New York Shipbuilding Corporation

New York Shipbuilding Corporation, commonly called New York Ship or NYSB, was an American shipbuilding company that operated in Camden, New Jersey, from 1899 until 1968. It became one of the most productive shipyards in the United States and built more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the U.S. Coast Guard, commercial operators, and other maritime customers. The company was founded by Henry G. Morse, an engineer associated with bridge design and the Morse Bridge Company. Although its name reflected an original intention to establish a yard on Staten Island, difficulties in acquiring a suitable site led the company to select land along the Delaware River in southern Camden. Construction began in July 1899, and the keel of the first vessel was laid in November 1900. The yard was designed around techniques borrowed from bridge construction, including prefabrication, repetitive assembly, and covered construction ways. These methods allowed New York Ship to build ships on a substantial scale and to handle a broad range of designs. Early contracts included the cargo vessel M. S. Dollar, later converted into the tanker J. M. Guffey, and the large passenger ships Mongolia and Manchuria. Morse died in 1903 after obtaining contracts for approximately twenty ships, and De Coursey May succeeded him as president. In 1916, shareholders approved the sale of the company's large plant to a consortium that included American International Corporation, International Mercantile Marine, W. R. Grace and Company, and Pacific Mail Steamship Company. From approximately 1933 to 1937, the yard was associated with the business interests of Errett Lobban Cord. New York Ship expanded sharply during the First World War as it received orders from the U.S. Navy and the Emergency Fleet Corporation. The wartime labor influx created a severe housing shortage, prompting the construction of Yorkship Village, a planned community of roughly 1,000 brick homes financed by the War Department and designed by Electus Darwin Litchfield. The community later became part of Camden's Fairview neighborhood. The yard reached its greatest scale during the Second World War. It produced aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, landing craft, merchant vessels, and other ships for the American war effort. Its wartime work included all nine Independence-class light carriers, the battleship USS South Dakota, the Alaska-class large cruisers Alaska, Guam, and Hawaii, four Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, and ninety-eight Landing Craft, Tank vessels. At its peak, New York Ship was described as the largest and most productive shipyard in the world. Its notable vessels also included USS Saratoga, USS Oklahoma, USS Colorado, USS Indianapolis, the light cruisers Savannah, Nashville, and Phoenix, and the four passenger-cargo liners sometimes known as the 4 Aces. In the postwar period, the yard diversified into submarines, nuclear-powered vessels, support ships, and commercial craft. It launched NS Savannah in 1959, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, and USS Kitty Hawk in 1960, the first vessel of its aircraft-carrier class built at the yard. After 1945, however, New York Ship received far fewer orders. The last civilian vessel completed at the yard was SS Export Adventurer in 1960. Its final naval order was USS Camden, while the nuclear submarine USS Guardfish was commissioned in December 1967 after construction had been interrupted during the suspension of the Thresher-class program. With no sufficient flow of new naval contracts, the company stopped operating in 1968. The unfinished submarine USS Pogy was transferred to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi for completion. The former yard site is now part of the Port of Camden.

