Skinner & Eddy facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Skinner & Eddy Corporation

Former type	Private
Industry	Shipbuilding
Predecessor	Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company
Successor	Skinner Corporation
Founded	1916
Founder	Ned Skinner, John W. Eddy
Defunct	(As a shipyard) 1923
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington , United States
Products	Steel merchant ships
Services	Ship repairs

The Skinner & Eddy Corporation, often called Skinner & Eddy, was a company in Seattle, Washington. It built ships from 1916 to 1923. This shipyard was famous for building more ships for the United States during World War I than any other American shipyard. It also set world records for how fast it could build individual ships.

In total, the company built 75 ships between 1916 and 1920. These included 72 cargo ships and three oil tankers. Thirty-two of these ships were made for the Emergency Fleet Corporation during the war. The shipyard closed in 1921 because there was a big drop in shipbuilding after the war. Skinner & Eddy later became a shipping company. It seems to have closed down completely in the early 1970s.

How Skinner & Eddy Started
Shipyard Facilities
Building Ships During World War I
After the War
The Ships They Built
- Ships in Service
What Happened to the Shipyards
Production History

How Skinner & Eddy Started

The Skinner & Eddy Corporation began in January 1916. It was founded by two business owners, David E. "D.E." Skinner and John W. Eddy. They had owned the Port Blakely Mill Company since 1903. Soon after starting, Skinner & Eddy began renting a shipyard in downtown Seattle. This shipyard was previously used by the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company.

The Seattle Construction & Dry Dock company had taken over from the Moran Brothers shipyard. The Moran Brothers shipyard was one of America's largest shipyards around 1900. It even built Seattle's first battleship, USS Nebraska, in 1906.

On April 6, 1917, the United States joined World War I. Skinner & Eddy quickly bought more land along the Seattle waterfront. They spent $1.5 million and $600,000 on this new property. They used it to build a second shipyard, called Plant No. 2. It was just south of their first shipyard, Plant No. 1.

Skinner & Eddy got big contracts from the Emergency Fleet Corporation. These contracts were to build merchant ships for the war. In June 1918, Skinner & Eddy bought Plant No. 1 outright. Another shipyard operator, William H. Todd, also had operations nearby. During World War II, these two areas became the biggest ship-producing sites in Puget Sound. They were known as the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation.

Shipyard Facilities

When Skinner & Eddy's shipyards were finished, they had ten building areas called slipways. There were five at each plant. They also had four docks for fitting out ships. The company also got a large drydock that was 459 feet long. This drydock could fix ships weighing up to 15,000 tons. They also had a huge 50-ton floating crane.

Most of the ships built during the war were made at Plant No. 1. This was because Plant No. 2 was still being built for much of that time. Together, the two plants covered about 57 acres of waterfront. This made Skinner & Eddy Seattle's largest shipbuilding company. At its busiest during the war, it employed about 13,500 people.

Building Ships During World War I

Launch of the freighter Stolt Nielson from the Skinner & Eddy yard on 22 May 1917

The first seven ships Skinner & Eddy built were for private companies. The company finished its first ship, Niels Nielson, on November 9, 1916. They had finished two more by April 1917, when the U.S. entered the war. These three ships, plus four others that were partly built, were then taken over by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for war service. After that, Skinner & Eddy built ships only for the USSB.

Skinner & Eddy quickly became known for its fast production. Before them, building and delivering a cargo ship in under 250 days was considered very fast. But in June 1917, the company, led by manager David Rodgers, finished a freighter called Stolt Nielson in under 150 days. In November 1917, they set a world record. They built a ship from its base (keel) to its launch in under 70 days. They kept improving this record over the next five months.

In early 1918, another U.S. company briefly set a new record of 61 days. But Skinner & Eddy got the record back in April. They launched the West Lianga in just 55 days. This ship was also fully completed in a record 80 days.

After this, all the company's ships built during the war were finished in well under 100 days. Their best time was 79 days from starting the base to delivering the ship. Good management helped a lot. Skinner & Eddy also paid its workers very well. This helped them attract the best and most skilled shipbuilders.

