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28-468: Export Steamship Corporation was organized in 1919 and began operating cargo services to the Mediterranean from New York. The word American was added in the 1920s to emphasize its ties to the U.S. In 1931, they placed in service four cargo-passenger liners, Excalibur , Excambion , Exeter and Exochorda , known as the " Four Aces ". The timing of their new service was unfortunately at the beginning of

56-621: A majority stake holder in Ward Industries in 1960, restructured it and in 1967 formed American Export Industries, Inc., a holding company to manage American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines and all support for his fleet operations, including container services, port operations and fleet logistics. In 1971, American Export Industries spun off its holdings and returned to being the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines. This merger ended in 1973. American Export Lines (AEL), re-emerged after

84-651: A memento. In 1965, the post-war Excambion became USTS Texas Clipper for service with the Texas Maritime Academy until being sunk as an artificial reef on November 17, 2007. ^   a:   Brochures and print ads published by American Export Lines identified their quartet of ships as "4 Aces", as opposed to "Four Aces". ^   b:   In 1964, American Export Lines merged with Isbrandtsen Co., becoming American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines . New York Shipbuilding Company The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short)

112-842: The Argonaut and Resolute , which were delivered directly to Farrell. Farrell Lines was acquired by Royal P&O Nedlloyd in July 2000; in turn, Royal P&O Nedlloyd was acquired by A.P. Moller-Maersk Group in August 2005. The port operations formerly associated with the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines became part of the Dubai Ports World controversy in February 2006. Their first passenger ships were actually combination passenger-cargo ships, known as " Four Aces ", Excalibur , Exeter , Excambion and Exochorda . These ships were ordered built by AEL during

140-600: The Philippines via the Panama Canal . Isbrandtsen founded the Isbrandtsen Steamship Company in 1939 to operate ships in areas where ISMOLCO was not involved. In 1940, this joint venture dramatically transformed due to "Permanent Special Instructions One" issued by Møller, upon which A. P. Møller's son Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller was made a partner. In 1941, the joint venture ended. Møller and his son went on to found

168-452: The SS ; Constitution when she traveled to Monaco to wed Prince Rainier. Four Aces (passenger liners) The 4 Aces were the quartet of passenger-cargo liners Excalibur , Exochorda , Exeter , and Excambion , originally built for American Export Lines by New York Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey between 1929 and 1931. AEL placed the "4 Aces" in service between

196-554: The United States Maritime Administration and the U.S. Navy. In 1959, the yard launched the NS Savannah , the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship. The yard launched its last civilian vessel ( SS  Export Adventurer ) in 1960, and its last naval vessel, USS  Camden , was ordered in 1967. The company's final completed submarine was USS  Guardfish  (SSN-612) , which had been ordered in

224-403: The United States Maritime Administration in 1962. Jakob Isbrandtsen merged Isbrandtsen Co. with American Export Lines in 1964 to form American Export & Isbrandtsen Lines, which a year later changed its name to American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines. Jakob Isbrandtsen formed the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines in 1964 by merging his two shipping companies. Also in 1964, Isbrandtsen, who became

252-470: The 40,000-ton battleship USS  South Dakota  (BB-57) ; all three of the six 30,000-ton Alaska-class cruisers that were built ( Alaska , Guam , and Hawaii ), four 15,000-ton Baltimore-class heavy cruisers , and 98 LCTs ( Landing Craft, Tank ), many of which took part in the D-Day landings at Normandy. After World War II, a much-diminished New York Ship subsisted on a trickle of contracts from

280-576: The Depression. The company went through various reorganizations and became the American Export Lines in 1936. During World War II American Export Lines operated transports for the U.S. War Shipping Administration . In 1964, it merged with Isbrandtsen Co. to become the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines. In 1917, Hans Isbrandtsen formed a shipping company name Hans Isbrandtsen Inc. in Delaware and

308-770: The Interseas Shipping Co., Inc., the predecessor to the Moller Steamship Company, an agent for the Mærsk Line in the United States While Interseas Shipping Co., Inc., operated mainly in the Atlantic, Isbrandtsen Steamship Company traded mainly in the Far East. Hans's son Jakob took over the company in 1953 upon Hans's passing and bought American Export Lines in 1960. The purchase was approved by

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336-712: The Pan American Terminal & Dock Corporation in New York City . The shipping company underwent changes when Hans Isbrandtsen and his cousin A. P. Møller , the shipping magnate who formed the great Maersk Line , began a joint venture in 1919 forming the Isbrandtsen-Moller Company (ISMOLCO) in New York. ISMOLCO grew rapidly when in 1928, a long-term agreement was reached with Ford Motor Corporation , shipping auto parts and general cargo for Japan , China and

364-761: The U.S. Navy and the Emergency Fleet Corporation . A critical shortage of worker housing led to the construction of Yorkship Village , a planned community of 1,000 brick homes designed by Electus Darwin Litchfield and financed by the War Department . Yorkship Village is now the Fairview section of the City of Camden. New York Ship's World War II production included all nine Independence -class light carriers (CVL), built on Cleveland -class light cruiser hulls;

392-574: The US and the Mediterranean , offering cruises of up to 40 days. During World War II , all four vessels were taken over by the U.S. Navy , renamed, and designated as AP- and APA-class troop transports . Excambion became USS John Penn (APA-23) , Excalibur became USS Joseph Hewes (AP-50) , Exeter became USS Edward Rutledge (AP-52) , and Exochorda became USS Harry Lee . Excambion , Excalibur , and Exeter were lost to enemy action; after