New York Shipbuilding Corporation was established in 1899 by Henry G. Morse, an engineer and bridge-construction specialist. The proposed company initially intended to build a yard on Staten Island, which explains the corporate name, but could not secure the necessary property. After examining locations along the Delaware River and farther south, it selected a site in Camden, New Jersey. Plant construction began in July 1899, and the first keel was laid in November 1900. The yard's design reflected Morse's experience in bridge building. Ships were assembled from prefabricated sections in covered ways, an approach intended to improve productivity and reduce dependence on weather conditions. The first vessel, contract number one, was M. S. Dollar, later rebuilt as the oil tanker J. M. Guffey. Early commercial work also included Mongolia and Manchuria, passenger ships that were among the largest then being built in the United States. Morse died in 1903, after securing contracts for around twenty ships, and De Coursey May became president. On November 27, 1916, shareholders ratified the sale of the approximately fifteen-million-dollar plant to a group including American International Corporation, International Mercantile Marine, W. R. Grace and Company, and Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The yard subsequently passed through changing commercial associations; from about 1933 to 1937 it formed part of Errett Lobban Cord's wider business interests. World War I brought rapid growth. New York Shipbuilding received work from both the Navy and the Emergency Fleet Corporation, requiring more labor and infrastructure. The resulting housing shortage helped lead to Yorkship Village, a planned settlement of approximately 1,000 brick houses financed by the War Department and designed by Electus Darwin Litchfield. The settlement survives as the Fairview section of Camden. Between the world wars and during World War II, New York Ship became a highly diversified builder. Its covered ways could accommodate aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, tankers, passenger ships, barges, car floats, and landing craft. Wartime output included all nine Independence-class light carriers, the 40,000-ton battleship USS South Dakota, the Alaska-class cruisers Alaska, Guam, and Hawaii, four Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, and ninety-eight Landing Craft, Tank vessels. These accomplishments made the yard one of the most important American industrial sites of the war and, at its peak, the largest and most productive shipyard in the world. The yard continued to build important vessels after the war, including nuclear submarines, fleet support ships, and commercial craft. USS Kitty Hawk was launched there in 1960, and NS Savannah, launched in 1959, demonstrated the application of nuclear propulsion to merchant shipping. The yard also completed USS Guardfish, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, in 1967. Its last civilian vessel was SS Export Adventurer, completed in 1960, while USS Camden was its last naval vessel order. Postwar business conditions were difficult. New York Shipbuilding depended increasingly on a limited number of Navy and Maritime Administration contracts, and the flow of new work was insufficient to sustain the yard. Operations ended in 1968. USS Pogy, then incomplete, was towed to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where construction was finished. The former Camden site is now incorporated into the Port of Camden. A caisson formerly used in the yard's graving dock remains in service at dry dock number 3 of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard.

1. 1968Operations end

   The company ceased operations after failing to secure enough new naval work.

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2. 1960USS Kitty Hawk launched

   New York Shipbuilding launched USS Kitty Hawk, the lead ship of the Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carriers.

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3. 1959NS Savannah launched

   The yard launched the first nuclear-powered merchant ship.

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4. 1941Second World War production accelerates

   The yard entered a period of extraordinary naval production, including carriers, battleships, cruisers, and landing craft.

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5. 1925USS Saratoga launched

   The yard launched USS Saratoga, one of its most important interwar aircraft-carrier projects.

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6. 1917Yorkship Village developed

   A War Department-supported planned community was built to house workers recruited for wartime ship production.

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7. 1916Plant sale approved

   Shareholders ratified the sale of the shipyard to a consortium of American and maritime companies.

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8. 1900First keel laid

   The keel of the yard's first ship, M. S. Dollar, was laid in November.

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9. 1899Company founded and Camden site selected

   Henry G. Morse founded the company, which selected Camden, New Jersey, rather than its originally intended Staten Island location.

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A high-volume American shipbuilder distinguished by covered construction ways, prefabricated production methods, and the ability to build both major naval combatants and commercial vessels.

• Aircraft carriersNaval vessels1925

  New York Shipbuilding constructed carriers across several generations, including USS Saratoga, all nine Independence-class light carriers, two Saipan-class light carriers, and USS Kitty Hawk. The Independence-class ships were converted from Cleveland-class cruiser hulls and represented an important wartime effort to expand American carrier capacity quickly.

• Battleships and large cruisersNaval vessels1914

  The yard built major surface combatants including USS Oklahoma, USS Idaho, USS Colorado, and USS South Dakota. It also constructed the Alaska-class large cruisers Alaska, Guam, and Hawaii, demonstrating the yard's ability to handle very large warship structures and complex propulsion and weapons systems.

