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Four of the Kaiser Shipyards were located in Richmond, California in the San Francisco Bay Area (see Richmond Shipyards ). Together, these four Kaiser Shipyards produced 747 ships, including the famous Liberty Ship s, more than any other complex in the United States. Kaiser also produced the ''Casablanca'' Class of Escort Aircraft Carrier s. The other three shipyards were located across the Columbia River from each other at Ryan Point in Vancouver, Washington , and at Swan Island in Portland, Oregon ( Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation ). Kaiser was known for developing new methods of ship building, which allowed his yards to outproduce other similar facilities and build 1,490 ships, 27 percent of the total Maritime Commission construction. Kaiser's ships were completed in two-thirds the time and a quarter the cost of the average of all other shipyards. Liberty ships were typically assembled in a little over two weeks. Kaiser Shipyards shut down at the end of the war. The Rosie The Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park was dedicated October 25, 2000 on the site of one of the shipyards in Richmond. HISTORY Henry Kaiser had been building cargo ships for the Maritime Commission in the 1930s, partnering with Todd Pacific Shipyards and the Bath Iron Works . When orders for ships from the British government, already at war with Germany , allowed for growth, Kaiser established his first Richmond shipyard begun in December 1940. In April 1941 the Maritime Commission requested an additional Kaiser yard, to be used for Liberty Ship construction, and after the Attack On Pearl Harbor , Kaiser started third and fourth yards, building Troop Transport s and LST s, respectively. OTHER DETAILS
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