420-599: The business was not being run efficiently. Finally the Maritime Commission removed Herbman from his position and J. E. Slater was asked to run the company for a few years to stabilize it. The company's financial position improved significantly, assisted by a life insurance policy Herbman had bought himself, which was paid to the company and settled the debt problem. (This information was found in Slater's taped memoirs which were passed on to his children and grandchildren.) With

448-426: The cruiser USS  Indianapolis  (CA-35) , the aircraft carrier USS  Kitty Hawk  (CV-63) , the nuclear-powered cargo ship NS  Savannah , and a quartet of cargo-passenger liners nicknamed the 4 Aces . It was founded in 1899 by Henry G. Morse (1850–2 June 1903), an engineer noted in connection with bridge design and construction and senior partner of Morse Bridge Company . The original plan

476-547: The dissolution of the American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines in 1973. AEL sold their Staten Island Marine Terminal to the City of New York in 1974. After heavy losses and unable to meet crippling debt payments, AEL went into bankruptcy in July 1977, with Farrell Lines buying its port operations in New York City and its remaining ships a year later, including two container ships on order or already under construction at Bath Iron Works ,

504-714: The early 1960s, but construction was halted from 1963 to 1965 because of the loss of the USS ; Thresher . Guardfish was commissioned in December 1967. In 1968, lacking new naval orders, NYS ceased operations. USS  Pogy  (SSN-647) , then under construction, was towed to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for completion. The yard's site is now part of the Port of Camden . The caisson previously used in NYS’s graving dock

532-604: The exception of the Exochorda , the ships were lost during World War II as a result of enemy fire. The Exochorda was later sold to Turkish Maritime Lines and renamed Tarsus . Following the war, the tonnage was replaced with C-3 class troop transports with the same names. They were given luxury appointments for 125 passengers as well as sufficient cargo-carrying capacity. The crowning achievement in American Export's passenger services were their largest and best-known liners,

560-495: The new "4 Aces." USS Dauphin became Exochorda , USS Dutchess became Excalibur , USS Queens became Excambion and USS Shelby (APA-105) became Exeter . The quartet sailed under the AEL flag until the 1960s. In 1968, the post-war SS Exochorda was purchased by Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey to alleviate a shortage of on-campus student housing. It

588-532: The plant began in July 1899; the keel of the first ship was laid in November 1900. That ship, contract number 1, was M. S. Dollar , which was later modified as an oil tanker and renamed J. M. Guffey . Two of the first contracts were for passenger ships that were among the largest then being built in the United States: #5 for Mongolia and #6 for Manchuria . Morse died after securing contracts for 20 ships. He

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616-514: The time when the company's president was Henry Herbman, an old-time dockman in New York. They were built by the New York Shipbuilding Company , headed up by Clinton L. Bardo , and first launched in 1931. However, Herbman was not a good businessman and the ships had not been paid for. J. E. Slater, who was with the consulting firm Coverdale and Colpitts of New York City, was asked to look into their finances, and he quickly found that

644-464: The twin ships SS  Constitution and SS  Independence . The vessels were designed in their entirety by Henry Dreyfuss and the names were chosen by a competition. O. J. "Skip" Weber, Slater's son-in-law, entered both names and won the prize. The ship was "sponsored" at its launching by Mrs. John E. (Pauline) Slater. The famous 1957 movie "An Affair to Remember" was filmed on the SS  Constitution . On April 4, 1956, Grace Kelly sailed on

672-761: The war Exochorda was sold to Turkish Maritime Lines and renamed Tarsus . During World War II the company's subsidiary American Export Airlines borrowed three of the names (excepting Exochorda ) for its Sikorsky VS-44 flying boats, which it used in transatlantic service. Excambion is preserved on display at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. After World War II, American Export Lines purchased four C3-class Windsor -class attack transports built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. at Sparrow's Point, Maryland , had them refitted as passenger-cargo liners, and placed them in service as

700-555: Was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy , the United States Merchant Marine , the United States Coast Guard , and other maritime concerns. At its peak during World War II, NYSB was the largest and most productive shipyard in the world. Its best-known vessels include the destroyer USS  Reuben James  (DD-245) ,

728-738: Was followed as president by De Coursey May. On November 27, 1916, a special meeting of the company's stockholders ratified sale of the "fifteen million dollar plant" to a group of companies composed of American International Corporation , International Mercantile Marine Co. , W. R. Grace and Company and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company . From about 1933 to 1937 the shipyard was part of Errett Lobban Cord 's business empire. New York Ship's unusual covered ways produced everything from aircraft carriers , battleships , and luxury liners to barges and car floats . During World War I , New York Ship expanded rapidly to fill orders from

756-509: Was refurbished at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Hoboken, renamed SS Stevens and anchored on the Hudson River adjacent to the campus, where it served a dormitory. It remained in service until 1975, when skyrocketing utility costs made its continued operation prohibitive. Before it was towed away and sold for scrap, one of Stevens ' anchors was removed and permanently displayed on campus as

784-550: Was to build a shipyard on Staten Island , thus the name of the company, but plans to acquire a site there failed. The company then explored other potential sites as far south as Virginia, particularly in the Delaware River area, and ultimately chose a location in the southern part of Camden, New Jersey . Site selection considered the needs of the planned application of bridge-building practices of prefabrication and assembly-line production of ships in covered ways. Construction of

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