Fore River Shipyard (Postcard History Series)

Omg, this was the perfect gift for my elderly buddy who used to work at the shipyard back in the day! He's in a nursing home now, but it gave us yet another thing to reminisce about when window visiting. He was so excited to point out pictures to me through the window!

I worked at the Yard right after graduating from High School, and remember it well. This brief history is informative.

great product

The Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Mass. is no more, but this pictorial history (part of Arcadia's Postcard History series) brings it back to life. Using images that span the Yard's lifetime--nearly a century--the author has paired pictures with captions that relate brief, interesting stories about the many ships selected. The book traces the Yard's progress from its founding by Thomas Watson, through two world wars and the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf wars (if Mr. Watson's name sounds familiar it might be because he caught the first squeal--from Alexander Graham Bell). The Fore River Shipyard built destroyers, cruisers, submarines, aircraft carriers, steamers, schooners, tankers, steam yachts and more, and all are represented here. The author has a knack for capturing the life story of each ship with anecdotes and telling details. The book also vividly depicts the Yard's evolving human and physical resources, as well as the changing business conditions to which it had to adapt over its corporate lifetime (Watson ultimately lost control of the Yard, and ownership passed first to Bethlehem Steel and later General Dynamics). Fore River Shipyard will appeal to readers interested in naval history, shipbuilding history, Massachusetts and Quincy history, and landlubbers like me who can't get enough of great books about ships.