| Summary |
This study examines the operation of the North Carolina Shipbuilding Corporation yard at Wilmington, North Carolina during the years 1942-1946. The vessels produced by the company played an important link in the "bridge of ships" constructed by the U. S. Maritime Commission during World War II, to aid the Allies. The brief life of the company was surrounded by controversy. The yard was born amid a dispute between Morehead City and Wilmington, North Carolina over the site. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company stepped in and opened the yard in Wilmington, thereby ending the hopes of rival Morehead City interests. The initial opening of the yard saw problems develop over housing, transportation, material and labor. Most of these difficulties continued to plague the company throughout World War II. Workers at the yard soon became embroiled in a bitter dispute over union representation. A number of suits were filed before the National Labor Relations Board against the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company. The major case, filed by the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America (IUMSWA) in 1943, produced a long and bitter dispute. Final resolution of the unfair labor practices allegations occurred in 1946, when the company agreed to a back pay settlement. North Carolina Shipbuilding Company however, never admitted any guilt on its part to any of the unfair labor practices. The yard produced some 243 vessels for the U. 5. Maritime Commission, the U. S. Navy and various private shipowners. Initially the vessels produced were of the standard Liberty (EC2-S-CI) class. In late 1943, the yard began conversion to production of a new faster, turbine powered, postwar merchant vessel, the Victory (C-2) class. These C-2 vessels were completed for the U. S. Navy as cargo, ammunition, command and troop carrier vessels. A final group of vessels were delivered to private shipowners for use cs postwar merchant vessels. After the completion of the Maritime Commission vessel contracts, the yard became the center of yet another heated controversy. The transfer of the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company yard to the North Carolina State Ports Authority again raised the partisanship of local interest, politics, regional and state loyalties. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company played an important part in the close of yard operations. When Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was assured that an expanded state port at Wilmington would not be a threat to Chesapeake Bay shipbuilding interests, then, and only then, did Newport News Shipbuilding ar.d Dry Dock Company allow the old North Carolina Shipbuilding Company yard lo be leased to the North Carolina State Ports Authority. The North Carolina Shipbuilding Company had a large impact on the City of Wilmington. The sleepy post-depression coastal town was transformed into a major state industrial center. The North Carolina Shipbuilding Company yard employed workers from throughout the Southeast. Workers came into Wilmington during the war and stayed after the war to work in new. postwar industries. These workers watched some of the vessels they helped build, ride at anchor in the Maritime Commission reserve yard in the Cape Fear River. The North Caroline Shipbuilding Company played a major role in determining the face and thrust of postwar Wilmington. Just as the vessels built by the yard were an important factor in the Allied victory, so the yard itself became a major shaper of Wilmington's role as a major Atlantic Coast port. |
