National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Encyclopedia
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is a shipyard in San Diego, California
and Norfolk
, Virginia
and a division of General Dynamics
. The shipyard specializes in constructing commercial cargo ships and auxiliary vessels for the US Navy and Military Sealift Command
, which it has been producing since 1959. It is the largest new construction shipyard on the West Coast of the United States.
1922: California Iron Works taken over by U.S. National Bank and renamed National Iron Works.
1933: C. Arnholt Smith acquires the company.
1940: Ironworkers organize first union at company.
1944: National Iron Works moves to 28th Street and Harbor Drive.
1949: The company is renamed National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. to reflect expansion into ship construction.
1959: NASSCO acquired by Henry J. Kaiser Company, Morrison Knudsen and two others. Company receives first order to build a commercial cargo ship.
1976: Richard Vortmann joins NASSCO as the Vice President of Finance and Information Systems.
1979: Kaiser Industries sells its 50 percent share in NASSCO to Morrison Knudsen. NASSCO employs more than 7,900 workers.
1984: Vortmann named President. He succeeds C. Larry French as Chairman and Chief Executive when French retires in 1986.
1988: Six unions go on strike but eventually approve a 49-month contract.
1989: An Employee Stock Ownership Plan is used in April to acquire NASSCO from Morrison Knudsen in a management-led buyout. The Exxon Valdez
tanker, constructed at NASSCO, returns for repairs.
1992: Workers strike for 25 days, but return to work without a contract.
1993: Navy awards contract to build AOE-10
support ships. Navy awards NASSCO $635 million contract to convert three L-class containerships to strategic sealift ships. Navy awards NASSCO $1.3 billion contract to design and construct six strategic sealift ships.
1996: Workers strike for more than four weeks, but fail to win any concessions. Many return to work.
1998: General Dynamics
buys NASSCO in $415 million deal.
1999: NASSCO wins $300 million contract for two TOTE Orca-class trailerships.
2000: General Dynamics begins $135 million upgrade of NASSCO facilities. NASSCO wins multi-year contract for phased maintenance of Navy's San Diego-based USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) and USS Spruance (DD-963)
warships. BP
later awards NASSCO contracts valued at more than $800 million to build four crude oil tankers for Alaska.
2001: Navy announces NASSCO as the winner of the T-AKE
dry cargo/ammunition ship contract, a potential 12-ship program with a contract value of $3.7 billion, the largest order in NASSCO history.
2005: Vortmann announces his retirement as president of NASSCO. Fred Harris, senior VP at General Dynamics Electric Boat Company, is named NASSCO president.
2011: General Dynamics buys out Metro Machine in Norfolk, VA. Renames the company NASSCO - Norfolk.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and a division of General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
. The shipyard specializes in constructing commercial cargo ships and auxiliary vessels for the US Navy and Military Sealift Command
Military Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...
, which it has been producing since 1959. It is the largest new construction shipyard on the West Coast of the United States.
History
1905: NASSCO starts out as a small machine shop and foundry known as California Iron Works.1922: California Iron Works taken over by U.S. National Bank and renamed National Iron Works.
1933: C. Arnholt Smith acquires the company.
1940: Ironworkers organize first union at company.
1944: National Iron Works moves to 28th Street and Harbor Drive.
1949: The company is renamed National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. to reflect expansion into ship construction.
1959: NASSCO acquired by Henry J. Kaiser Company, Morrison Knudsen and two others. Company receives first order to build a commercial cargo ship.
1976: Richard Vortmann joins NASSCO as the Vice President of Finance and Information Systems.
1979: Kaiser Industries sells its 50 percent share in NASSCO to Morrison Knudsen. NASSCO employs more than 7,900 workers.
1984: Vortmann named President. He succeeds C. Larry French as Chairman and Chief Executive when French retires in 1986.
1988: Six unions go on strike but eventually approve a 49-month contract.
1989: An Employee Stock Ownership Plan is used in April to acquire NASSCO from Morrison Knudsen in a management-led buyout. The Exxon Valdez
Exxon Valdez
Oriental Nicety, formerly Exxon Valdez, Exxon Mediterranean, SeaRiver Mediterranean, S/R Mediterranean, Mediterranean, and Dong Fang Ocean is an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince William Sound spilling hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil in Alaska...
tanker, constructed at NASSCO, returns for repairs.
1992: Workers strike for 25 days, but return to work without a contract.
1993: Navy awards contract to build AOE-10
USNS Bridge (T-AOE-10)
USNS Bridge is the fourth ship in the Supply class of fast combat support ships and the second ship in the Navy named after Commodore Horatio Bridge. BRIDGE was commissioned on 5 August 1998. Her commissioning CO was CAPT Robbie Williams . The second CO was CAPT Rick Wren. In June 2001, CAPT ...
support ships. Navy awards NASSCO $635 million contract to convert three L-class containerships to strategic sealift ships. Navy awards NASSCO $1.3 billion contract to design and construct six strategic sealift ships.
1996: Workers strike for more than four weeks, but fail to win any concessions. Many return to work.
1998: General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
buys NASSCO in $415 million deal.
1999: NASSCO wins $300 million contract for two TOTE Orca-class trailerships.
2000: General Dynamics begins $135 million upgrade of NASSCO facilities. NASSCO wins multi-year contract for phased maintenance of Navy's San Diego-based USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) and USS Spruance (DD-963)
USS Spruance (DD-963)
USS Spruance was the lead ship of the Spruance-class of destroyers in the United States Navy. She was named for Admiral Raymond A. Spruance....
warships. BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
later awards NASSCO contracts valued at more than $800 million to build four crude oil tankers for Alaska.
2001: Navy announces NASSCO as the winner of the T-AKE
Lewis and Clark class dry cargo ship
The Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo ship is the next class of Combat Logistics Force underway replenishment vessels to be constructed for the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. Lewis and Clark-class ships will replace the existing fifteen Mars- and Sirius-class combat store ships...
dry cargo/ammunition ship contract, a potential 12-ship program with a contract value of $3.7 billion, the largest order in NASSCO history.
2005: Vortmann announces his retirement as president of NASSCO. Fred Harris, senior VP at General Dynamics Electric Boat Company, is named NASSCO president.
2011: General Dynamics buys out Metro Machine in Norfolk, VA. Renames the company NASSCO - Norfolk.