wintering over at bay shipbuilding 2006 industry shipbuilding predecessor sturgeon bay shipbuilding and christy corporation founded 1968 as bay shipbuilding headquarters sturgeon bay door county wisconsin parent fincantieri marine group 2009 manitowoc company 1968 2008 website http www.bayshipbuildingcompany.com bay shipbuilding company bsc is a shipyard and dry dock company in sturgeon bay door county wisconsin . as of 2015 bay ships was a subsidiary of fincantieri marine group and produces articulated tug and barges opa 90 compliant double hull tank ships and offshore support vessels . 1 it also provides repair services to the lake freighter fleet . 2 in the past the shipyard located in sturgeon bay has operated under several different names and traces its history back to 1918 . the company also built 40 000 ton lake freighters in the 1970s and 1980s . while capable of producing large freighters the yard has not built a freighter over 20 000 tons since 1987 . former names of the shipyards at the 2015 location of bay shipbuilding are sturgeon bay shipbuilding leathem d. smith shipbuilding company and christy corporation . contents 1 history as bay shipbuilding 1.1 1968 to 1979 1.2 1980s and 1990s 1.3 2000s present 2 predecessor companies 2.1 sturgeon bay shipbuilding and dry dock company and predecessors 2.2 christy corporation and predecessors 3 see also 4 references 5 further reading 6 external links history as bay shipbuilding edit 1968 to 1979 edit bay shipbuilding company was formed in 1968 after the manitowoc company closed manitowoc shipbuilding company and purchased sturgeon bay shipbuilding and then christy corporation in 1970 which were adjacent on the east side of the sturgeon bay ship canal . 3 sturgeon bay shipbuilding & dry dock was formerly rieboldt wolter & co. universal shipbuilding company and sturgeon bay dry dock company . christy corporation was formerly leathem d. smith towing & wrecking company leathem d. smith dock company and leathem d. smith shipbuilding & dry dock company . bay shipbuilding initially invested 500 000 in purchasing the two yards . in the early 1970s they invested 30 million for improvements . 4 the 1970s turned out to be a boom period for bay shipbuilding since great lakes shipping fleet owners had decided to upgrade their fleets . they would build 30 ships for the lake fleet in the 1970s . 5 in 1975 bay shipbuilding had around 800 workers and expected to expand to 1 400 because of a new contract to construct four 1 000 foot long lake freighters for the american steamship company and bethlehem steel . 6 at least six of the 1 000 foot long 40 000 ton self unloading ore carriers were delivered from 1977 to may 1981 . 5 7 by the end of 1978 bay shipbuilding employed nearly 2 000 . 4 1980s and 1990s edit a drawing of bay shipbuilding c. 1985 . after the construction projects for new lake freighters had dried up bay shipbuilding entered the salt water shipbuilding market . 5 by 1984 employment had fallen to around 220 . bay shipbuilding received a contract with sea land service for three container ships for around 180 million later that year . 8 9 the ships were sea land s only vessels designed and built in the united states . however bay shipbuilding did not win the contracts by underbidding foreign shipyards . since the ships were destined for the puget sound to alaska trade route the jones act required that the ships be made in the united states . 10 in march 1988 after the completion of the three sea land container ships bay shipbuilding announced it was ceasing new shipbuilding due to the lack of domestic contracts and a decline in the us shipbuilding industry . 11 in the late 1990s the yard built a handful of smaller vessels including a ferry two tugs a dredge and the 475 foot tank barge seneca later named dbl 140 . 7 2000s present edit a view of bay shipbuilding from potawatomi state park july 2008 . in the 2000s bay shipbuilding continued to construct oil pollution act of 1990 compliant double hulled tank barges and more recently articulated tug and barges and offshore support vessels . 7 1 the manitowoc company sold its marine business which included bay shipbuilding to fincantieri marine group effective at the end of the day 31 december 2008 . 12 prior to 2015 fincantieri added a new floating dry dock and computer aided manufacturing equipment during a 26 million capital expansion plan . 1 predecessor companies edit sturgeon bay shipbuilding and dry dock company and predecessors edit universal shipbuilding company and the sturgeon bay dry dock company merged in 1926 and formed the sturgeon bay shipbuilding and dry dock company . sturgeon bay sb & ddc changed ownership in april 1934 and employed around 90 workers at the time . 13 they built fishing vessels tow boats and ferries prior to world war ii . during the war sturgeon bay sb & ddc built some design 210 150 foot steel diesel retrieving vessels for the us army h 2 to h 12 . they also built design 216 100 foot steel diesel supply boats f 5 to f 14 and f 125 to f 130 for the army . additionally they built a fairly large number of 45 foot tugs and a few 86 foot tugs as well . 7 after the war sturgeon bay sb & ddc built ferries tugboats towboats a yacht or two and fishing vessels . most of the vessels were under 100 feet long . 7 by 1949 employment at sturgeon bay sb & ddc was around 225 . 14 20 tugs were built for mississippi river barge pushing in the 1950s . 