Swan Island Shipyard

The Swan Island Shipyard was a shipyard on Swan Island in Portland, Oregon, United States.[1][2] It was constructed by the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser as part of the U.S. Maritime Commission's Emergency Shipbuilding Program in World War II.[3]:94–95 The Swan Island yard was one of three Kaiser Shipyards in the Portland area, along with the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation and the Vancouver Shipyard.[4]

The Swan Island Shipyard built T2-SE-A1 tankers (USS Chepachet pictured).

Before the opening of the shipyard, Swan Island was the location of the Swan Island Municipal Airport. The Port of Portland leased the airport to the U.S. federal government in March 1942.[5][6] The completed Swan Island yard began production in July 1942 with eight shipways.[7] The Swan Island Shipyard was one of four shipyards in the United States specifically designed to produce T2 tankers.[3]:94–95 It produced 153 tankers over the course of the war, all of them of the T2-SE-A1 design.[3]:129–43

References
  1. "Kaiser Swan Island, Portland OR". ShipbuildingHistory.com. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  2. "Kaiser Company, Swan Island". T2Tanker.org. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  3. Sawyer, L. A.; Mitchell, W. H. (1974). Victory Ships and Tankers: The History of the "Victory" Type Cargo Ships and of the Tankers Built in the United States of America During World War II. Cambridge, Md.: Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87033-182-5.
  4. Oliver, Gordon. "Kaiser Shipyards". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Portland State University, Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  5. "Swan Isle Airport Leased to U.S. for Shipbuilding". The Oregonian. March 10, 1942. Sec. 3, p. 3.
  6. "Once Scenic Swan Island Yields Its Beauty to the Need for Tankers". The Oregonian. April 13, 1942. Sec. 3, p. 4.
  7. "Swan Island Industrial Project for War Takes Form; 5000 Workers There Now; 40,000 Due Later This Year". The Sunday Oregonian. July 26, 1942. Sec. 1, p. 21.

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