Bay Shipbuilding Company

1968 to 1979 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. 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. 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. 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. At least six of the 1,000 foot long, 40,000 ton self-unloading ore carriers were delivered from 1977 to May 1981. By the end of 1978, Bay Shipbuilding employed nearly 2,000. 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. 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. In the mid-1990s, the nearby Peterson Builders shipyard closed. 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). Prior to 2015, Fincantieri added a new floating dry dock and Computer-aided manufacturing equipment during a $26 million capital expansion plan. becoming the first lake freighter built by the yard since 1987. The river-class freighter entered regular service on July 27 and was formally christened on September 1 in Cleveland, Ohio. == Predecessor companies ==

Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company and predecessors 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. 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 U.S. 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. As mentioned above, in 1968 Sturgeon Bay SB&DDC was purchased by the Manitowoc Company and renamed Bay Shipbuilding. The yard peaked at about 5,000 workers during the war. As Christy Corporation, in the 1950s the yard built and , Wisconsin to Michigan ferries. They also built s, like and Landing Craft Utility ships (LCU-1610 type) for the US Navy. In the 1960s, Christy built a variety of different ship types, such as , , , NOAAS David Starr Jordan (R 444), and . As mentioned above, in 1970 Christy Corporation's yard was purchased by the Manitowoc Company and merged into Bay Shipbuilding. == See also ==