15 in the 1960s sturgeon bay sb & ddc built a number of fishing trawlers that were around 100 feet long for the new england fishing industry . 16 as mentioned above in 1968 sturgeon bay sb & ddc was purchased by the manitowoc company and renamed bay shipbuilding . 7 christy corporation and predecessors edit christy corporation was formed just after world war ii from leathem d. smith shipbuilding which had been previously named leathem d. smith towing & wrecking company leathem d. smith dock company and leathem d. smith shipbuilding & dry dock company . during world war ii leathem d. smith shipbuilding built some type n3 ships and a number of 175 foot pc 461 class submarine chasers like uss munising pc 1228 . they also built several tacoma class frigates like uss peoria pf 67 . toward the end of the war leathem built net laying ships water tankers and several 389 foot type c1 ships as well . 7 during the war leathem averaged a ship delivered every 20 days . 17 the yard peaked at about 5 000 workers during the war . 14 as christy corporation in the 1950s the yard built ss spartan and ss badger wisconsin to michigan ferries . they also built terrebonne parish class tank landing ships like uss washtenaw county lst 1166 and landing craft utility ships lcu 1610 type for the us navy . 7 15 in the 1960s christy built a variety of different ship types such as usns james m. gilliss t agor 4 usns charles h. davis t agor 5 mv tustumena noaas david starr jordan r 444 uscgc active wmec 618 and usns kane t ags 27 . 7 as mentioned above in 1970 christy corporation s yard was purchased by the manitowoc company and merged into bay shipbuilding . 7 see also edit marinette marine another subsidiary of fincantieri marine group . manitowoc shipbuilding company closed by the manitowoc company to form bay shipbuilding . references edit a b c profile . bay shipbuilding . retrieved 30 june 2015 . winter fleet departs bay shipbuilding pdf . bay shipbuilding . 12 may 2014 . retrieved 30 june 2015 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1987 . a b sturgeon bay ships carry economy on sea of prosperity . the milwaukee sentinel . 5 december 1978 . a b c charting a new course . the milwaukee journal . 22 september 1981 . bay shipbuilding pact pads payroll . the milwaukee sentinel . 18 february 1975 . p. 5 . a b c d e f g h i j colton tim . bay shipbuilding sturgeon bay wi . shipbuildinghistory.com . new contract gives city a boost . the milwaukee journal . 28 october 1984 . aukofer frank a. 22 october 1984 . ship pact will create 1 500 jobs . the milwaukee journal . cudahy brian j. 2006 . box boats how container ships changed the world . fordham univ press . p. 176 . isbn 978 0 8232 2568 2 . sturgeon bay shipbuilder to quit business . the milwaukee sentinel . 31 march 1988 . manitowoc completes sale of its marine business . manitowoc press release . 2 january 2009 . shipbuilding control sold . the milwaukee sentinel . 12 april 1934 . a b northern lake ports step up shipbuilding . the milwaukee sentinel . 19 february 1949 . a b state industry sells navy . the milwaukee journal . 5 july 1959 . sturgeon bay yard gets vessel contract . the milwaukee journal . 18 october 1966 . booming sturgeon bay shipyards keep area s economy on the crest . the milwaukee sentinel . 19 april 1977 . further reading edit crane business provides lift when shipbuilding takes periodic drops . the milwaukee journal . 10 october 1978 . p. 12 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1976 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1977 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1978 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1979 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1980 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1981 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1982 . report on survey of u.s. shipbuilding and repair facilities pdf report . united states maritime administration . 1987 . last year included in marad survey . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to ships built at bay shipbuilding company sturgeon bay wisconsin . home . bay shipbuilding . retrieved 30 june 2015 . colton tim . bay shipbuilding sturgeon bay wi . shipbuildinghistory.com . retrieved 30 june 2015 . sturgeon bay shipbuilding and dry dock company records 1916 1941 . university of wisconsin digital collections . retrieved 30 june 2015 . v t e ships built by bay shipbuilding company sturgeon bay wisconsin lake freighters american century american courage american integrity american mariner buffalo burns harbor edwin h. gott great republic indiana harbor h. lee white john j. boland sam laud walter j. mccarthy jr. container ships horizon anchorage horizon kodiak horizon tacoma v t e ships built by christy corporation sturgeon bay wisconsin ships of various types active victor l. schlaeger research ships charles h. davis david starr jordan james m. gilliss kane tank landing ships westchester county wexford county whitfield county windham county ferry boats badger spartan tustumena v t e ships built by leathem d. smith shipbuilding company sturgeon bay wisconsin tacoma class frigates brunswick davenport evansville knoxville new bedford peoria reading uniontown pc 461 class submarine chasers pc 496 pc 550 pc 551 pc 588 pc 589 pc 590 pc 591 pc 821 pc 822 pc 823 pc 824 pc 825 pc 1171 pc