Martin H.

This past weekend, I was doing what every guy does before leaving a state - driving around ports and looking at big ships and cranes. As I drove past the former Todd San Pedro/Southwest Marine parking lot, I noticed that seemingly against all odds, part of the shipyard was now a parking lot for construction workers (driven past a few times before and it was fenced off). Naturally, I hopped out to take some pictures. The yard became active in 1917. It built 130 ships between that time and closing in 1989 - the final run of ship construction was 16 Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates. It also performed thousands or vessels repairs and conversions during WW2 and the Navy seized control of the yard in 1943 for the war effort. It briefly reopened under Southwest Marine before closing again. Today, it sits idle. The cranes give the site some soul, and it strikes a deep nostalgia in me for a time that I never experienced. I love hearing comments or stories from people that worked there. There isn’t much hope for this yard to be reactivated, but I choose to continue to believe in it anyway (SpaceX almost leased it a few years ago). I hope to see shipbuilding or ship repair return here. We need more yards on the West Coast!