The company's improved speed also showed in its total production. In 1917, they built ships totaling 72,800 tons. The next year, they more than tripled that, building 232,400 tons of ships. In all, Skinner & Eddy delivered 32 ships to the EFT during the war. This included 29 freighters and three tankers. This was more than any other shipyard in the country.

After the War

Many people in the U.S. thought there would be a big demand for ships after the war. So, the USSB did not cancel many of its wartime shipbuilding contracts. For Skinner & Eddy, this meant they had to finish 43 more ships for the USSB after the war. However, in 1920, the USSB canceled a contract for 25 more ships. This led Skinner & Eddy to ask the government for $17 million for lost profits. This claim was later reduced to $9 million.

Skinner & Eddy delivered its last ship in February 1920. They could not get any new shipbuilding contracts after this. This was because there was a big slowdown in shipbuilding after the war. In 1923, the Skinner & Eddy shipyard closed permanently. The owners, D.E. Skinner and John Eddy, ended their business partnership. John Eddy went back to the lumber business. D.E. Skinner became the sole owner of the Skinner & Eddy Corporation, keeping the original name.

Skinner & Eddy then started a shipping line business. They bought the Pacific Steamship Company, which operated from their old Plant No. 2. The company also invested a lot in Alaskan salmon canneries. In 1944, Skinner & Eddy bought the Alaska Steamship Company. After World War II, they also ran a cruise line. D.E. Skinner's grandson, David E. "Ned" Skinner II, closed the shipping business in 1971. He moved the family's money into real estate. His Skinner Corporation eventually became one of America's largest private companies.

The Ships They Built

SS West Arrow, one of the first ships built by Skinner & Eddy. This ship was very similar in design to the USSB Design #1013 ships that would later be built by the company

Skinner & Eddy built a total of 75 ships from 1916 to 1920. (They skipped yard number 13, so the sequence goes up to 76). Most of the ships were freighters, which carry cargo. But three 10,000-ton tankers were among the seven ships built for private companies before the U.S. joined World War I.

The company built three different types of standard freighters for the USSB. All of these were Skinner & Eddy's own designs. The USSB called these types Design 1013, Design 1079, and Design 1105.

Design 1013 ships were 8,800 tons. They were 423 feet 9 inches long. Some of these ships used turbine engines, and others had triple expansion engines. Some ran on oil, and others on coal. Skinner & Eddy built 24 ships of this type. Most of the ships they completed during the war were Design 1013.
Design 1079 ships were 9,600 tons. They were turbine-powered and ran on oil. Skinner & Eddy was the only company that built this type. They completed 23 of them.
Design 1105 ships were also 9,600 tons. They ran on oil and had triple expansion engines. Again, Skinner & Eddy was the only company that made this type. They built 14 of these ships.

Additionally, eleven 8,800-ton freighters were built before the USSB types. These were similar to the Design 1013s. All these ship types typically traveled at speeds between 11 and 12 knots (about 13-14 miles per hour).

Ships in Service

USS Rigel (AD-13), one of three Skinner & Eddy freighters converted into destroyer tenders

Of the first 39 ships built by Skinner & Eddy during and shortly after World War I, 23 were immediately used by the U.S. Navy. They served briefly as supply ships before being taken out of Navy service in 1919. Three more were given Navy ID numbers but were never officially used by the Navy.

In 1921, three Skinner & Eddy ships were changed into destroyer tenders. These ships help repair and resupply destroyers. They were named USS Altair (AD-11), USS Denebola (AD-12), and USS Rigel (AD-13). All three of these ships stayed in Navy service until the end of World War II.

Only one Skinner & Eddy ship was lost to enemy action in World War I. Between the two World Wars, most of the company's ships were used for commercial shipping. Three ships, Western Front, Elkton, and Nile, were lost in accidents in the 1920s. Seven more were scrapped (taken apart for materials) in the 1930s. This was likely because there were too many ships available.

World War II caused many Allied merchant ships to be lost. Of the 64 Skinner & Eddy ships that served in that war, 31 (almost half) were lost to enemy action. Most of these were sunk by U-boats (German submarines). Two other ships were purposely sunk to create barriers during the Normandy Campaign. The 31 ships that survived the war were mostly scrapped in the late 1940s and 1950s. Only four were still around by 1960. The last Skinner & Eddy ship to be used was probably the Edray. It was given to the Soviet Union under lend-lease during World War II and was scrapped in 1967.

