Liberty Ships In 1939 the Utah Construction Company and its Six Companies partners purchased stock in the new Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Company. Only two dry-cargo freighters had been built in the United States between 1922 and 1937. The war intensified, and both freighters and battleships fell prey to the enemy; accordingly the demand for ships continued to grow. Additional shipbuilding companies formed, setting up impromptu shipyards along the West Coast, and Utah Construction expanded its interests. By November 1941 the first 10 shipbuilding companies held over $750 million in military contracts. Although Utah Construction and its partners came entirely new to shipbuilding, the innovative Henry Kaiser devised a system using prefabricated components to reduce training time per worker. He recommended oxyacetylene torches to cut metal plate, replaced rivets with welding, and even hired ballet dancers to cross the tightropes extending between steel structures. When supplies of steel ran short, he and his partners built steel mills. Courtesy of National Archives