Shipbuilding History

(LT, ST) Built Since WWII (post-WWII)

When WWII ended, the Army had over 700 tugs. Changes in requirements, however, led to a fleet renewal program in the early 1950s, managed by the Navy. There were three designs: a 107-foot LT, a 65-foot ST and a 45-foot ST. In total, 65 LTs were built by Avondale, NASSCO, Higgins and Matton, all experienced shipbuilders. The 202 STs were built by ten shipyards, several of which had little experience of government contracts: the Navy drove down their prices going in and then drove up their costs with change orders and heavy-handed management. As a result, most lost money, several were bankrupted and some contracts were completed by other shipyards, leading to a little confusion as to who built what. Many of these boats were transferred almost immediately to the Corps of Engineers and a few are still in service. In general, however, there is a sad lack of documentation - typical of the US Army Transportation Corps - of what happened to them. A second renewal program was undertaken in the 1990s, with the construction of six 128-foot LTs - another procurement that the Government messed up - and sixteen 60-foot STs: the fleet now consists of these 22 boats plus a few of the older LTs, and much of the work is now performed by chartered tonnage. The Army is currently planning to replace this relatively young fleet with a single new class of only 13 boats.