Amazing America: How Henry Kaiser's Portland-area shipyards helped build the fleet that won WWII

Описание: As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, KATU is highlighting moments and milestones that shaped the Pacific Northwest.

You may recognize the name Kaiser from around Oregon and Southwest Washington. This week’s “Amazing America” focuses on one of Henry Kaiser's most significant innovations.

During World War II, industrialist Henry Kaiser built three shipyards in the Pacific Northwest; two in Portland and one in Vancouver, Washington.

Although war broke out when the first Portland shipyard opened, it wasn't built for that intention.

Maritime journalist, author, and museum curator Peter Marsh has a fitting analogy.

“It was a peacetime effort. It was great for Portland. It was kind of like having an Amazon warehouse built,” said Marsh.

During his time as a journalist at Portland's boating newspaper, Freshwater News, Marsh got to know Larry Barber. Barber was a maritime editor of The Oregonian, who had been a leading reporter covering ship building in World War II. After he died, Barber’s widow gave Peter the rights to her husband's archives.

“When she moved into her retirement home, she said, ‘well, you can take anything you want because otherwise it's going in that dumpster,’” Marsh remembered.

Using the materials from Barber, he put together a book "Liberty Factory: The Untold Story of Henry Kaiser's Oregon Shipyards." Marsh says the shipyards were revolutionary for several reasons; one of them being the mass production of ships for the war effort.

“The first one took nine months. And the second one took nine months too. And then the time went down, down, down, down to 30 days,” said Marsh.

The Oregon Historical Society says OregonShip set a record by putting together a Liberty ship in just ten days.

The Kaiser Company opened the Vancouver shipyard on the Columbia River and started production in early 1942. Then, the company opened a shipyard on Swan Island, starting operation in July of the same year.

“We're building tankers, because we can't fight a war without fuel. And the tankers were built on Swan Island. That was all they did from start to finish,” said Marsh. “They built 140 tankers, and they're big, solid ships and they lasted into the 1970s and 80s.”

All three of Kaiser's northwest shipyards produced 752 ships during the WWII years. The yards employed over 100,000 people, drawing workers from across the nation to the Pacific Northwest and leading the company to build the city of Vanport in 1942.

“And Henry Kaiser, I believe was the first person who said, ‘well, why can't we have women working in the shipyard?’ An idea that was so revolutionary. I mean, there were gasps from the upper-class ladies,” said Marsh.

All three of the shipyards had daycare centers to ensure that women with children could work.

The Kasier Company also established social services and a healthcare system for workers, laying the groundwork for the familiar Kaiser Permanente Health Care System.

The Kaiser shipyards not only revolutionized shipbuilding and industrial work as a whole, but they continue to serve as a reminder to this day of how powerful unity and the American spirit can be.

“We are somewhat divided these days, are we not? Well, politics really didn't matter beyond a certain point,” Marsh said.

Peter is scheduled to give a talk Thursday night for the Clark County Historical Museum's "History On Tap" series at the Old Liberty Theater in Ridgefield, Washington.

The event is sold out, but the Clark County Historical Museum holds speaker talks monthly. Admission for the events is $5 for the general public and free for museum members, veterans, and active-duty military personnel.

For more information:
https://cchmuseum.org/programs-events...