Worley Crane: One of the main reasons the Kaiser shipyards were able to turn out ships so quickly is that many of the components were prefabricated. Once the keel was laid, chunks of...

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Worley Crane

Dec 10, 2019 18:03:42 #

htbrown Loc: San Francisco Bay Area

One of the main reasons the Kaiser shipyards were able to turn out ships so quickly is that many of the components were prefabricated. Once the keel was laid, chunks of the ship could be hoisted into place with giant Worley cranes. (I have seen them also called Whirley cranes, even when referring to the same crane. I don't know which is correct or if both are.) These cranes were ten stories high, and only one of them remains today. An osprey family has taken to nesting on top, and in season there's a camera where you can see what the ospreys are up to moment by moment.

This being the close-up group, I'll not show you the whole crane. (In any case, I don't have a decent picture of the whole thing.) Here are some close-ups of details of the crane. In all likelihood, the red paint is red lead, the same as used on ship bottoms until very recently.