USS ESSEX and USS BON HOMME RICHARD were re-commissioned in a dual ceremony on January 15, 1951, with Fleet Admiral Chester A. We know that although no war has been declared, we may be hovering on the borderline of World War III."īy August 16 ship activations were under way the ships that had been "mothballed" such a short time before were back in the dry docks. For us all there is a depressing feeling of having to go through the awful mess all over again. "To Shipyard workers who were here during the late '30s when the nation was frantically arming for defense and who served on the production front during World War II, the course of international events has an ominous ring of familiarity. The following month Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was again on a war-time footing as the Korean "police action" began. Haven became the new Commander on May 17, 1950. By the end of 1946, there were less than 9,000 employees, who worked mainly on ship inactivations and routine overhauls. Three months later another 2,880 workers were dropped from the Yard payroll. The first big layoff came in January 1946, with 970 journeymen and helpers discharged.
Sadness was expressed at this fate for ships like SARATOGA, PENNSYLVANIA and NEVADA, major contributors to the Navy Yard's workload throughout the years.Īlthough many workers left voluntarily at the end of the war, the smaller work load spawned a new acronym, "RIF", meaning Reduction In Force. Almost 100 other ships were involved in Operation Crossroads, the Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests, and never used again. Some ships were scheduled for inactivation, others sold for scrap. Shipfitters and welders set a record in November 1945, installing 3,000 bunks in USS BUNKER HILL in only 16 working hours. Suddenly the had a new mission: "Magic Carpet," an operation in which warships would be converted into transports to bring troops home from the Pacific war zone. Louise Reh and Helen Lou Ross, NIPSIC to NIMITZ: A Centennial History of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (1991) Document 49: Excerpt from NIPSIC to NIMITZ
0 kommentar(er)
