H91.13.1

• world war ii

The ship model breaks down into many sections which are fitted into five packing crates. Henry Kaiser's construction company had built three enormous dams and the Bay Bridge in the 1930's, but Kaiser had no experience with ship-building when he bid to construct the first sixty Liberty Ships during the Battle of Britain. This ship model on its base was one of the exhibits Kaiser took with him when he testified before Congress. Kaiser got the contract, and immediately began constructing shipyards that would allow the quickest possible production. Prefabrication, and quick welding techniques instead of riveting, permitted the Liberty Ships to shove off in weeks, rather than the months that earlier construction methods required. And to speed the work even more, the yards worked twenty-four hours a day. The "Robert F.Peary," built in Richmond, was under way eight days after its keel was laid!

From the History Information Station:Object: Ship model; used when Henry Kaiser sought funding for the Liberty Ship program in 1940.History: Henry Kaiser's construction company had built three enormous dams and the Bay Bridge in the 1930s, but Kaiser had no experience with ship-building when he bid to construct the first sixty Liberty Ships during the Battle of Britain. This ship model on its base was one of the exhibits Kaiser took with him when he testified before Congress. Kaiser got the contract, and immediately began constructing shipyards that would allow the quickest possible production. Prefabrication, and quick welding techniques instead of riveting, permitted the Liberty Ships to shove off in weeks, rather than the months that earlier construction methods required. And to speed the work even more, the yards worked twenty-four hours a day. The "Robert F. Peary," built in Richmond, was under way eight days after its keel was laid!Kaiser Shipyards and the Making of the East Bay In 1940, despite the easy access provided by the new Bay Bridge, much of the East Bay was still not metropolitan. But when Henry Kaiser received the government contract to build Liberty ships, the area boomed. Shipyards went up in Sausalito, South San Francisco, Alameda, Richmond, and Vallejo, and the need for workers exploded. Civilian employment in California's shipyards reached 300,000 by the end of the war. Added to these were the suppliers of goods for the yards like Kaiser's steel plant in Fontana, east of Los Angeles; and social services from home-building to schools to stores to gas stations. The population of Richmond and Vallejo grew from about 20,000 each in 1940 to 100,000 by 1945, and the economy expanded along with them. To serve these needs, people came from all over to live in the bay area. Farm workers from the central valley, African Americans from the southern states, and numerous other groups came together to create a multi-ethnic community unlike those anywhere else in the world.

Used: Henry J. Kaiser