page_title: Defoe Shipbuilding Company
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Defoe Shipbuilding Company / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Weiss (APD-135) underway, circa in the later 1950s.
context_page_description: The Defoe Shipbuilding Company was a small ship builder established in 1905 in Bay City, Michigan, United States. It ceased to operate in 1976 after failing to renew its contracts with the United States Navy. The site of the former company is now being developed for business and housing on the bank of the Saginaw River.
context_section_description: During World War II, all production went to the war effort.  From 1939 to 1945, the company built 154 ships, including four Auk-class minesweepers, 13 destroyer escorts, 11 destroyer transports (converted destroyer escorts), patrol craft, and numerous landing craft of various types. The brand-new Defoe family yacht even served with the US Navy as a patrol vessel.  Defoe developed a construction technique called the "upside-down and roll-over" method.  This allowed most of the welding of the hull to be done "hand down" which is much easier. After the hull was completely welded, it was rolled over by a set of large wheels fastened to each end of the hull.  Work then continued on the ship right-side up.  Faster welding allowed the company to build one 173-foot patrol craft every week.  Of all of the major ships built there, the three that were lost in action during World War II were the destroyer escort Rich, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba, and the patrol craft PC-1129.  Submarine chaser PC 482 was sunk by a U-boat in 1945. Defoe Shipbuilding Company also built three Refrigerated Freight Barges : YFR-888, YFR-889 and YFR-890 in 1945, also called a reefer barge.
caption: USS Weiss (APD-135)
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