The Scrapping of an industry
The shipyard continued much of the heavy industry post WWII. The large GSA facility and overhead capacities were used
into the 1990's by many different companies. Transnuclear produced hardware for power plants. In the 1950s a fan
company used the building to produce huge fans. Another unusual business were an indoor track and field flooring
business. Eventually activity dwindled, the old buildings in disrepair and decay, the time has come to reclaim the land.
The GSA building, a behemoth of it's day was
over 1/4 mile long. During the war, shipbuilding
and heavy machinery were in full swing, 24/7.
One phase of the de-skinning process. Days
before the crunchers began gnawing their way
through the steel girders.
Some of the relics left
about the complex were
quite intriguing. It was
presented in a military
case, it appeared
threatening. This device
was actually an x-ray
head . The post WWII
instrument looks as if it
were a missing
"suitcase nuke". On the
side were stencilled,
"PROPERTY OF THE
US ARMY". It sat
unguarded for the better
part of a year, touched
by many, taken by none.
To stand inside the cavernous building would
bring a sense of enormity.
VUME - Building warships
Hingham Naval Shipyard - Bethlehem Steel