SS Gunston Hall

In 1918, the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation received a government contract to construct 12 Design 1015 cargo ships for the Emergency Fleet Corporation. The keel of the first ship was laid on May 30, 1918, at the company's new shipyard in Alexandria, Virginia. President Woodrow Wilson was at the shipyard to drive the first rivet, saying, "I haven't got my union card, but I guess it's all right!" First Lady Edith Wilson announced the first ship would be named Gunston Hall after George Mason's home of the same name. ==Operational history==

In 1919, the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation purchased or leased all of the ships, including Gunston Hall, it had built for the Emergency Fleet Corporation, intending to pay for them by operating them a private merchant vessels. The ship was loaded in New York and traveled to Bordeaux. Leaving France, Gunston Hall put into Gibraltar before sailing to Buenos Aires. After loading grain bound for Dunkirk, France, Gunston Hall put to sea on February 19, 1920. However, the ship broke down and had to be towed into port on Saint Vincent on March 19, 1920. and arrived on February 24, 1921. Various investigations into the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation alleged that government funds intended to construct ships had been misused for shipyard construction and a housing project. The government seized the ships, including Gunston Hall, back in 1922. In 1930, Gunston Hall was sold for scrap to Union Shipbuilding Company in Baltimore, Maryland for $24,769. ==Legacy==

in Alexandria, Virginia. The site of the former Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard is now in Jones Point Park and is crossed by the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. One of the few visible remnants of the shipyard is the fitting-out dock, next to which is a grass lawn bound by a concrete retaining wall representing the length and width of Gunston Halls hull. ==References==