatants and then the FFG(X). How the program is set up, you build one, one and then two, so the ramping of the employees is much more gradual than immediate upward ramp.

From increasing your workforce and developing your workforce, you are able to do that over time.”

She said “right now we have a lot of activity going on — between us and our sister shipyard at Fincantieri Bay Ship — to be able to prepare for that next generation frigate.”

The first frigate has been named the USS Constellation, the original ship in the Constellation Class.

The new employees will come in waves, she said. “Engineering was our first wave that we’re bringing in, then as it progresses, it will shift more to manufacturing.”

People hired for the new program will be pulled in ahead of construction for training.

Much of that training will be held in the new offices at the Pine Tree Mall, where, “approximately 120 of our employees who are not as critical to have in the yard every day” will be located, Allman said.

Growth at FMM means growth in the community, and Allman said there are ongoing talks with government officials on both sides on the river about housing and more.

“The mayor (of Marinette) has been working (with us) … has participated in discussions about our needs and what’s needed in the community,” she said.

That information is also shared with officials in Menominee, who are updated “about our plans and the needs for growth. I think both Marinette and Menominee are looking at what they can do to support the influx of personnel that’s going to be needed over the next several years,” Allman said.

Area leaders were more than pleased when FMM received the FFG(X) contract with the U.S. Navy in 2020.

“It was a shining light (for the community) when they got that contract. They were up against some tough competition and they won,” said Jacqueline Boudreau, executive director of the Marinette Menominee Area Chamber

“

“This honors and recognizes our employees and we are very proud. Shipbuilding is hard work.”

JAN ALLMAN President and Chief Executive Officer at Fincantieri Marinette

of Commerce. While she admits “there are challenges with housing and parking” when FMM brings in more workers, Boudreau said the chamber and its members are more than willing to help in any way possible.

While the world, the nation and the community are still reeling from the pandemic, COVID-19 never stopped construction at FMM, Allman said.

“We are part of critical infrastructure, so we don’t shut down our shipyard. Very early on, and I think this is some of our advantage, is that when COVID first started — it hit Europe rather hard, particularly Italy,” Allman said of the location of FMM’s parent company.

“So we were able to learn a lot from Fincantieri of what their action plans were, their experiences were, to help us build up our emergency procedures to basically handle a pandemic.”

In the early days of the coronavirus in the United States, there were weekly calls set up between the Fincantieri shipyards and the government to follow updates “so we could do

rapid improvements,” Allman said.

FMM has a regimented cleaning, contact tracing and quarantining policy, she said, which is fluid to respond to the coronavirus’ path, which is “ever-evolving in the area. But we do as best we can to mitigate it, particularly when you have community spread,” something Allman said is a challenge for any business.

As the USS Marinette prepared for its launch in October, which was definitely downplayed from the community event planned prior to the pandemic, Allman said the LCS named after its hometown was a tribute to the local workforce that builds quality ships.

A larger celebration is now eyed for some time in the spring/summer of 2021, which will include a launch and christening that will involve the entire community.

“This honors and recognizes our employees and we are very proud,” Allman said of the naming of the USS Marinette. “Shipbuilding is hard work.”

EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard Marinette Marine expands their facilities Aug. 15, 2012 in Marinette.

EagleHerald | 33

USS Marinette Saturday, October 31, 2020

Photos provided by Fincantieri Marinette Marine 34 | EagleHerald

EagleHerald | 35

BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

USS Marinette hon

Launch represents hard work of employees despite lack of revelry

By DAN KITKOWSKI EagleHerald Staff Writer | dkitkowski@eagleherald.com MARINETTE — Although it lacked the pomp and circumstance of a typical ship launch, the Oct. 31 launch of LCS-25 at Fincantieri Marinette Marine was as significant as any such event at the shipyard. Maybe more significant.

That’s because this combat ship, the 13th in the Freedom Class, is named after Marinette, the city where it was built. And soon it will sail around the world, protecting our nation and her allies.

“I just feel so honored of being a part of Fincantieri Marinette Marine and being a part of the building of USS Marinette,” said Jan Allman, the CEO at Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM). “We’re so proud. I always tell people, ‘I build freedom every day’ and to see USS Marinette, that will resonate around the world when she travels. I think it’s an honor to have that name as part of the U.S. Navy legacy.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the launch of the USS Marinette was relegated to a small ceremony. There were no dignitaries, special guests or rousing speeches. FMM officials hope a larger scale christening can take place in the spring or summer — whenever the pandemic is under control.

“We were hoping to have big celebration, unfortunately COVID put a damper on that.” Allman said. “Our employees are very excited even though we had a very closed, social distanced event for minimal people to see at the yard. Everybody is just very excited to see the ship as she starts through the trial and test period. As she hits the water, everybody just has a great feeling of being a part of that.”

