STURGEON BAY SHIPBUILDING N Eastern UNITED STATES Srurgcon Bay i ~ located in nPrthcast Wisconsin along the shores of Green l\ 1y ;md Lakt· lvlichign n. It has access ti) <ii i rurt:, within the Great Lakes, and shir:-. can rc;1ch tlw Sr. Lawrence Seaway, Ne\\' York, and New O rleans hy water from S turgeon Ray. 2 I ~I /\ G E S of A m er i ca STURGEON BAY SHIPBUILDING Joseph W. Zurawski ~ ARCAD IA Cnpyright © 200 1 by Joseph \'ii. Zurawski. ISBN 0-7385-1 875- 1 PuhlisheJ by ArC(Kk1 Puhlishing, an imprinr nfTempus Publishing, Inc . 3047 N. Lincoln Ave., S ui1 c 410 Chicago, IL 60657 Prinl"cd in G rear Bri w in. Library of Congress Cmalng C m l Nuinl'er: 200 I 089660 For all general information contact Arrndia Puhlishing ar: T elephone 843-851-2070 Fax 84 3-85.1-0044 E-t-fail [email protected] Fo r n1stomcr :.e rvicc and mdcrs: To ll-Free 1-888-313-2665 Vi sit us on the inreme1 :11 hur://www.arcadiapuhlishing.com CONTENTS Acknowledgments 6 Introduction 7 l. Geographic Setting 11 2. Early Shipbuilding 17 3. Sturgeon Bay's Economy 27 4. Ships for the Nation's Defense 71 5. Pageantry of a Launching 89 6. Salvaging of the George M. Hum/>hre)' 11 1 7. Building the Margaret L 117 s·. The Future 125 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following indi\'iduab who hdpcd nwke tJ11, work possible. I was mmt fortunare tn work wirh tht.: enthu,ia,.tic l>taff of the Dolir County l\lnririme Museum. Ac every ~cage, chcy wclcomeJ me and hclpc,I to make my work enj11yahlc. Dm1g Henderson. Jircccor; Jun Ga.;c, llpcrarions JircCCllr; Ch11,tim· R.1mh1ll, cur.ltllr; and June L.1!'>11n, archi,·ist: each were always a\'ailablc co assi'c me wnh cwry rcquci.c or need I h.id. A 'rccial thanks to Ken chm1..lckc, museum \'olumeer, wl111 ,hared wirh me hi-. ex1c1N\'e .md fir,c-han..I knowledge ot the -.h1phuilding industry chnc cannot he found in :my printed work-. John D. Thenell pronded n1luahle infom1ation. I owe .1 ,.pectal tnhutc tn my wife, ~l.1rc1.1 K. Zuraw~ki, who made 1t ro ,ihle for ml' to fini:.h the hook 111 a con,.traincd time period. Idalia Orti: assisted with the typing, Victor Villaluhns "''" m1ht hdpful, and Chril>tinn C111tini and Brcrnlnn McKenna nf Arcadia Puhlishing guided rhe hook tlm1ugh \'ari11ul> ""'!!C" of puhlicarirn1. Juscrh W. Zurnwski INTRODUCTION The ciry of, rurgeon Ray i~ nc~tleJ t1n ho1h ~ides of a hay, also called Sturgeon Bay, ahout a third of the w;iy up the Door Pl.'nimula 111 1he thmhca-.1 corner of \'\/i,comin. The water:- of Green Bay arc immediately 10 the we't. and 1he water-. of Lake )\lichig.m '''ere 7,400 feet away to the easr until the~ turgcon Bay hit' C.m.11 opened fnr commercial 1r.1ffic in l LI. \'\/irh an nhumlance 1)f fi-.h, lumhcr, 11nd limcswnc, the .m:a around. turgeon