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Delta Shipbuilding

In 1941 nine new ship building facilities were slated to be built in the United States. They had to be finished as quickly as possible for a very specific and urgent need: to aid in the efforts of World War II. At the time hundreds of ships that were part of the Merchant Marine fleet had been either seriously damaged or completely destroyed by German submarines. These vessels were essential for the transportation of military supplies, troops and other equipment, so the crafts that were no longer sea worthy needed to be replaced immediately.

Delta Shipbuilding in New Orleans, LA was run by the American Ship Building Company for the express purpose of producing new cargo ships. Although the facility opened with just a small number of workers, by 1942 it had grown immensely and employed over 13,000 people. In its early days, the shipyard created large vessels known as Liberty Tankers, which took a long time to build. As the war continued, American forces needed an even larger number of new ships to keep the fleet operating at full capacity. By December of 1943 Delta employees changed their standard work plans to produce more vessels than ever before. To accomplish this goal they slowed down the production of Liberty Tankers, opting instead to create smaller ships that took much less time to finish.

While the workers toiled at the New Orleans facility, they spent a great deal of time around asbestos. The mineral was a key ingredient in insulation, rubber gaskets and other products that are essential on every ship. It wasn't known back then, but the asbestos that helped make these goods stronger and fire resistant was also a great danger. By the 1970's most people realized that asbestos is toxic and exposure to the material can cause tissue scarring, respiratory diseases and cancer, but during WWII very few realized that fact. Employees of the Delta shipyard unknowingly breathed in asbestos particles that settled into their respiratory system and did massive amounts of damage. It often took many years for most people to find out that they had been contaminated by a poisonous material because the effects of asbestos tend to take more than a decade to fully develop.

Over time, the Delta shipyard produced 132 ships and 56 Liberty class vessels. The facility was shut down when the war came to and end.

Last modified: December 09 2009.