Introduction

The Wartime History of the Offices of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, USN

  1. The “History of the office of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, USN, Bay City, Michigan” will include the story of the office of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, USN, Detroit, Michigan, and its branch offices, since these were for the most part concurrently under the direction of the Bay City office.

  2. Considerable boat-building and shipbuilding supervision was carried on in the early days by periodic visits of officers and civilian inspectors from Bay City, supplemented by inspections from the Bureau of Ships. Resident inspection personnel were assigned to outlying yards as projects and staffing allowed.

  3. The total ship and small craft program overseen by these offices—excluding the Benton Harbor and Macatawa (Holland) branches that transferred to SupShip Chicago in 1942—amounted to:

    Category Quantity Tonnage Contract Value
    Vessels over 100’ in length 185 ~75,000 tons —
    Small craft under 100’ in length 12,831 93,785 tons $216,443,000

  4. The distribution within the major production groups highlights the concentration of work handled by two contractors:

    First Group — Defoe Shipbuilding Co.
    Item Company Total Share
    Vessels 154 183 84%
    Tonnage 73,604 76,069 96.8%
    Value $140,000,000 $144,000,000 97.2%
    Second Group — Chris-Craft Corp.
    Item Company Total Share
    Craft 12,284 12,831 95.7%
    Tonnage 92,130 93,785 98.25%
    Value $70,000,000 $72,443,000 96.6%