The Consolidated Steel Corporation was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Formed on 18 December 1928, the company built ships during World War II in two main locations: Wilmington, California, and Orange, Texas. It was created by the merger of Llewellyn Iron Works, Baker Iron Works and Union Iron Works, all of Los Angeles. The company entered the shipbuilding business in 1939. In 1948, now a pioneer producer of large-diameter pipelines, Consolidated Steel was renamed Consolidated Western Steel and acquired by U.S. Steel and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary.

The San Diego–based Consolidated Aircraft Corp. is not related and neither is the Union Iron Works of San Francisco. The company did not produce steel (the Llewellyn Iron Works did so during 1916 to 1923), neither from iron ores nor from pig iron, but rather fabricated standard steel mill product (plates and bars) into steel products (buildings, ships, pipes). In the 1950s, the company contributed ground equipment to the Project Nike missile system. In 1964, Consolidated was merged into the American Bridge Division of U.S. Steel.

Orange shipyard

The Orange, Texas, shipyard lay on the banks of the Sabine River at (), a few miles upstream of the Sabine Pass that grants access to the Gulf of Mexico (Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc. in Beaumont, Texas, made use of it as well). Consolidated Steel bought the Orange Car and Steel Company (railcars) property in February 1940 with the original intention of going into the business of barge and tug construction. Before November 1922 this company was called the Southern Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company, which operated five building ways for wooden hull construction for the United States Shipping Board, of which six were launched and at least one, Gonzalis (1918), was fitted with engines.

The modest facilities were expanded when Consolidated Steel was awarded destroyer contracts from the U.S. Navy in September 1940. After the war the site was sold to U.S. Steel together with Consolidated's assets in Los Angeles and whatever was obtained from the merger with Western Pipe and Steel elsewhere. However, the wholly owned subsidiary and soon after the U.S. Steel corporate division both continued to operate as Consolidated Western Steel. The government-owned shipyard facilities were eventually bought by Consolidated Western Steel for $1,001,000 in the Summer of 1949, but not to be used for shipbuilding beyond the obligations imposed as part of the deal, to maintain this capability for some time. Another pipe mill was built in Orange during the boom years. At its peak durning the war, it employed 20,000 people. The first ship launched was the destroyer on March 2, 1942. The last ship launched was the destroyer on December 28, 1945. United States Naval Station Orange was the overseer of the Navy projects.

Contracts for 12 Fletchers were authorized with the Two-Ocean Navy Act and awarded later in 1940 Fletchers were produced no more than six concurrently. Gearings were produced no more than ten concurrently. There were six slipways that could build one destroyer or destroyer escort and there were two side launching ways that could each build two destroyers or 3 destroyer escorts. The stern-first launching ways must obviously have been there first, see also launch photographs e.g.

39 of 415 destroyers 12 of 175 s (built May 1941 – October 1942) ... 27 of 98 s (built May 1944 – December 1945) ... ... 102 of 563 destroyer escorts and APDs 47 of 85 s (built June 1942 – December 1943) ... ... 12 of 148 s (April 1943 – December 1943) ... 34 of 83 s (built October 1943 – August 1944) ... 6 of 6 s that were completed as APDs (instead of converted from finished DEs) 3 of 50 s that were completed as APDs 106 of 923 Landing Craft Infantry (built 1942–1944) Hull numbers 61–96, 943–1012

Levingston Shipbuilding Company and Weaver Shipyards round up the landscape of WW2 shipbuilding in Orange.

Wilmington shipyard

The Consolidated Steel Wilmington shipyard () in Wilmington, California was an emergency yard built in 1941 in the Port of Los Angeles West Basin after Consolidated Steel was awarded Maritime Commission contracts. At its peak, it employed 12,000 people, working on eight shipways on the 95-acre facility at 1100 W Harry Bridges Blvd, Wilmington. Production peaked on May 29, 1944, when it launched three large ships in only a -hour period. The yard was built as a temporary facility and, like most such war plants, it was closed after the war ended.

Together, the shipyards ranked Consolidated 29th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p.619

Fifteen of the C1-B were built with steam turbines supplied by Joshua Hendy Iron Works ("JH") instead of those built by Westinghouse ("WH"). Hendy also provided the 36 triple expansion steam engines that went into the patrol frigates.

The yard changed to a 2-shift rotation (10.5 hours) on June 12, 1944.

