Alabama Drydock & Shipping Co.
Alabama Drydock & Shipping Company, ADDSCO has been in continuous operation since 1917 with active roles during World War I, World War II, and up to the present. The shipyard was originally a repair yard for large ships. ADDSCO provided the management staff and the land for one of nine emergency shipyards. There were originally four ways in 1941. The funding for the original ship building facility came from the USMC budget at a cost of $19 mm. The four ways jumped to twelve ways so that the shipyard could handle the building of T2 tankers in a repeat wave of expansion to shipbuilding during the years of the war.
At the start of the war years, Mobile was a relatively quiet town, but the employment went from a substantial one thousand employees to a peak labor force of nearly 30,000 workers of whom approximately one third were African Americans. Newspaper articles and radio interviews encouraged women to participate in the war effort by working in the shipyards and other wartime industries. ADDSCO alone employed over 2500 women, many of whom were in jobs such as welding or quality control. These were fields which had never allowed female employees prior to this time. In fact, women held over one quarter of all defense related jobs in the city of Mobile during the war years. The wartime work completely overwhelmed the economy of the city of Mobile, as well as the way in which it viewed itself and the people, which made up its citizenry. Nearly everyone who showed up at the shipyards and wanted to work was hired.
Both during and after the war, racial inequality issues continued to cause instances of trouble. The city itself became a focal point in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and beyond partly because of the smoldering resentments left over from the war years. There was also labor union issues which although placed on hold during the war years nevertheless were unresolved from an emotional standpoint. Another unresolved issue has been the exposure of employees and workers to the dangers of asbestos and the resulting mesothelioma.
The growth of the city of Mobile commenced by the beginning of 1940 when the ADDSCO and other local shipyards were recipients of contracts to build the so-called Liberty ships and destroyers. By the time of America's entry officially into World War II, Mobile was already bustling with activity. Over the following months and years, ship building was the city's greatest industry and ADDSCO was the city's largest employer. The shipbuilding companies in the community and other wartime employers took a great deal of interest in their employees, with musical entertainment, dances and other recreational activities becoming quite common.
Early in 1941, with the U.S. newly entered into the war efforts an order for 260 ships was placed with several shipyards, including those in Mobile. Speed was of the essence in building these vessels known as Liberty ships. Over one-quarter of the Liberty ships were intended to be sent to the support of Britain. When the Lend-Lease program was implemented shortly thereafter, ship orders doubled. Several new shipyards were established, and the existing shipyards such as ADDSCO were dramatically enlarged.
During the war years, U.S. shipyards were able to build and put into service 2751 Liberty ships. The streamlined manufacturing methods were awesome. Nationwide, the average construction time for one Liberty ship was only 42 days. The highest speed occurred in another shipyard which set a blistering 4 day 15 hours and 29 minute completion record. This was, however a highly publicized stunt to gain publicity. By 1943, two years into the war, three new Liberty ships hit the water every day.
The American shipyards, including that of Alabama Drydock and Shipping Company, were actually building Liberty ships faster than the Germans and their U-boats could find them and sink them. The Liberty Ships were members of the US Merchant Marine. Gun crews on the ships were the members of the US Naval Armed Guard. In September of 1942 one of the Liberty Ships, the SS Stephen Hopkins managed to locate and sink a German raider called the Stier.
The ships far outlasted their expected life, with many still operating commercially as late as the 1970s. The techniques are still used in the shipbuilding businesses today.
A total of twenty type EC2-S-C1 ships were built at the Alabama Drydock and Shipping Co during the war years.
In the years after the close of World War II, the Alabama drydock and shipping area pretty much went back to being a repair facility. After 1989 the plant was sold to Atlantic Marine Holdings. Today, the yard remains as primarily a repair facility, but does some shipbuilding as Alabama Shipyard.
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