Bay hnd many proJucts it c1>ulJ readily sel l to cager rnswmcrs in major ci1ies ~c rvi ced hy ~ hip tn1ffi c in the Great L'lkcs. With the opening of the Sturgetlll Bay Ship Canal, JOO mib and 12 hours of tra\'el time were climin;:itcd in 1r:l\'cling from port' 11n 1he Grea1 Lake:. ro rhc City ni Grc::cn Bay. In the mid-1830~. Am11~ LoYejoy b hclicvcd to have hl·cn rhc fir-r permanenr n»ident of European descent to huild a vc~cl in the area u( :1 urgl·on B:-iy, \\'hi ch was a ail hoar. ~ lajor ~hipbu ildin g, however, developed \\'it h the arrival of Frl·cl:md B. Gardner of C hicago. In 1854, he purchased the uld hrnrn:stead of lm:rease C lallin, 1he firsr white ~e u lcr in th t.: Door Peninsula. G:mlner hui li a ~awmi ll in 1856, just south of t11da y · ~ Sturgeon Bay in an aren calleJ Liccle Sturgeon. The sm\'lni ll humcd in 1857. I lowevl·r, th~· hrig, ,1 l\\'O·tna:.ted i.chooner, Fanny Gardner, \\'hich had already !wen completed, wa~ :m\'t:d. The Civil War delayed shipbuilding ac Little Sturgl·on. Neverrhe l e:,~, several s hip~ \\'ere rehuilt and launched inimediarcly afcer the war. By 1874, 10 ~ hips ranging in size from 92 feet 10 18) (1:ct were huilt 1ir rchuilt nr Little Sturgeon. Financial l o~:;c~, including an 1877 fire at the sawmill in 1hc shipynrd, we re susrnined by Gnrdner in h1:. 1mmy husinc~~ entcrpri c~. forcing him 10 do~l' 1he :.hipyard. An effl)rr wa~ made tn preserve the ship traffic from the area hy ~el lin g ice. Thb \'cnrure 111c1 wich some llttCcess before that enterprise clo~ed in 1889. By I har date, I he lcg<K)' of 1h ese earl y shipbuilding interests is perhaps hest 1< un1111ed up in t lw words of l w1> students who studied Lierle Srurgcon Bay shipbuilding: "The prcdicrion 1rn1de in the Door Crnmr:-; Aclmcwc o( A ugusr 16. 1872, haJ come rrue: 'l3ig' Sturgeon f\ay, a direct dcscendenr of Luth: Sturgeon, had hccome 'che first of all shiphuilding pores on the Creat Like~.'" ln 1880, Juseph l larri:. Jr., a keeper :it the Dunlap Reef Light in Sturgeon Ray, srnrted building r1l\vhoats and s;1ilh11ats fur the U.S. Lifo s avin.~ Service and urhl·r vessels fo r pleasure boating. He de,·elopcd a rh ri ving husi11c~i. a~ I he:.e were in great denrnnd until 19 11 , when Harris ceased orernrion. Sruri?con Bay Bonr ~ lanufac111rini.: \\';1' in hu~inc~~ fro111 190) Ill 1907, and built 1w1ny :.mall bonrs. Its hncker~ included influential ~turgeon 11ay hu~ini,:,,mcn such ;i., £3\.