Todd Houston Shipbuilding
Houston, Texas
source: Sawyer & Mitchell

©
Texas

This yard began in 1941 as the Houston Shipbuilding Corporation. It was a six-way yard situated at Irish Bend Island, Houston, Texas, and it was one of the Maritime Commission's initial contracts for nine yards in different parts of the country. These yards, which had a total of sixty-five ways, were expected to build some 260 ships in the first phase of production.

The yard was among the first five approved (the others were the emergency yards at Portland, Oregon and South Portland, Maine, the California Shipbuilding yard and the Todd California yard) and management of them was divided between the Kaiser group and Todd Shipyards Corporation. The latter concern, subsequently to figure prominently in emergency construction, were already shipbuilders and they were also one of the largest ship repair groups, having yards on all coasts.

For its lay-out the yard adapted plans generally used for a 'vertical' yard (i.e., a small frontage launching many ships, much work being carried out away from the waterfront) to one incorporating an extra, small launching basin. Renamed Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation, the slips were soon increased to nine in number, but whereas the anticipated cost of these was some $7.5 million, the final cost was twice this figure.

When the first Liberty contracts were awarded, they anticipated ships to be built in 210 days and the next 'round' of deliveries in 150 days. Generally however, first deliveries took around 250 days. Although following contracts reduced the limit still further to 105 days, a slower schedule of 132 days still applied to Houston, whose yard was still very far from complete when their first keel was laid. With these time limits, each day ahead of schedule earned the yard a bonus but each day beyond, a penalty. Seven of the initial nine yards earned maximum fees but the Houston yard, for the reasons stated, was one of the slowest, their first vessel delivered in May 1942 taking some 300 days. Even by the latter part of 1943, when the nation's overall Liberty production had about reached its zenith, the Houston contracts still allowed 45 days-per-ship construction schedules.

Liberty ship output: 208 vessels at an average cost of $1,833,400 each.

USMC Numbers	Yard Numbers
Built by Houston Shipbuilding Corporation
95-119	1- 25
265-276	26-37
Built by Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation
828-859	38- 69
1936-1966	70-100
2420-2431	101-112
2908-3003	113-208, varied order

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World War II Construction Records of Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation