McCloskey & Company Shipyard was a ship builder in Tampa, Florida. McCloskey & Company built 38 cargo ships, Type N3 ship for World War II founded in 1942. McCloskey & Company also built type C1-S-D1 concrete ships. Matthew H. McCloskey founded the construction company McCloskey & Company in Philadelphia. McCloskey & Company built the Philadelphia Convention Hall, the Philadelphia Sheraton Hotel, and the Washington D.C. Stadium. The Tampa shipyard is now Tampa Ship LLC owned by Edison Chouest Offshore.

Shipyard During World War II, there was a high demand for ships thus, McCloskey & Company opened a shipyard at Hookers Point in Tampa, Florida. Tampa Port Authority leased the land to McCloskey & Company. With steel in short supply due to the war, McCloskey & Company built 24 self-propelled concrete ships under a Maritime Commission war contract starting in July 1943. McCloskey & Company Shipyard had 6,000 employees at its peak, with 13 shipways (construction berths). Most of the concrete ships were used to move carry sugar. The concrete ships were 366 feet long and had a deadweight of 5,000 tons. Four other companies also built concrete ships for the war. Starting in April 1945 McCloskey & Company built 38 steel hull cargo ships Maritime Commission Type N3 ship, these were small coastal cargo ships.

After the war, the shipyard was sold to the City of Tampa in January 1948. The city leased out the shipyard to Tampa Ship Repair & Dry Dock Company. Tampa Fabricators operated out of the Tampa Ship Repair & Dry Dock Company shipyard starting in 1956 till 1960. The shipyard was vacant in the 1960s. In 1972 the yard was sold to American Ship Building Company as Tampa Shipyards. American Ship Building Company built two large drydocks at the site, but went bankrupt in 1995. For two years the site was owned and run by Tampa Shipbuilding Company. In 1997 the site was sold and became the Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Company. In 2008 the site was sold to Edison Chouest Offshore and renamed the site Tampa Ship.

Tampa Ship Tampa Ship operates a 62-acre full-service ship repair facility in Tampa Bay in Hillsborough County. Tampa Ship also does vessel conversions and has four large drydocks. Tampa Ship has 7 repair pier berths off McCloskey Blvd at the start of the Sparkman Channel of Hillsborough Bay. Tampa Ship builds Platform supply vessels and Harbor Tugs. Edison Chouest Offshore has owned Tampa Ship since 2008.

Drydocks: 535 ft (163 m) 907 ft. (276.4 m) 746 ft. (227.4 m) 414 ft. (126.2 m)

World War 2 ships

Hull # Ship # Name Type Gross tons Feet Delivered Fate 1 244546 Vitruvius C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Dec-43 Breakwater at Normandy 2 244258 David O. Saylor C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Nov-43 Breakwater at Normandy 3 244542 Arthur Newell Talbot C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Feb-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 4 245070 Richard Lewis Humphrey C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Mar-44 Sold in Mexico 5 245069 Richard Kidder Meade C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Mar-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 6 245071 Willis A. Slater C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Feb-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 7 245336 Leonard Chase Watson C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Jun-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 8 245335 John Smeaton C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Apr-44 Breakwater at Powell River BC 9 245579 Joseph Aspdin C1-S-D1 4,690 350 May-44 Wrecked and lost 1948 10 245773 John Grant C1-S-D1 4,826 350 Jun-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 11 245771 M. H. Le Chatelier C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Jul-44 Breakwater at Powell River BC 12 245774 L. J. Vicat C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Jul-44 Breakwater at Powell River BC 13 246010 Robert Whitman Lesley C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Jul-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 14 246120 Edwin Thacher C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Jul-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 15 246257 C. W. Pasley C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Aug-44 Breakwater at Newport OR 16 Armand Considere C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Sep-44 Breakwater at Powell River BC 17 Francois Hennebique C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Sep-44 Breakwater at Newport OR 18 P. M. Anderson C1-S-D1 4,690 350 Sep-44 Breakwater at Powell River BC 19 246727 Albert Kahn C1-S-D1 4,680 350 Oct-44 Abandoned and lost 1947 20 246758 Willard A. Pollard C1-S-D1 4,680 350 Nov-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 21 246759 William Foster Cowham C1-S-D1 4,680 350 Nov-44 Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA 22 246877 Edwin Clarence Eckel C1-S-D1 4,680 350 Dec-44 Scuttled 1946 23 246881 Thaddeus Merriman C1-S-D1 4,680 350 Nov-44 Breakwater at Powell River BC 24 246878 Emile N. Vidal C1-S-D1 4,680 350 Dec-44 Breakwater at Powell River BC 25 180568 Northern Warrior N3-S-A2 1,900 250 Apr-45 To Britain 1945, sold 1947, scrapped 1970 26 180576 Northern Chieftain N3-S-A2 1,900 250 Apr-45 To Britain 1945, sold 1947, scrapped 1982 27 180714 Northern Pioneer N3-S-A2 1,900 250 May-45 To Britain 1945, to Greece 1945 as Zakynthos, sold 1947, later Teng 1407, Hung Chang, scrapped 28 247949 Northern Wanderer N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jun-45 Later Warren Bearne, to the Philippines 1949, scrapped 1963 29 248016 Northern Explorer N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jun-45 Later Nat Brown, to USA 1949, to USN 1951 as Centaurus (AK 264), scrapped 1960 30 248017 Northern Voyager N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jun-45 Later Oliver R. Mumford, scrapped 1964 31 248014 Northern Adventurer N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jun-45 Sold 1946, later Hai Ming, Chung Kai, sank 1964 32 248215 Northern Squire N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jun-45 Scrapped 1964 33 248216 Northern Yeoman N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jul-45 To USA 1949, to USN 1951 as Serpens (AK 266), scrapped 1960 34 248211 Northern Archer N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jul-45 Sold 1947, scrapped 1979 35 248204 Northern Stalker N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jul-45 Sold 1947, scrapped 1974 36 248394 Eben H. Linnell N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Jul-45 To USA 1949, scrapped 37 248399 Northern Trapper N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Aug-45 Scrapped 1964 38 248397 John J. Jackson N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Aug-45 Sold 1947 as Samsun, later Hopa, Merve, scrapped in Turkey 1978 39 248396 Frederick Lendholm N3-S-A2 1,870 250 Sep-45 Sold 1947, later Don Martin, scrapped in Peru 1967

Two C1-S-D1 concrete ships SS Vitruvius and SS David O. Saylor were taken out of maritime service and used to make a breakwater at Normandy for the Normandy landings. The breakwater was part of the Mulberry harbour, a temporary manmade harbor for World War II, used for the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The Breakwater were called Corncobs and Gooseberries. The sunk Vitruvius and David O. Saylor were used at Utah Beach. Nine ships were used at The Kiptopeke Breakwater in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia at ."Kiptopeke Breakwater". Concrete Ships

Ten of the concrete ships are at the Powell River, British Columbia at , where a lumber mill then as a breakwater."The Powell River Floating Breakwater". Concrete Ships known as The Hulks.

Gallery

See also 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage Admiral Joe Fowler Riverboat Walt Disney World Railroad USS Volans Tampa Shipbuilding Company

External links Aerial photo of the Tampa Ship shipyard, with three ships in dry dock

References