The Ocean Class Ships

In 1940, Henry J. Kaiser and Todd Shipbuilding were awarded a contract to build 60 cargo ships for Britain. Thirty were to be built in New England and 30 were to be built on the West Coast. An emergency shipyard, the Permanente Metals Corporation, No. 1 Yard, was built in Richmond, California for this purpose. It became known as Richmond Yard No. 1.

The following are the names of the 30 British Ocean Class Cargo Ships that were built in Richmond. Included is the date of launch, the name of each ship’s sponsor, and a photo of each launch. They are identified from left to right beginning at the top:

ROW 3: Ocean Vigour, February 14, 1942, Mrs. W. E. Harper (wife of W. E. “Jack” Harper, General Superintendent of Yard no.1, a position that Russ Brown was to later hold), Ocean Vanity, February 28, 1942, Miss Gracie Fields, Ocean Vintage, March 5, 1942, Mrs. Charles H. Day, Ocean Volunteer, March 15, 1942, Mrs. J. Rannie, Ocean Veteran, March 28, 1942, Mrs. R. G. Sturrock, Ocean Voyager, April 6, 1942, Mrs. W. S. Holliday.

ROW 4: Ocean Vista, April 11, 1942, Mrs. F. J. Pickett, Ocean Volga, April 21, 1942, Mrs. S. D. Raudenbush, Ocean Vengeance, April 25, 1942, Mrs. C. G. Hagstrom, Ocean Vagrant, April 30, 1942, Miss Elizabeth Cocks, Ocean Viscount, May 9, 1942, Mrs. C. A. Berger, Ocean Verity, May 14, 1942, Mrs. Fred Carnes.

ROW 5: Ocean Viceroy, May 22, 1942, Mrs. Russell Brown (wife of Russ Brown, Hull Superintendent, Yard 1), Ocean Virtue, June 3, 1942, Mrs. W. C. Beck, Ocean Valentine, June 7, 1942, Mrs. Robert Wood, Ocean Vanquisher, June 13, 1942, Mrs. J. A. Sullivan, Ocean Vagabond, June 19, 1942, Mrs. C. M. Larson (wife of Chet Larson, another member of Yard 1 management team) Ocean Victory, June 27, 1942, Mrs. W. L. Friedell.

ROW 1: Ocean Vanguard, August 16, 1941, Mrs. Emory S. Land (wife of Rear Admiral, Emory S. Land), Ocean Vigil, August 31, 1941, Mrs. H. J. Kaiser (wife of Industry Giant, Henry J. Kaiser, pictured at right.), Ocean Voice, September 27, 1941, Mrs. F. C. Cocks, (wife of F. C. Cocks, Resident Representative of the British Purchasing Commission), Ocean Venture, September 27, 1941, Mrs. C. P. Bedford (wife of Clay Bedford, General Manager of Richmond Shipyards),Ocean Viking , October 23, 1941, Mrs. John Sim, Ocean Vesper, November 30, 1941, Mrs. E. W. Hannay.

ROW 2: Ocean Valley, December 9, 1941, Mrs. G. A. Fisher, Ocean Vestal, November 16, 1941, Mrs. R. Sheapherd, Ocean Vision, December 18, 1941, Mrs. J. J. Walsh, Ocean Vulcan, January 14, 1942, Mrs. H. J. Friel, Ocean Valour, January 20, 1942, Mrs. J. Robertson, Ocean Venus, January 31, 1942, Mrs. A. L. Mori.