• CruisersNaval vessels1931

  Cruiser production included USS Indianapolis, the Brooklyn-class ships Savannah, Nashville, and Phoenix, four Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, and the nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser USS Truxtun. These vessels covered prewar, wartime, and early nuclear-era naval requirements.

• SubmarinesNaval vessels1959

  The company built diesel and nuclear submarines, including USS Bonefish, USS Pollack, USS Haddo, and USS Guardfish. USS Pogy was started at the Camden yard but transferred to Ingalls Shipbuilding for completion after New York Shipbuilding stopped operating.

• Merchant and passenger shipsCommercial vessels1901

  Commercial production ranged from early passenger ships such as Mongolia and Manchuria to tankers, cargo ships, and the passenger-cargo liners remembered as the 4 Aces. The yard also built SS Export Adventurer, its last civilian vessel, completed in 1960.

• NS SavannahNuclear-powered merchant ship1959

  NS Savannah was a demonstration merchant vessel powered by a nuclear reactor. Launched by New York Shipbuilding in 1959, it became one of the best-known experiments in civilian nuclear propulsion and symbolized the yard's late-period specialization in technologically advanced vessels.

• Landing Craft, TankAmphibious warfare vessels1942

  During World War II, the yard built ninety-eight Landing Craft, Tank vessels. Many were used in the Normandy landings, where their ability to carry tanks and other vehicles directly onto beaches supported Allied amphibious operations.

• 1968End shipyard operationsStrategy

  After World War II, the yard faced a much smaller flow of Navy and Maritime Administration contracts and lacked enough new orders to remain viable.

  What changed. New York Shipbuilding ceased operations. The unfinished USS Pogy was transferred to Ingalls Shipbuilding for completion.

  Aftermath. The Camden shipyard closed permanently, and its former site later became part of the Port of Camden.

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• 1959Launch the nuclear-powered merchant ship NS SavannahProduct launch

  The postwar yard sought technologically distinctive work as conventional commercial shipbuilding became more competitive.

  What changed. New York Shipbuilding constructed and launched NS Savannah, a demonstration vessel using nuclear propulsion.

  Aftermath. The vessel became a prominent example of civilian nuclear maritime technology, although it did not create a sustained commercial nuclear-ship market.

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• 1916Approve sale of the Camden plantM&A

  The company had developed a major industrial facility whose ownership was reorganized during the expansion of American maritime business.

  What changed. Shareholders ratified the sale of the plant to a consortium including American International Corporation, International Mercantile Marine, W. R. Grace and Company, and Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

  Aftermath. The yard continued operating under changing ownership and commercial affiliations.

  Reported plant value. (1916)

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• 1899Adopt a prefabricated covered-way production modelStrategy

  The company was founded by an engineer with bridge-building experience and sought to apply prefabrication and assembly-line concepts to ship construction.

  What changed. New York Shipbuilding designed its Camden plant around covered construction ways and the assembly of prefabricated ship sections.

  Aftermath. The approach supported large-scale production across naval, commercial, and specialized vessel types.

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• 1968New York Shipbuilding ceases operations

  The company shut down after the postwar decline in new naval and commercial orders; the unfinished USS Pogy was transferred to another yard.

  Bankruptcy
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• 1959NS Savannah is launched

  New York Shipbuilding launched NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered merchant ship.

  Product launch
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• 1943New York Shipbuilding reaches peak wartime production

  During the Second World War, the yard built carriers, battleships, cruisers, submarines, and landing craft on an exceptional scale.

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• 1917New York Shipbuilding expands during the First World War

  Naval and Emergency Fleet Corporation orders drove a major expansion of the yard and contributed to the development of Yorkship Village for workers.

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• 1899New York Shipbuilding Corporation begins operations in Camden

  The company began developing its Camden, New Jersey, shipyard after abandoning an earlier plan to locate on Staten Island.

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1. New York Shipbuilding Corporation
2. NS Savannah
3. USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)