Portland Harbor Museum April Lecture Series Panel Recalls Wartime Shipbuilding Days in South Portland
Responding
to questions prepared and presented by moderator Professor Joel Eastman,
a panel of four veteran World War II shipbuilders drew a portrait of day
to day life in the busy shipyard.
Panelist Harold Robinson's job as a sequencer included coordination of the welding together of the bow, mid and stern sections of the Liberty's hull. He responded that his proudest accomplishment was devising a welding operation that reduced the joining of two sections from a two-week operation to a couple of shifts. Shortly after coming up with the idea, he turned down a military deferment and went off to war. "I never found out if they continued to use my method," he said, "but with the speed that they produced 260 ships I suspect that they did."
Welder Mabel Libby, thinking about a name-your-favorite-job question, selected layout work. A chalk line traced around a wooden templates laid on the steel was followed by punch marks to guide the welding torch. While she was building ships, her mother in law helped out raising Mabel's two childen. At war's end Mabel was ready to hang up she sher welding outfit. "I was glad to get home after two years and take over raising my children."
Shirley Wilder, on the other hand, continued her welding career long after war's end. "The boys were coming home and I was glad the shipyard job was over," she said, "but I went on to other welding jobs in Connecticut and Maine."
The four panelists were unanimous on the equal treatment of women and men shipyard workers. "In those bulky welding coveralls and helmets who could tell a man from a woman, anyway," quipped Shirley.
When asked if they had participated in launchings of completed Liberty Ships, all four panelist responded that they were too busy getting the next ship ready to take time off for launching ceremonies. "We were just too busy planning for the next one,' said naval architect Bill Adams. "Besides, basin launchings were boring. The gates opened and it took a long time for the basin to fill---very unspectacular.
"We built damn good ships---as strong and stable as any," said Bill. "Witness the Jeremiah O'Brien. When they looked around for a ship to memorialize the Liberties, they had a hundreds of laid up ships to choose from, but they picked the best one, the South Portland built Jeremiah O'Brien."