Ships For Victory Portland’s shipbuilding industry during World War II

by James Nalley

Although it is widely known that the United States did not officially enter World War II until December 1941, it began to provide military supplies and assistance to the Allies in September 1940. The majority of such assistance flowed to Great Britain through the Lend-Lease Program, which offered ships in exchange for leases of land (in British territories) that could be used as U.S. naval and air bases. As a result of such an agreement, Portland’s shipyards had become a hive of activity. For example, in 1940, the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation was established to build 30 Ocean Class freighters for the British, after which the South Portland Shipbuilding Corporation was formed to build Liberty ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission. In 1942 Todd-Bath Iron completed its Ocean Class contracts and it also began building Liberty ships. By the time that the last Liberty ship was launched in October 1945, a total of 266 ships had been constructed in Portland.

Between 1940 and 1941, defense spending in Maine increased from $130 million to more than $500 million. Such funding was aimed at shipbuilding, which, in turn, required thousands of skilled and unskilled workers to fill the available positions at the two shipyards. The workers were offered up to

$1.20 an hour for an eight-hour day, six or seven days a week. Due to the influx of men and women from Maine and around the country (at least 30,000), Portland’s economy and lifestyle had dramatically changed. According to the Maine Historical Society, the economic “impact quickly spread…boosting real estate values, and quickening the pace of business along Congress Street. Portland’s population grew from 73,643 people in 1940 to 77,634 in 1949, while South Portland was transformed from a quiet residential neighborhood into a bustling industrial city.” Throughout the region, various housing projects, homes, and small villages were quickly constructed to house all of the workers. Some of the most densely populated included neighborhoods such as Redbank Village, Elizabeth Park, and Sagamore Village. Within the various neighborhoods, United Service Organizations (USOs), city recreation centers, the Masonic Temple, the YWCA, the Armory gymnasium, the Boys Club, and numerous churches welcomed the sailors on leave, the workers, and their respective families with open arms. Although the daytime activities of these individuals were somewhat tame, the night brought about a different side of the workers (searching for some respite from their occupations) and the sailors (looking to enjoy themselves on liberty). According to an article dated, March 16, 1943 , in The Telegraph, “A shouting, bottle-throwing crowd of shipyard workers rioted for more than an hour inside and in front of the downtown Colonial Theater after a special (cont. on page 22)

(cont. from page 21) midnight ‘stag’ show had abruptly halted at about 1:45 a.m.” Due to the shutdown of the impromptu stage show, a “dozen or more seats were smashed, bottles and broken glass littered the floor and stage, and several windows and the glass panels in all of the lobby doors were broken.” The workers were apparently disappointed that the dancers did not perform a “true striptease.” Police Capt. Harold Maguire estimated the crowd to be approximately 1,500. Furthermore, he stated, “the workers had paid $1.50 each and that the show had been stopped after a couple of dances.” The riot call brought U.S. Navy and Coast Guard patrolmen, the fire department, and military police, as well as available Portland policemen to Congress and Temple Streets. According to Maguire, “The police made no effort to drive the men away for fear of greater violence and…aside from some small skirmishes, the men slowly dispersed.”

Despite these incidences, Maine’s shipyards became a vital component of the war effort. During World War II, Maine’s shipyards built a total of 1,358 ships for the U.S. Navy, Army, and Maritime Commission. The three primary shipyards launched 404 steel vessels, including 234 Liberty ships, 64 destroyers, and 71 submarines. Regarding the relationships among the ever-growing society, historian Joel Eastman of the University of Southern Maine states, “By the fall of 1944, the greater Portland area had adjusted to the impact of the shipyards, the army, and the navy, three-and-a-half years after their arrival.”

After the end of the war in 1945, the need for shipbuilding ceased, the ma- jority of the men and women lost their jobs, and the shipyards slowly fell into decline.

In addition, the skilled labor force returned back to the men returning from military service. Some of the socalled Rosie the Riveters and Wendy the Welders returned to school, while others became store clerks or found work in the region’s mills and shoe shops. However, some female workers were skilled enough to remain in their former positions. As former welder Shirley Wilder fondly recalls, “I loved welding. You need a woman’s touch for welding, because it requires coordination and accuracy, not brute strength.” In regard to the dilapidated buildings, P.K. Contracting demolished the last rusted steel skeleton in January 2011.

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