What Happened to the Shipyards

After the Skinner & Eddy shipyards closed in 1923, Plant No. 2 was sold in 1924. The Pacific Steamship Company bought it and built a new office and terminal there. This site also became a main stop for the Admiral Line, which traded a lot with Siberia and the Orient.

When the Great Depression started in 1929, the site became a "Hooverville". This was a shantytown for Seattle's unemployed people. During World War II, the Hooverville was cleared away. A huge supply depot for the Army Quartermaster Corps was built there. After the war, it became a base for the U.S. Coast Guard. As of 2003, the site is used for several large container shipping terminals. Skinner & Eddy's Plant No. 1 is now part of Seattle's SoDo district.

Production History

The table below lists all the ships built by the Skinner & Eddy Corporation. Ships marked with an asterisk (*) were given Navy ID numbers but were never officially used by the Navy.

The "GRT" column shows the ship's gross tonnage. If an exact number isn't known, it shows a general tonnage for that type of ship.

*Ships built by the Skinner & Eddy Corporation, 1916-1920*
Yard No.	USSB No.	Name	Type	Design No.	GRT	Deliv.	Fate
1	——	Niels Nielson Yoshu Maru ²⁶	Freighter	——	5711	09/11/16	Bombed, 1945
2	——	Hanna Nielson Taian Maru ²⁶	Freighter	——	5655	22/12/16	Torpedoed 1943
3	——	S. V. Harkness Svithiod ²⁶	Tanker	——	6400	08/05/17	Scrapped 48
4	——	Josiah Macy	Tanker	——	6400	09/06/17	Scrapped 1950
5	——	Stolt Nielson	Freighter	——	5600	26/06/17	Torpedoed 1918
6	——	J. M. Fox ^y USS Jeannette Skinner (ID-1321)	Freighter	——	5800	20/08/17	Scrapped 1943
7	——	Luise Nielsen Taigen Maru ²⁶	Freighter	——	5660	10/03/17	Torpedoed 1942
8	——	Lt. de Missiessy	Freighter	——	5600	19/09/17	Scrapped 1933
9	——	Martha Washington ^y Nikkosan Maru ^y USS Indiana (ID-1787) ¹⁸ USS Western Front (ID-1787) ¹⁸ Western Front ¹⁸	Freighter	——	5600	20/10/17	Destroyed by fire and explosion at sea, 1921
10	——	War Flame ^y USS West Haven (ID-2159) Marian Otis Chandler ²⁹ Onomea ³⁸ Empire Leopard ⁴⁰	Freighter	——	5520	24/12/17	Torpedoed 1942
11	——	Trontolite	Tanker	——	7115	02/02/18	Scrapped 1946
12	——	Jas G. Eddy ^y West Arrow* ¹⁸ Black Osprey ³⁵	Freighter	——	5589	26/02/18	Torpedoed 1941
14	83	Western Hero	Freighter	1013	5611	05/01/18	Scrapped 1946
15	84	USS Absaroka (ID-2518) Primavista ⁴⁶ Panenterprise ⁴⁸ Maryland ⁵²	Freighter	1013	5600	12/02/18	Scrapped 1954
16	——	David Rogers Westlake Port Texaco No. 1 ³²	Freighter	——	5600	09/03/18	Scrapped 1951
17	——	Elizabeth Gibbs ^y Western Queen Virginia ⁴⁶ Virginia II ⁴⁸	Freighter	——	5600	25/04/18	Scrapped 1954
18	85	Canoga	Freighter	1013	5600	23/03/18	Scrapped 1933
19	86	Ossineke	Freighter	1013	5600	13/04/18	Scrapped 1931
20	1175	West Durfee	Freighter	1013	5522	16/05/18	Scrapped 1946
