N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 7: Three Shifts, Women and U-boats

The shipyard swarmed with workers 24 hours a day working in three shifts.  Women were allowed just to work the first two shifts, never the graveyard shift or below decks to avoid compromising situations.  The company provided on-site day care for their young children.  But women with no children are more valued as workers.

At night, the shipyard is illuminated by nearly 2,000 floodlights.  Easier for the people to work, but there was a danger.

Captains of ships passing by offshore complained that on cloudy nights with no moon, they were silhouetted against this bright light and perfect targets for the waiting U-boats.  On the night of March 12, 1942, the tanker John D. Gill, bound for Philadelphia, was torpedoed near the mouth of the Cape Fear River by a German U-boat.

Future sea trials for newly commissioned vessels were conducted entirely in the river because of the German U-boat threat.

--GreGen

Shorpy Home Front Photos: Day Care

From September 12, 2014   SMALL FRY: 1944--  May 1944.  "New York.  A small boy who receives day care at Greenwich House while his mother works."  Risdon Tolley, OWI.

September 11, 2014   APERTURE: 1944--  Another photo of a boy at Greenwich House.

September 9, 2014   WORKING MOMS: 1944.  Greenwich House.  Someone had to watch the small children while their mothers were at work in war industries.

--GreGen