List of contracts: Contract No. Type Price MCc 412 1 C-1B, full scantling, turbine Lump sum $2,150,814.96 MCc 413 $2,248,486.96 MCc 414 $2,248,486.96 MCc 415 $2,386,408.97 MCc 1275 1 P1-S2-L2, twin screw transport, turbine $5,808,149.22 MCc 1276 $5,760,072.99 MCc 1953 and 1675 Acquisition and installation of plant equipment Cost only $13,133,630.60 MCc 1520 4 C-1B, full scantling, turbine Price minus complex MCc 1790 9 C-1B, full scantling, turbine MCc 1791 9 C-1B, full scantling, tubine MCc 1792 8 C-1B, full scantling, turbine MCc 2235 4 C-1B, full scantling, rurbine MCc 7713 18 C-1B, full scantling, turbine; 13 troopships; 2 uncompleted hospital ships MCc 7714 6 C-1B full scantling, turbine, 1 uncompleted hospital ship MCc 8524 18 S2-S2-AQ-1 steel escort MCc 15951 32 S4-SE2-BD1 MCc 26055 27 C1-M-AV1 DA MCc 857 30 C1-M-AV1 (28 delivered) MCc 34768 10 C2-S-B1 (10 delivered), 6 R2-S-BV1 (0 delivered) Selective price

Ships built: 126 of 395 C1 47 of 95 C1-B (14 of 61 in the assigned ranges below were built in the nearby Long Beach yard, in addition to the original 4) (MC-263) ... (MC-266) (MC-486) ... (MC-511) (MC-698) ... (MC-701) (MC-1015) ... (MC-1028) (MC-1042) ... (MC-1044) (MC-1693) ... (MC-1695) (MC-2073) ... (MC-2079) complete list of the 47 C1-B built in Wilmington Comfort, launched 18 March 1943 Mercy, launched 25 March 1943 JH launched 27 January 1944 in Wilmington WH launched 11 March 1944 WH 77th ship launched 7 March 1944 JH launched 22 February 1944 JH WH launched 13 January 1944 WH launched 7 January 1944 (unpsec location) WH launched 23 December 1943 JH 70th ship launched 11 December 1943 WH launched 29 June 1943, likely Wilmington WH launched 18 June 1943 WH, launched 29 May 1943 WH JH JH JH WH 25th ship launched 16 February 1943 from slip No. 1 WH, launched 16 April 1943 WH, launched 5 April 1943 WH launched 17 March 1943 WH launched 3 March 1943; 27th C1 WH 26th ship launched 20 February 1943 in Wilmington WH launched 3 February 1943 WH 29th in CA, launched 24 January 1943 WH 22nd C-1 launched 6 January 1943 WH 21st C-1 launched 28 December 1942 WH launched 18 October 1942 WH 19th C-1 launched 11 October 1942 WH 14th ship launched 27 September 1942 WH 13th C-1 in W. launched 20 September 1942 WH WH 20th in W. launched 21 December 1942 WH 19th ship (unspec location) launched 12 December 1942 WH launched 27 November 1942 WH WH 10th C-1 in W. launched 20 August 1942 WH 9th C-1 in W., built in 91 days, launched 10 August 1942 WH launched 21 July 1942 WH 7th ship launched 14 July 1942 for Lykes Brothers SS Line WH launched 2 July 1942 WH 5th ship launched 20 June 1942 for Moore-McCormack Lines, keel laid 124 days ago WH 4th ship launched 8 June 1942 WH - launched 1 June 42 WH - launched 22 May 42 WH - first ship launched at the yard on 11 May 1942 for Moore-McCormack Lines 13 of 13 C1-S-AY1 (MC-1029) ... (MC-1041) all names in the form of "Cape X", all went to Britain as "Empire X" SS Cape Girardeau 64th C-1 launched 7 November 1943 SS Cape Compass launched 24 July 1943 SS Cape Marshall launched 16 August 1943, presumably Wilmington 55 of 211 C1-M-AV1 (MC-2314) ... (MC-2331) (MC-2461) ... (MC-2473) (MC-2563) ... (MC-2586) 18 of 96 Tacoma-class frigates (S2-S1-AQ1) in 1943 Yard# Name Keel laid Launched 519 19 Mar 43 5 May 43 528 7 Jul 43 6 Aug 43 520 26 Mar 43 20 May 43 529 17 Jul 43 17 Aug 43 521 6 Apr 43 29 May 43 530 27 Aug 43 522 17 Apr 43 11 Jun 43 531 7 Sep 43 523 6 May 43 17 Jun 43 532 18 Aug 43 17 Sep 43 524 21 May 43 23 Jun 43 533 28 Aug 43 27 Sep 43 525 12 Jun 43 6 Jul 43 534 18 Sep 43 18 Oct 43 526 18 Jun 43 16 Jul 43 535 28 Sep 43 13 Nov 43 527 24 Jun 43 27 Jul 43 536 7 Dec 43 32 of 32 Gilliam-class attack transport (S4-SE2-BD1) in 1944 and 1945 Yard# Name Keel laid Launched Yard# Name Keel laid Launched 720 30 Nov 43 28 Mar 44 736 27 Sep 44 721 9 Apr 44 737 7 Oct 44 722 1 Dec 43 21 Apr 44 738 12 Jul 44 18 Oct 44 723 24 Jan 44 3 May 44 739 27 Oct 44 724 28 Jan 44 11 May 44 740 31 Jul 44 6 Nov 44 725 23 Feb 44 20 May 44 741 17 Nov 44 726 8 Mar 44 31 May 44 742 29 Aug 44 27 Nov 44 727 13 Mar 44 10 Jun 44 743 5 Dec 44 728 29 Mar 44 19 Jun 44 744 28 Sep 44 14 Dec 44 729 10 Apr 44 30 Jun 44 745 24 Dec 44 730 22 Apr 44 11 Jul 44 746 4 Jan 45 731 4 May 44 20 Jul 44 747 28 Oct 44 13 Jan 45 732 12 May 44 30 Jul 44 748 7 Nov 44 23 Jan 45 733 15 Aug 44 749 31 Jan 45 734 28 Aug 44 750 20 Nov 44 10 Feb 45 735 12 Sep 44 751 6 Dec 44 17 Feb 45 10 of 121 C2-S-B1 Yard# USMC# Owner Name Keel laid Launched Delivered 1358 2817 States Marine Corp. Messenger 10 Jul 45 20 Oct 45 6 Feb 46 1359 2818 Grace Line Spitfire 27 Jul 45 9 Nov 45 22 Feb 46 1360 2819 States Marine Corp. Ocean Rover 8 Aug 45 29 Nov 45 15 Mar 46 1361 2820 National Eagle 20 Aug 45 21 Dec 45 2 Apr 46 1362 2821 Mountain Wave 24 Aug 45 15 Jan 46 18 Apr 46 1363 2822 Carrier Dove 4 Sep 45 19 Feb 46 7 May 46 1364 2823 Agwilines Twilight 15 Sep 45 5 Mar 46 24 May 46 1365 2824 Wild Ranger 8 Oct 45 28 Mar 46 14 Jun 46 1366 2825 Crest of the Wave 22 Oct 45 17 Apr 46 28 jun 46 1367 2868 Golden Light 9 Nov 45 29 Apr 46 10 Jul 46