21	1176	USS West Lianga (ID-2758) Helen Whittier ²⁹ Kalani ³⁸ Empire Cheetah ⁴⁰ Hobbema ⁴²	Freighter	1013	5600	04/05/18	Torpedoed 1942
22	87	USS West Alsek (ID-3119)	Freighter	1013	5600	04/06/18	Scrapped 1933
23	88	USS West Apaum (ID-3221)	Freighter	1013	5600	19/06/18	Scrapped 1933
24	1177	USS West Cohas (ID-3253) Empire Simba ⁴⁰	Freighter	1013	5600	29/06/18	Scuttled 1945
25	1178	USS West Ekonk (ID-3313) Empire Wildebeeste ⁴¹	Freighter	1013	5600	13/07/18	Torpedoed 1942
26	1179	USS West Gambo (ID-3220) Empire Hartebeeste ⁴¹	Freighter	1013	5600	20/07/18	Torpedoed 1942
27	1180	West Gotomska Andelien ⁴³	Freighter	1013	5728	07/08/18	Scrapped 1948
28	1181	USS West Hobomac (ID-3335) Ile de Batz ⁴⁰	Freighter	1013	5600	17/08/18	Torpedoed 1942
29	1182	USS West Hosokie (ID-3695) West Hosokie Constance Chandler ²⁹ Liloa ³⁸ Belorussia ⁴⁵	Freighter	1013	5600	29/08/18	Scrapped 1960
30	1183	USS West Humhaw (ID-3718) West Humhaw ¹⁹	Freighter	1013	5527	14/09/18	Torpedoed 1944
31	1184	USS West Lashaway (ID-3700) West Lashaway ¹⁹	Freighter	1013	5637	30/09/18	Torpedoed 1942
32	1185	USS West Loquassuck (ID-3638) West Loquassuck ¹⁹	Freighter	1013	5644	15/10/18	Scrapped 1936
33	1186	USS West Madaket (ID-3636) West Madaket ¹⁹	Freighter	1013	5565	30/10/18	Torpedoed 1943
34	1187	USS West Mahomet (ID-3681) West Mahomet ¹⁹	Freighter	1013	5600	13/11/18	Scrapped 1938
35	1188	West Maximus*	Freighter	1013	5561	—/04/19	Torpedoed 1943
36	1925	USS West Cressy (ID-3813) West Cressey ¹⁹ Briansk ⁴³ Tallin ⁴⁵	Freighter	1013	5596	—/12/18	Wrecked 1946
37	1926	USS West Elcajon (ID-3907) West Elcajon ¹⁹ Golden Kauri ²⁸ Waipio ³⁹ Paralos II ⁴⁶	Freighter	1013	5548	—/01/19	Scrapped 1954
38	1927	USS West Elcasco (ID-3661) USAT Henry Gibbins ⁴¹	Freighter	1013	5766	23/10/18	Torpedoed 1942
39	1928	USS West Eldara (ID-3704) West Eldara ¹⁹ Mae ³⁶	Freighter	1013	5607	—/11/18	Torpedoed 1942
40	1731	USS Edenton (ID-3696) Edenton ¹⁹ USAT Irvin L. Hunt ⁴¹ Edenton ⁴⁶	Freighter	1079	6800	05/12/18	Scrapped 1948
41	1732	Edgecombe USS Rigel (AD-13) ²¹	Freighter Destroyer Tender	1079	6800	24/12/18	Scrapped 1950
42	1733	Edgefield Empire Ibex ⁴¹	Freighter	1079	6800	31/12/18	Collision 1943
43	1929	Eldena	Freighter	1079	6800	—/05/19	Torpedoed 1943
44	1930	Eldora Polybius	Freighter	1079	7041	—/05/19	Torpedoed 1942
45	1734	Edgehill Oremar ³⁹ Mangore ⁴⁸	Freighter	1079	6854	02/04/19	Scrapped 1950
46	1735	Edgemont American Sailor ⁴⁰	Freighter	1079	6800	22/04/19	Scrapped 1953
47	1931	Eldridge Tacoma ²⁸ Ewa ³⁷ Nogin ⁴³	Freighter	1079	6800	—/06/19	Scrapped 1957
48	1736	Edgemoor American Seaman ³⁹	Freighter	1079	6800	08/05/19	Scrapped 1952
49	1737	Edgewood USS Denebola (AD-12) ²¹ Edgewood	Freighter Destroyer tender	1079	6800	—/05/19	Scrapped 1950
50	1932	Elmsport Kenmar ³⁹	Freighter	1079	6844	—/07/19	Wrecked, 1945
