In January 1942, Henry J. Kaiser acquired land on the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, which would become a vital part of the American war effort. Situated on 200 acres, the Kaiser Shipyard would build many of the ships that were needed in the war.
Constructed at record speed, the Kaiser Shipyard produced nearly one war vessel per week in support of the war effort. Henry J. Kaiser, the son of German immigrants, already had a worldwide reputation as a builder of ships, roads, and dams when he established the shipyard in Vancouver.
Kaiser’s business, formed in 1914, began as a road construction firm. The company later played major roles in the building of Hoover, Bonneville, and Grand Coulee dams. In 1940, Kaiser got into the shipbuilding business in Richmond, California. With the start of World War II, he quickly added shipyards in Vancouver and Portland which produced 1,490 ships during the war.
Kaiser’s Vancouver shipyards produced 50 “baby flattops” (escort aircraft carriers): cargo ships with flight decks. These ships were intended for convoy protection. Each ship could carry and launch 37 planes.
Building ships requires a skilled labor force and to acquire workers, Kaiser engaged in national advertising:
“Come on out to Vancouver. You can make as much as $10 per day.”
Prior to the war, Vancouver had a population of 18,000 people and within a few months more than 100,000 people were in the Vancouver area.
To meet the needs of the men and women who worked in the shipyards, Kaiser had to provide housing and healthcare. Eventually, 38,000 people were employed at the Kaiser Shipyard in Vancouver.
To meet the housing needs of the workers, the Vancouver Housing Authority, a local agency, received financing from the federal government to acquire 1,600 acres and started six new communities in and around the city.
In 1945, following the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II, the Kaiser Shipyard in Vancouver ceased business. Thousands of shipyard workers were now jobless and began to return to their homes across the country.
According to the information sign:
“As work at the shipyard tapered off, enrollment in the workers’ health plan also declined. In response to requests from ex-shipyard workers who had found peacetime jobs, Kaiser Permanente opened its doors to the public in 1945. Today, this group practice health maintenance organization is the largest in the United States.”
With the end of the war in sight, and knowing that the American public would need automobiles, a prototype for the Kaiser automobile was built in secrecy in a shipyard building. In 1945, Henry J. Kaiser, and Joseph W. Frazer, the president of the Graham-Paige Corporation, founded the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation which made automobiles under the brand names of Kaiser and Frazer. With Kaiser’s capital and experience in obtaining government contracts and Frazer’s contacts in the automobile industry, there was optimism regarding their success. Production of Kaiser automobiles lasted only a decade.
Today
Shown below are photographs from the observation tower at the Kaiser Shipyard Memorial.
Much of the old shipyard site is now occupied by a modern business park.
Related essay: History 101: Women Shipyard Workers in World War II