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Between 1941 and 1945 the Lorain and Cleveland yards launched twelve net tenders, four trawlers, thirty-three mine sweepers, eight ore carriers, and thirteen frigates. Five of the mine sweepers (Disdain, Dour, Eager, Elusive, and Embattle) were transferred to American Ship Building from the Tampa Ship Building Company which had forfeited the contracts. They arrived in parts and had to be assembled in a manner similar to assembling a jig-saw puzzle. Five other contracts from Tampa were cancelled by the end of the war. The only blemish on the fine war record of American Ship Building was a strike in 1943 during which several hundred man hours of production were lost. The strike resulted from a refusal of the A. F. of L. Electrical Workers to work with non-union electricians.25 . Another important role played by American Ship Building personnel was the establishment of a shipyard at New Orleans, at the request of the U. S. Maritime Commission. The company was organized as the Delta Ship Building Company, and literally was built on piles in a swamp. The company sent twenty-eight of their officials to run the yard which employed more than 20,000 workers. They built 132 Liberty ships, thirty-two tankers, and twenty-four colliers before the yard was closed by the Maritime Commission at the end of the war. Following the heavy demands of the war, American Ship Building began to concentrate their holdings in fewer shipyards. The Cleveland yard was closed down on October l, 1945 although the main offices were maintained there until June 1963 when they were moved to Lorain. The Superior yard was sold to Knudsen Brothers; the Buffalo yard was closed, reopened, and finally closed down for good in 1962. The Chicago plant remained in operation as did the Lorain yard. The Detroit plant had been closed in 1926, and the Milwaukee yard closed in the 1930's. Then, in September 1945, the yard of the Toledo Ship Building Company was purchased by the Delta Ship Building Company which had originally been incorporated as an Ohio corporation. The holdings of the Delta corporation were then liquidated by the parent firm. The Toledo Ship Building Company will be discussed later in this chapter. The first of the "super-carriers" built after the war, the Wilfred Sykes, was launched at Lorain in 1949. She was followed in the next five years by the Philip R. Clarke, Arthur M. Anderson, Ernest T. Weir, and George M. Humphrey. The Toledo yard built the Edward B. Greene, John Sherwin and Shenango II between 1952 and 1958. Two Landing Ship Tanks also were built at Lorain. One of these, the Wood County, provided eight and a half hours of embarrassment for company officials. As she was nearing the end of her acceptance trials, she was beached on the south beach of Kelleys Island. The stern anchor was thrown out so that she 105