|
|
Posted by: J. Ritter (Ritter@interserf.net) on 10/19/1997@22:17hrs:
Most of the ships built on SI had their keels laid and were launched at the Bethlehem Steel Yard near Mariner’s Harbor. The largest and most easily tracked were 15 Destroyers. The ships were contracted by the Navy’s Bureau of Ships (BUSHIPS) the predecessor of today’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). BUSHIPS used the Commander of the New York Navy Yard, known as the Brooklyn yard as the local monitor of the work. Usually the larger ships would go to the Navy yard for final fitting out and eventual commissioning. Besides the work at Bethlehem Steel Yard much other work was accomplished around SI and the local area to supply the parts for the ships. Staten Island was also involved in building landing craft, LSTs and other smaller vessels that were not formally named or commissioned. The Destroyers built predated our entry into WWII and some of the ships served well into Viet-Nam. Later, larger ships of the Gearing and Sumner class were beyond the capability of the Staten Island facilities. The end of the war and glut of military and commercial ships along with labor, unions and foreign competition were the death blows to shipbuilding on the island. While the battle of Britain was England’s finest hour, the battle of the Atlantic was New York’s finest effort in the war, many of which came from the shipyards and docks of Staten Island.
The following ships trace their birth to Staten Island with building dates. Most are named for American Naval or Military hero’s. Further information can be found in Fletcher-Class Destroyers, by Alan Raven published by the Naval Institute Press and American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History Division, published by the Government Printing Office (7 or 8 volumes) both should be available from the NYC Public Library (where I learned how to read!).
USS Bache (DD-470)
19 Nov 41 14 Nov 42
USS Beale (DD-471) 19 Dec 41 23 Dec 42
USS Brownson (DD-518) 15 Feb 42 3 Feb 43
USS Daly (DD-519) 29 Apr 42 10 Mar 43
USS Isherwood (DD-520) 12 May 42 12 Apr 43
USS Kimberly (DD-521) 27 Jul 42 22 May 43
USS Luce (DD-522) 24 Aug 42 21 Jun 43
USS Charles J. Badger (DD-657) 24 Sep 42 23 Jul 43
USS Colahan (DD-658) 24 Oct 42 23 Aug 43
USS Picking (DD-685) 24 Nov 43 21 Sep 43
USS Halsey Powell (DD-686) 4 Feb 43 25 Oct 43
USS Uhlmann (DD-687) 6 Mar 43 22 Nov 43
USS Benham (DD-796) 3 Apr 43 20 Dec 43
USS Cushing (DD-797) 3 May 43 17 Jan 44
USS Monssen (DD-798) 1 Jun 43 14 Feb 44