Bethlehem San Pedro and California Shipbuilding were located nearby on Terminal Island.

Long Beach shipyard

The former Long Beach Shipbuilding Company yard was the first Consolidated Steel facility to become operational. It was located at the entrance of Channel No. 3 on the south side ().

On Liberty Fleet Day, September 27, 1941, the yard launched SS Alcoa Polaris, a C1-B type cargo vessel, as one of the fourteen ships launched nationwide on the same day to show the magnitude of the shipbuilding program. 18 of 95 C1-BThe Log, July 1941, p. 42 (MC-75), launched as Cape Mendocino 14 November 1940 (MC-76), launched 27 April 1941(or 27 March) (MC-77), launched 26 June 1941 (MC-78), laid down 7 April 1941, launched 27 September 1941 ...the two P1 hulls were built during 1942... WH 30th ship (23 in W) launched 31 January 1943 JH 6th C-1 launched 20 April 1943, Wilmington has launched 32 C1-B. JH, launched 29 May 1943 WH launched 22 July 1943 Hope launched 30 August 1943 WH launched 22 October 1943, 12th ship launched at the yard WH launched 11 December 1943 Cape Martin 88th total launched 24 January 1944 JH 15th ship launched 2 March 1944 JH 16th ship launched on 9 April 1944 JH launched 10 May 1944 JH launched 15 June 1944 JH 19th ship, 106th W+LB, launched 10 July 1944 (Cape Edmont) JH Two type p1 passenger ships, model P1-S2-L2. The P1-S2-L2 s were two ships. The first American assault military transports. Made with an aft ramp for the launching of small landing craft or for the unloading of tanks. , first in class

several C1-M , launched 28 September 1944 launched 18 December 1944 launched 30 December 1944 launched 13 January 1945 launched 27 January 1945