·rt Scofield, who wa the mayor 11f turgcnn Bay. Martin Pcrer:.on esrnhlished Peterson f\rn11 \X/nrb in 1907, in hack of hi:. ho me on today's ~lemorial Dri\'I:. The fir,,t hoac huilL W:1' thL· Marion. a plea~ure aaft for the 111 ay11r. \Virh his ;.on, Fred, rhe Pcter;.rnh huih powerboat~. ,aaling yachh, rnwhoa1,.,, 'mall freight hoat;., fi:-h Lugs, nnd canoes. A fire in 1918 closed opL·rat inns. Peter,.,on B11a1 \Vorb wn" rc;.1:1rt ed hy Fred in 19)), with the building of die S111/y Lent, a (bhing 1ug. l\y 19l9, five 11 1gs \Wre h11 il1 for thc Minnesota Dock and I )n:dge Co111pany. Jnhn Learh1:111 ;md Tom Smith hcgan .; hiphuilding a1 thl· LL·:11hcm and Smith Tll\\'illg nnd Wrecking Cmnp;my \\'ith the co111pleti11n of a tug, Jolm 1lu mmler, in 1909. Other tug' and barge" were made until 1915, when Tom Smirh died lca,·ing thL· hu,inc!--' to ht' '1111, LL':llhe111. The fi rm W<b then renamed Lcathem n. Smith Coal and Doc\.. ( 'ompnny. and then, under the :,ame O\\'ner, Lcatl1 L'lll n. Smirh Sh1ph11ilding Crnnpany. After \Xlorld War I, Le.llhl'lll n. Smith dcsignecl some 1if 1he t"irsr self-unloading \'e,,,eb. Af1cr in;.1a lla1 inn 11f a ,.,clf-unhimlcr on the Fmwma in 1922-2 ), 10 more .;hip:. were Ml equipp1:d in the lll'Xt 15 years. In 1910, Ham Jc>hmon and I lerm:m Cimm:h h11ilr fj,,h 111g,, ,m,11l 11a"cnger ho;it:-, an,I :.a iling ho:lt:. at the Sturgeon Bay Bont \XI orb. I !;111, Joh1N1n hrn1gh1 11u1 I lcrman Gm:1ch 111 192 5. Hb ~on . Palm..:r J ohn~un, hccom1: 111an,1gcr \\'hl'n hi' fachcr, I I.uh, d11:,I m 19 31. Sturg.:on Ba\· - h1phuilding ,ind Dry nnck Company \\"'1' .1 'llCCl''-Or comp.my 111 19 H of the Uni\'er~al Shipyard from 1930, \\'h1ch h.1.J prc\·mu,h· he1..·n the Richoldt and \Xlliltcr h iphuilJin~ Curpl 1rar11m ,,l:lrt cd in 1898. Captain Jl1hn R1 >l' l1. \\'1111 wa,, the l l\\ 111..·r l If the Roen rcamship Cnmpany, hccame pre~id..:nt of St urgl'on Bay Shiphuilding :md Dry l)ock Company in 1934. Roen hrnugh1 a lor o( repair work 11 1 the company. A ,.,t1..•cl tug \\";b huih 1n 1918, and in th..: nexc 24 montlh, 24 ptL~hl'o:ll' fnr n,l\'1t:ation 11n 1hc ~li''"'ippi Ri\'cr 111:r1: c1rn1ph.:tc,I. .Alter rhe arrack on Pearl Harbor 111 1941. rh1..· Un1tecl St.lie' prq1,1red fur clohal \\'arfar..: . •~h ip:. of all ~m,, \\"l.!re needed. To !ill th1' need. numer,111, nmtmcL' were ''t.:neJ with ,hiph11ildcrs in - turge1m Bay. ThC:--e contr:1ch rc~uhccl 1n .1 ,hip hemg Jcll\·er..:d 11n .l\'erage e1·..:ry five days during \Xlorld War II. Sturgeon Bay Shiphuilding and Dry Dork Company huilt 81 1·1..·.,.,cb for thl' war cft~ in . In 194 ), 11 cargo \'l.!sscls, ench 99 feet long, were launchcd :dung with 17 rL·tricving \ 'e~"e b. O ther ship,, from thi,, :.hipyard mcl11d1:d tug,, cari.:u, and '11pply ,.l',,ek l\·1cN1n Bo:n \Xlnrb pniviJcd 37 wooden hoat!> 111 \Xlnrld \Var IL Therc w..:rc I IO-f11ot and 81-hiut aircraft re-cu1: ,.1:.,,cl,, and 40-four mowr launchc,. , rurgeon Bay lxi;tt \XIMb h111lt 4 l h11,1h ,lurmg che \\,1r, induding 22 aircraft rescue hnar~ th.it were 45 fccL long, dcll\·ered 111 1944.