001 - The Ship Builders

Newport News, Virginia

All around the world, the 1930s were a difficult time. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party were taking control of Germany and invading parts of Europe, the Chinese were at war with the Japanese, and in the United State, people were dealing with the Great Depression. Many Americans were poor. Men found work wherever they could.

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In the years just before World War II, shipyards were busy building giant warships. This helped relieve poverty in America. Architects and engineers designed aircraft carriers that were lightweight and strong. Mill workers used these designs to cut and mold the steel into various shapes. Riveters and welders used the architect’s plans, called blueprints, and joined the different pieces together just like a jigsaw puzzle.

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Not only were there men who built the hulls, but there were men who built the insides of ships, too. The aircraft carrier was equipped just like a house. Plumbers, electricians, and carpenters all worked to make sure it was home sweet home for the men who would live on the carrier for months at a time. The military build-up was employing a great many men and that helped to bring an end to the Great Depression.

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In the spring of 1936, the Navy had ordered the first two of the Yorktown-class Aircraft carriers: the U.S.S. Yorktown and the U.S.S. Enterprise. Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia filled the order. In May of that year, construction began on the U.S.S. Yorktown and in July, they began work on the U.S.S. Enterprise.

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Although the steel hulls for the carriers measured 100 feet wide and 800 feet long, the shipyard completed both orders within three months. By this time, there were men hard at work in shipyards across the country, building ships of every shape and size. There was a sense that the troubles overseas would soon come to American shores.

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