51	1738	Edisto USS Altair (AD-11) ²¹ Edisto ⁴⁶	Freighter Destroyer tender	1079	6800	—/06/19	Scrapped 1947
52	1933	Elkader Colorado Springs Marymar ³⁹	Freighter	1079	6847	—/07/19	Scrapped 1947
53	1739	Edmore Grays Harbor ²⁸ Honomu ³⁷	Freighter	1079	6800	—/07/19	Torpedoed 1942
54	1934	Wheatland Montana Seattle ²⁸ Lihue ³⁷	Freighter	1079	6800	—/08/19	Torpedoed 1942
55	1740	Edray City of Spokane Olympia ²⁸ Hamakua ³⁷ Kuibyshev ⁴⁵	Freighter	1105	6400	—/07/19	Scrapped 1967
56	1935	Stanley Empire Pelican ⁴¹	Freighter	1105	6463	—/08/19	Torpedoed 1941
57	1741	Eelbeck Empire Bunting ⁴¹	Freighter	1105	6318	—/08/19	Sunk as breakwater, 1944
58	1936	Elkridge Golden Star ²⁸ Tennessean ³⁷ Empire Penguin ⁴⁰ Van de Velde ⁴² Rijnland ⁴⁷ Vaptistis ⁵⁷	Freighter	1105	6379	—/08/19	Scrapped 1959
59	1937	Elkhorn Port Texaco No. 4 ³⁶	Freighter	1105	6400	—/09/19	Scrapped 1951
60	1938	Editor Empire Dunlin ⁴¹ Norlom ⁴²	Freighter	1105	6400	—/09/19	Bombed, 1943
61	1939	Endicott Empire Mermaid ⁴⁰	Freighter	1105	6400	—/09/19	Torpedoed 1941
62	1940	Elkton	Freighter	1105	6400	—/09/19	Mss 27
63	1941	Brave Coeur Empire Gull ⁴¹	Freighter	1105	6458	—/10/19	Torpedoed 1942
64	1942	Cripple Creek	Freighter	1105	6400	—/10/19	Torpedoed 1942
65	1943	Crisfield Golden Horn ²⁸ Kaimoku ³⁸	Freighter	1105	6400	—/10/19	Torpedoed 1942
66	1743	Effna	Freighter	1105	6400	—/11/19	Torpedoed 1941
67	1742	Effingham	Freighter	1105	6400	—/11/19	Torpedoed 1942
68	1744	Eglantine Empire Buffalo ⁴⁰	Freighter	1105	6325	—/11/19	Torpedoed 1942
69	1745	Egremont Calobre ⁴¹ Borodino ⁴⁵	Freighter	1079	7000	—/11/19	Scrapped 1963
70	1944	Nile	Freighter	1079	7000	—/12/19	Wrecked 1927
71	1945	Jadden J. B. White ⁴¹	Freighter	1079	7000	—/12/19	Torpedoed 1941
72	1946	Crosskeys Golden Peak ²⁸ Utahan ³⁷ Futura ⁵¹	Freighter	1079	7031	—/12/19	Scrapped 1960
73	1947	Crown Point Robin Hood	Freighter	1079	6887	—/12/19	Torpedoed 1942
74	1948	Crowswind Robin Adair Bonaventure ⁴⁶	Freighter	1079	6895	—/01/20	Scrapped 1952
75	1949	Croydon Robin Gray	Freighter	1079	6896	—/01/20	Sunk as breakwater, 1944
76	1950	Crystal Spring Robin Goodfellow	Freighter	1079	6885	—/02/20	Torpedoed 1944

Yard No. = The number given to the ship by the shipyard.
USSB No. = The number given to the ship by the U.S. Shipping Board.
Name = The name of the ship. Numbers in superscript (like ²⁶) show the last two digits of the year the ship was renamed. A "y" (like ^y) means it was a shipyard name not used later.
Type = What kind of ship it was (freighter or tanker).
Design No. = The USSB Design number. Ships without a number were built before this system started.
GRT = gross register tons, a measure of a ship's volume.
Deliv. = The date the ship was delivered to its owner. Some exact dates are not known.
Fate = What happened to the ship.