Shipbuilding History

Seattle WA

Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging Company was founded in 1898 as a subsidiary of San Francisco Bridge Co. In 1916, they established a facility on Seattle's Harbor Island as a base for general construction, dredging, and other marine work. When World War I began, this facility was converted to a shipyard and used to build cargo ships for the U.S. Government. After an idle period between the wars, it was reactivated for World War II in a joint venture with Lake Union Dry Docks Co., called Associated Shipbuilders, and used to build minesweepers and a variety of yard craft for the Navy: this facility was later designated Yard 1. At the beginning of World War II, PSBD increased its shipbuilding capacity by acquiring Block 430 in West Seattle from King County: this facility was later designated Yard 2. In 1959, PSB&D was acquired by Lockheed Shipbuilding & Construction Company and in 1965, the new company acquired the adjoining Block 431 in West Seattle, expanding Yard 2 to allow construction of larger and more complex ships. Lockheed stopped building ships in 1988, after losing the LSD 44 program to Avondale and dropping out of the competition for the DDG-51 program. Both yards were sold to the Port of Seattle - Yard 2 in 1992 and Yard 1 in 1997. Yard 1 was on the east side of the Duwamish West Waterway, while Yard 2 was across from it, on the west side, where the container terminal is now.