McCloskey & Company Shipyard


McCloskey & Company Shipyard was a ship builder in Tampa, Florida. McCloskey & Company built 38 cargo ships, Type N3 ship for World War II founded in 1942. McCloskey & Company also built type C1-S-D1 concrete ships. Matthew H. McCloskey founded the construction company McCloskey & Company in Philadelphia. McCloskey & Company built the Philadelphia Convention Hall, the Philadelphia Sheraton Hotel, and the Washington D.C. Stadium.
The Tampa shipyard is now Tampa Ship LLC owned by Edison Chouest Offshore.

Shipyard

During World War II, there was a high demand for ships thus, McCloskey & Company opened a shipyard at Hookers Point in Tampa, Florida. Tampa Port Authority leased the land to McCloskey & Company. With steel in short supply due to the war, McCloskey & Company built 24 self-propelled concrete ships under a Maritime Commission war contract starting in July 1943. McCloskey & Company Shipyard had 6,000 employees at its peak, with 13 shipways. Most of the concrete ships were used to move carry sugar. The concrete ships were 366 feet long and had a deadweight of 5,000 tons. Four other companies also built concrete ships for the war. Starting in April 1945 McCloskey & Company built 38 steel hull cargo ships Maritime Commission Type N3 ship, these were small coastal cargo ships.
After the war, the shipyard was sold to the City of Tampa in January 1948. The city leased out the shipyard to Tampa Ship Repair & Dry Dock Company. Tampa Fabricators operated out of the Tampa Ship Repair & Dry Dock Company shipyard starting in 1956 till 1960. The shipyard was vacant in the 1960s. In 1972 the yard was sold to American [Ship Building Company] as Tampa Shipyards. American Ship Building Company built two large drydocks at the site, but went bankrupt in 1995. For two years the site was owned and run by Tampa Shipbuilding Company. In 1997 the site was sold and became the Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Company. In 2008 the site was sold to Edison Chouest Offshore and renamed the site Tampa Ship.

Tampa Ship

Tampa Ship operates a 62-acre full-service ship repair facility in Tampa Bay in Hillsborough County. Tampa Ship also does vessel conversions and has four large drydocks. Tampa Ship has 7 repair pier berths off McCloskey Blvd at the start of the Sparkman Channel of Hillsborough Bay. Tampa Ship builds Platform supply vessels and Harbor Tugs. Edison Chouest Offshore has owned Tampa Ship since 2008.
  • Drydocks:
  • 535 ft
  • 907 ft.
  • 746 ft.
  • 414 ft.

World War 2 ships

Hull #Ship #NameTypeGross tonsFeetDeliveredFate
1244546VitruviusC1-S-D14,826350Dec-43Breakwater at Normandy
2244258David O. SaylorC1-S-D14,826350Nov-43Breakwater at Normandy
3244542Arthur Newell TalbotC1-S-D14,826350Feb-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
4245070Richard Lewis HumphreyC1-S-D14,826350Mar-44Sold in Mexico
5245069Richard Kidder MeadeC1-S-D14,826350Mar-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
6245071Willis A. SlaterC1-S-D14,826350Feb-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
7245336Leonard Chase WatsonC1-S-D14,690350Jun-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
8245335John SmeatonC1-S-D14,826350Apr-44Breakwater at Powell River BC
9245579Joseph AspdinC1-S-D14,690350May-44Wrecked and lost 1948
10245773John GrantC1-S-D14,826350Jun-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
11245771M. H. Le ChatelierC1-S-D14,690350Jul-44Breakwater at Powell River BC
12245774L. J. VicatC1-S-D14,690350Jul-44Breakwater at Powell River BC
13246010Robert Whitman LesleyC1-S-D14,690350Jul-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
14246120Edwin ThacherC1-S-D14,690350Jul-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
15246257C. W. PasleyC1-S-D14,690350Aug-44Breakwater at Newport OR
16Armand ConsidereC1-S-D14,690350Sep-44Breakwater at Powell River BC
17Francois HennebiqueC1-S-D14,690350Sep-44Breakwater at Newport OR
18P. M. AndersonC1-S-D14,690350Sep-44Breakwater at Powell River BC
19246727Albert KahnC1-S-D14,680350Oct-44Abandoned and lost 1947
20246758Willard A. PollardC1-S-D14,680350Nov-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
21246759William Foster CowhamC1-S-D14,680350Nov-44Breakwater at Kiptopeke VA
22246877Edwin Clarence EckelC1-S-D14,680350Dec-44Scuttled 1946
23246881Thaddeus MerrimanC1-S-D14,680350Nov-44Breakwater at Powell River BC
24246878Emile N. VidalC1-S-D14,680350Dec-44Breakwater at Powell River BC
25180568Northern WarriorN3-S-A21,900250Apr-45To Britain 1945, sold 1947, scrapped 1970
26180576Northern ChieftainN3-S-A21,900250Apr-45To Britain 1945, sold 1947, scrapped 1982
27180714Northern PioneerN3-S-A21,900250May-45To Britain 1945, to Greece 1945 as Zakynthos, sold 1947, later Teng 1407, Hung Chang, scrapped
28247949Northern WandererN3-S-A21,870250Jun-45Later Warren Bearne, to the Philippines 1949, scrapped 1963
29248016Northern ExplorerN3-S-A21,870250Jun-45Later Nat Brown, to USA 1949, to USN 1951 as Centaurus, scrapped 1960
30248017Northern VoyagerN3-S-A21,870250Jun-45Later Oliver R. Mumford, scrapped 1964
31248014Northern AdventurerN3-S-A21,870250Jun-45Sold 1946, later Hai Ming, Chung Kai, sank 1964
32248215Northern SquireN3-S-A21,870250Jun-45Scrapped 1964
33248216Northern YeomanN3-S-A21,870250Jul-45To USA 1949, to USN 1951 as Serpens, scrapped 1960
34248211Northern ArcherN3-S-A21,870250Jul-45Sold 1947, scrapped 1979
35248204Northern StalkerN3-S-A21,870250Jul-45Sold 1947, scrapped 1974
36248394Eben H. LinnellN3-S-A21,870250Jul-45To USA 1949, scrapped
37248399Northern TrapperN3-S-A21,870250Aug-45Scrapped 1964
38248397John J. JacksonN3-S-A21,870250Aug-45Sold 1947 as Samsun, later Hopa, Merve, scrapped in Turkey 1978
39248396Frederick LendholmN3-S-A21,870250Sep-45Sold 1947, later Don Martin, scrapped in Peru 1967

Two C1-S-D1 concrete ships SS Vitruvius and SS David O. Saylor were taken out of maritime service and used to make a breakwater at Normandy for the Normandy landings. The breakwater was part of the Mulberry harbour, a temporary manmade harbor for World War II, used for the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The Breakwater were called Corncobs and Gooseberries. The sunk Vitruvius and David O. Saylor were used at Utah Beach. Nine ships were used at The Kiptopeke Breakwater in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia at.
Ten of the concrete ships are at the Powell River, British Columbia at, where a lumber mill then as a breakwater. known as The Hulks.