LCS 25 is the 13th littoral combat ship built at FMM. The final three ships in the program (LCS 27, 29 and 31) are in various stages of construction.

The shipyard has grown into a world class shipbuilder and has constructed many types of vessels for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. In April, FMM won a $795 million contract to build up to 10 frigates for the Navy.

The deal could create up to 1,000 jobs in Marinette and it could be worth $5.6 billion if all options are exercised.

Allman believes there’s a simple reason why the local shipyard has become a world player in the shipbuilding industry.

“We talk about being the best shipbuilders of the world and I truly believe that,” she said. “We bring something that I think no other shipyard can bring — we are that strong Midwest work ethic. Look at the history of our yard, we have never shut down for weather. Our people come in dayin and day-out.”

Allman said it’s the strong workforce that helped inspire the naming of

See Launch ...

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“I just think it’s a great honor to have a U named after a community our size. I feel pride and workmanship of the workers of th They go to work every day to produce a p worthy of a U.S. Navy warship. Congratu community and the hard workers of the sh

MARINETTE MAYOR S

EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard Marinette Mayor Steve Genisot (left) says a few words at Marinette Marine during a start-construction ceremony of the city’s namesake the USS Marinette. The backdrop for the

BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

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STEVE GENISOT

ceremony was a rendition of the future U.S. Navy ship with signatures of the names of all the people that work on the ship. Jerry Coakley, seen just behind Genisot, has made the first cut with a plasma cutter for all the LCS ships in the Freedom Class. Marinette is the smallest city to ever have a Navy ship named after it.

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BULIDING A LEGACY: The shipbuilder’s successes that led to the USS Marinette

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Gallagher relayed a story about how he was doing ĶĖĎÕ ťĈĎ÷ďì IJÕËÕďľĈŚ ÷ď Marinette. He said in a span of an hour, he had several people approach him. “They said ‘hey my dad worked in the shipyard, my grandfather worked in the shipyard, I want my kids to work in the shipyard. That’s what’s great about this place. It’s a strong community building the best ships in the world. I view the name as just one way to honor the hard-working men and women of Fincantieri Marinette Marine.”

U.S. REP. MIKE GALLAGHER Representing the 8th District of Wisconsin

EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., speaks after the christening of the USS Cooperstown at Fincantieri Marinette Marine.

... Launch continued USS Marinette.

“It was truly to recognize the men and women who build these ships every day for the U.S. Navy,” she said. “It’s just a testimony and that shows through and through, even through the pandemic. We are critical infrastructure. We take great pride in what we do and we have persevered through this and continue to come to work everyday to ensure the security of our nation.”

Others agree, including U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a Marine Corp veteran.

“Often times, I think it’s easy, particularly for people on the East coast, to overlook the heart of the country, right here in the Midwest,” he said. “I think it (naming the ship) is just a way to honor the hard-working men and women of the Midwest who go through these gates every single day.

“They don’t do it to get a medal. They don’t do it to get invited to fancy cocktail parties in D.C. They do it to provide for their families and they take pride in that hard work. I think by naming it Marinette, we’re honoring those men and women and we’re honoring this community.”

State Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, was raised here and he also believes the workers at the local shipyard deserve praise and recognition.

“The launch of the USS Marinette is a huge occasion for our community that has been years in the making,” he said. “To have LCS 25 named after the City of Marinette recognizes the hard work and dedication of the men

and women of our community who protect our nation through their work at the shipyard.”

Marinette Mayor Steve Genisot added, “I just think it’s a great honor to have a U.S. Navy ship named after a community our size. I feel it shows the pride and workmanship of the workers of the community. They go to work every day to produce a product that’s worthy of a U.S. Navy warship.

Congratulations to the community and the hard workers of the shipyard.”

Allman spoke about the relationship between the shipyard and the community.

“We always talk about how we are a multi-generational yard,” she explained. “We are part of the community and the community is part of us.

When you go into restaurants, you will see pictures of the ships. Everybody here has a relative or knows somebody who works in the yard.”

Allman said the name Marinette will become more well-known because of this ship.

“I think people will see the USS Marinette as she floats all over the world and they will look up the history of Marinette,” she said.

Gallagher relayed a story about how he was doing some filming recently in Marinette. He said in a span of an hour, he had several people approach him.

“They said ‘hey my dad worked in the shipyard, my grandfather worked in the shipyard, I want my kids to work in the shipyard,’” the congressman said. “That’s what’s great about this place. It’s a strong community building the best ships in the world. I view the name as just one way to honor the hard-working men and women of Fincantieri Marinette Marine.”

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