Walsh - Kaiser Company Walsh - Kaiser Co . , Inc . was a shipyard in both Cranston and Providence , Rhode Island . It was built during World War II and financed by the Maritime Commission as part of the country ' s Emergency Shipbuilding Program . It was originally operated by Rheem Manufacturing , a company with no previous shipbuilding expertise . When Rheem had difficulty managing the yard , Kaiser Shipyards was retained to manage the operation . History . Early history and war years . In 1942 , the Maritime Commission selected Fields Point for the location of an emergency shipyard . It was planned to be able to build ships on six different ways . The construction of the shipyard was financed as part of the country ' s Emergency Shipbuilding Program . Storekeepers and housewives , clerks and youths fresh out of school worked side by side , turning out ship after ship . Construction began on March 28 , 1942 . The shipyard construction swallowed the popular Kerwin ' s Beach , which drew thousands to the shores of the Providence River before it was covered over . One million yards of fill from a nearby hillside was dumped onto the mud flats , but this still failed to stabilize the area . The total cost of the shipyard was twenty six million dollars . On New Year ' s Eve , 1942 , the first of many misfortunes hit the plant . The plate shop , the first step in the production process , burned to the ground . In February 1943 , after the Rheem company showed difficulty managing the yard , Kaiser Shipyards was asked to manage the operation of the yard . As a result of the takeover , the size of the yard increased from 9 , 000 employees to over 14 , 000 just four months later . Eventually , seven miles of road wound about the yard . The first ships that the yard produced were Liberty ship s . After ten ships were completed , 21 frigates were built . After those ships were finished , 32 Combat Loaded Cargo Vessels were constructed and launched . In the three years that the yard was in operation , 63 ships were eventually launched and completed . After learning from their initial mistakes , workers became more skilled with the building of ships . It took only 136 days from the keel laying to delivery of the Combat Loaded Cargo Ships . The fastest turnover took a mere 82 days . The yard didn ' t escape recognition by famous dignitaries . President Harry S Truman was escorted by then Governor J . Howard McGrath when Truman toured the yard . Navy Secretary James Forrestal on September 1 , 1945 wrote to T . J . Walsh , the head of the company , praising the work of the local yard and saying that it was preeminent in building the great arsenal that helped save the world . Work was described as decent by the workers who labored there . Wages were also high due to the influence that the AFL had in the area . Common laborers at the yard earned eighty - five cents an hour . The steady employment actually helped the local economy as the yard employed 18 , 767 on September 30 , 1944 . Three months later the payroll included 20 , 879 . During the yard ' s peak in January 1945 , 21 , 264 people were employed . Among these numbers were over 3 , 000 women . At the end of the war , the shipyard closed after laying off over 3 , 000 people in three months . The shipyard today . Today , the yard has been reused by a few companies . Johnson & Wales University has taken over the northwestern portion of the yard for their culinary arts program . A drive - in theater also operated on the site of the yard from 1958 to 1976 . The theater had a 1 , 700 car capacity . In the late 1970s there were also plans to construct a cargo container port at the site , but these plans fell through and two cranes from these plans are all that remain . There is a combined Navy , Marine Corps and Army Reserve center on the site .