The City of Pascagoula was recently designated as an American World War II Heritage City by the National Park Service. The program honors the contributions of local towns, cities, counties, and their citizens located across the country who stepped up to join the workforce during World War II.
Ingalls served a critical role in supporting America’s war efforts during this time, opening in 1938 on the east bank of the Pascagoula River. With the addition of the shipyard, Pascagoula grew from a fishing village to an industrial powerhouse as ships were built that would aid our country in the WWII effort.
According to the historian who submitted the application for this honor, Pascagoula’s contributions to America’s World War II homefront war effort began when the newly established Ingalls Iron Works shipyard built 15 steel-welded, ocean-going barges in late 1938 and early 1939. They were built at the unheard-of rate of two barges every 10 days. This remarkable productivity attracted the immediate attention of the U.S. Maritime Commission and, in February 1939, the commission awarded Ingalls a contract to build four cargo ships.
In August 1939, more than a year before America would enter the war, Ingalls laid keels for multiple C-2 cargo ships to be used in transatlantic shipments of material. Just one month later, the company won a contract to build four C-3s, a bigger and faster version of the cargo ship. Ingalls specialized in building Type-C Liberty ships, which were full-sized, ocean-going cargo vessels reaching 400 feet in length. By the end of the war, Ingalls was churning them out at the amazing pace of one ship every 18 days.
Ingalls would go on to build 70 C-3 cargo ships that would play a major role in the Allied victory in the war. In fact, at the end of the war, Sir Amos Lowery Ayer, chairman of the Shipbuilding Conference of Great Britain, would say that the stream of American-built ships that were sent to Europe “were second in importance only to winning the Battle of Britain as a turning point in the war.”
Pascagoula’s defense manufacturing was not limited to the astounding number of troop and cargo ships that were produced. Before America’s formal entry into the war, Ingalls built four Attacker-class escort carriers that were transferred to the British Royal Navy. All these ships saw extensive action in naval battles in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
According to former Ingalls president Jerry St. Pe’, the Pascagoula shipyard delivered more than 90 ships to the war effort. As he put it, “From combat loaded transports to escort aircraft carriers, from submarine tenders to troopships, Ingalls delivered ships so America could deliver men and material to battle stations around the world.”
In four short years the small shrimping and boatbuilding town of Pascagoula had become a major industrial power and remains in the fight to protect America’s national security interest to this day.
“From the very start, Pascagoula embraced the war effort. We went into debt to build a shipyard when America was not yet at war. We opened our homes to the strangers flooding into town. We built streets, schools, utilities, and recreation facilities to handle the sevenfold explosion in population,” wrote Pascagoula Mayor Jay Willis in a letter to the National Park Service.
“We welcomed the soldiers and sailors. We kept diligent watch to keep the home front safe. We assumed non-traditional roles in which women became welders, sharecroppers traded hoes for pipe wrenches, and farm boys worked at steady jobs for good wages. And our efforts paid off for the entire country; the nearly one-hundred ships we launched played a major role in the Allied victory.”
Today, Pascagoula remains a key player in the support of our country’s national security and Ingalls Shipbuilding is at the forefront. The industrial base that sprang from the World War II era set the foundation for today’s shipbuilders and Ingalls Shipbuilding is honored to build tomorrow’s fleet today.
Only one American World War II Heritage City can be designated in each state. Pascagoula now joins the ranks of other cities such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New Orleans, Louisiana.
This National Park Service designation serves as a reminder for future Mississippians of the important impact Pascagoula and Ingalls has made for generations and still is doing today.