An investment of about US$17 million (by the Maritime Commission) and an urgent schedule created the yard’s infrastructure: six building ways, outfitting berths, and supporting facilities. The initial workforce numbered just 258 men, but by August the same year it had grown to 7,000, and, by 1944, had peaked at about 20,000 employees.
The site represented a massive transformation of the riverside industrial front, with massive halls, heavy equipment, and continuous launching of hulls into the St. Johns River.
Liberty Ships and Production Records
The hallmark output of the yard were Liberty ships — the mass-produced cargo vessels that helped win the war by carrying huge amounts of supplies. Between 1942 and 1945 the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company constructed 82 ships.
Some of the hulls included names such as SS Ponce De Leon (laid down August 15, 1942) and SS John Einig (laid down December 1, 1943).
The shipyard’s efficiency was remarkable: the average build time dropped rapidly as the workforce and methods matured. For example, hull # 7 (EC2-S-C1 type) was launched in only 92 days from keel-laying to water. Such achievements reflected the wartime mobilization of labor, materials, and industrial learning shutdown123