On November 20, 1942, the S.S. James Oglethorpe was launched at Southeastern Shipyard, the first Liberty Ship built at the new eastside shipyard. Eighteen months earlier the site had been a Savannah River marsh and amazingly it had been transformed into the largest industrial center in the county. Like a small town, the shipyard generated its own power, operated its own fire department, and provided an infirmary, cafeterias, and even entertainment for its employees. Most important, the shipyard built Liberty Ships and AV-1 ships that carried essential cargo to Allied armies in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
The women and men who worked at Southeastern Shipyard were its most important resource. On any one day there were as many as 5,000 employees working on each of three shifts. In fact, more than 46,000 individuals worked at the shipyard at one time or another between 1942 and 1945. People across Georgia and across the nation came to Savannah by the thousands to work at Southeastern for the promise of good wages and the satisfaction of “pitching in” after Pearl Harbor. They worked long hours, six or even seven days a week.
“Rosie the Riveter” worked at Southeastern Shipyard. To do her job, she wore heavy overalls, high-topped shoes, and work gloves, pinned up her hair and covered it with a scarf. She was also a welder, a ship fitter, burner, and material checker. In 1943, she and her sisters made up nearly 13 percent of the total Southeastern work force, considerably higher than the 10 percent average in shipyards across the country. Despite the skepticism that greeted the first women workers, teen-aged girls, mothers with young children, and grandmothers proved themselves capable on the job.
Although President Franklin Roosevelt explicitly banned discriminatory practices at defense plants, black employees left any hope for equality at Southeastern at the “Colored Time Gate” where they reported for work. The only jobs opened to African Americans were those of laborer, porter, helper, or cook, menial positions with lower wages than those of skilled workers.
The end of the war in 1945 signaled the end of the shipyard. Southeastern had met the urgent demand for cargo ships during the war by launching eighty-eight Liberty Ships, as well as eighteen coastal cargo vessels, dubbed the AV-1. Production became so refined that one Liberty Ship was launched only thirty-eight days after its keel was laid. Shipyard workers scattered after Southeastern closed, some returning to former lives, others staying in Savannah to start new careers. Although little remains of the shipyard today, the residential area of Pine Gardens and Savannah Gardens created as housing for defense workers are reminders of its impact on eastside neighborhood development.
Acetylene Welders Group Portrait
Courtesy of Larry Jenkins.
Acetylene welders, with goggles at hand, paused from shipbuilding for a group photograph in 1944.
Machine Shop Helpers
The Sou’Easter, 1 March 1944, Vol. 1, No. 24, 11.
Courtesy of Live Oak Public Libraries.
These African American men worked as machine shop helpers. They were ineligible to join unions for skilled jobs, a fact that effectively blocked any hope of advancement. Nonetheless, black men and women received higher wages at the shipyard than from other Savannah companies.
Work crew, women and men
Courtesy of Sister Lillian Quadrella, RSM.
A former Southeastern employee, Pvt. L.H. Moore, stationed at the battle front in Europe, requested that a photograph of his wife, Lois, be published in the shipyard newsletter, The Sou’Easter. Lois, also a shipyard employee, brought her work crew to the photographer and the whole group was featured in The Sou’Easter in 1945. When the newsletter arrived at the front, Private Moore was no doubt delighted to see his wife front and center in the picture.
Shipyard Birthday
Courtesy of Larry Jenkins.
A tablecloth covering the sawhorse table, flowers from the garden, and Coca-Colas make a special birthday lunch for Southeastern employees.
Shipyard Launch
Courtesy of Audrey Dunn Platt.
After the launch of the S.S. Crawford Long in 1943, the pageantry of the moment is savored by participants. Merilyn Milton, holding the bouquet of roses, christened the ship, and nine-year-old Audrey Dunn stood by as maid of honor. The female employees, Thelma Welch and Mrs. W.M. Litchfield, cut the ship loose from the sole plates, the only women given that honor in the 106 launches at Southeastern.
African American Baseball Team
The Sou’Easter, 1 August 1943, Vol. 1, No. 10, 11.
Courtesy of Live Oak Public Libraries.
Southeastern Shipyard promoted an active sports program for employees that included boxing, bowling, baseball, and basketball. Segregation, however, permeated sports at Southeastern just as it did in the workplace. The African American baseball team, pictured in 1943, compiled a winning record that year, but it never played against the shipyard’s white team. The Colored Athletic Association, a shipyard organization comparable to the Southeastern Athletic Association for white workers, sponsored the team.
