By James Heinz
DeFoe was founded in 1905 in Saginaw Mich. DeFoe helped win World War II by building 154 ships for the U.S. Navy. Defoe was able to build these ships quicker than any other shipbuilder because they built them upside down.
Normally, the hull plates on a steel ship are welded together from the bottom up as the ship sits upright. To weld the curved plates in the lower hull, the welders had to reach above their heads with the welding torches. The overhead position caused strain on their arms, neck, and shoulders, which necessitated frequent rest breaks and slowed production.
To build their ships, DeFoe built the hull upside down. This enabled the welders to work from the top down, rather than the bottom up. Welders were able to hold their torches in the down position, which lessened the strain, reduced rest breaks, and increased production.
Photo at top of page: Defoe Upside Down hull courtesy of Historyinyourownbackyard.com
After the hull was finished, two large wheels at each end of the ship rolled the empty hull into an upright position and construction continued. A memorial plaque describes the process:
“The hull is attached to 50 foot, 40 ton eccentric wheels, which use the vessel’s own 1,700 ton weight to pull the hull over to the upright position. A snubbing cable controls the speed at which the vessel rolls over. The whole rolling process takes less than five minutes. DeFoe used this method on the 58 patrol craft and the 26 destroyer escort vessels that they built in World War II. They also provided this technology to other War-era shipyards.”
Defoe Shipbuilding Co. in 1981 courtesy of WarshipPorn
Defoe Shipbuilding Co. of Bay City courtesy of WarshipPorn
As a result, DeFoe could build a 173 foot patrol craft in a week.
Four DeFoe built ships were lost in World War II, two of which have been mentioned here before: the Coast Guard cutter ESCANABA https://wmhs.org/on-this-day-june-13-1943-the-coast-guard-cutter-escanaba-sinks , and PC 1129 https://wmhs.org/built-in-the-great-lakes-sunk-by-a-kamikaze-drone-boat/
Defoe also built the presidential yacht LENORE https://wmhs.org/presidents-royalty-elvis-and-marilyn-monroe/ , the USS O’CALLHAN https://wmhs.org/the-uss-ocallahan-was-launched/ , and the Milwaukee fireboat DELUGE https://wmhs.org/boats-that-kept-milwaukee-safe-chapter-4/ .
Defoe Upside Down Hull courtesy of Wikipedia
DeFoe Shipbuilding went out of business in 1976. Stand by for more stories on the ships DeFoe built.
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James Heinz is the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society’s acquisitions director. He became interested in maritime history as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau’s adventures on TV. He was a Great Lakes wreck diver until three episodes of the bends forced him to retire from diving. He was a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee police officer for thirty years. He regularly flies either a Cessna 152 or 172.
