Shipbuilding History

Galveston TX

Most recent update: October 19, 2020.

Todd started its Galveston shipyard in 1934, when it acquired Galveston Dry Dock & Construction, which was the westernmost of the four small shipyards on Pelican Island. Then in 1941 Gray's Iron Works started a new construction yard, to the west of Todd, with four berths, but in 1943, at the request of MARCOM, Todd took over the operation of Gray's Iron Works and combined it with their own yard, calling it Todd Galveston Drydocks, Inc. After the war, they built three more vessels at the yard but in 1949, Todd leased the Brown Shipbuilding yard in Houston as its main ship construction yard in the area and the Galveston yard reverted to ship repair, renamed Todd Shipyards Corporation, Galveston Division, or Todd Galveston for short. In the mid-60s Todd Galveston moved into conversion work, and later into tank barges, acquiring a nearby facility at the foot of Texas Clipper Road for use as an enclosed fabrication shop for midbodies and barges. Todd closed the Galveston yard in 1990, when they went into Chapter 11: they sold the yard's recently acquired post-Panamax and Panamax floating dry-docks to Alabama Shipyard and Bender Shipbuilding, respectively, and its off-site fabrication shop to Southwest Shipyard. In 1993, they sold the remainder of the Pelican Island property to the Port of Galveston, who subsequently leased it to Newpark Marine: it is now operated by Gulf Copper as an offshore repair yard. See the shipyard from the air on Google here. Note that the hull numbering sequence started by Gray was carried on at Todd Houston and a new sequence was started at Todd Galveston.

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