Archive Record
Images
Additional Images [1]
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2025.100.87 |
Collection |
A Window on the Past columns |
Object Name |
Clipping |
Reference code |
US SPHi 2025.100.87 |
Title |
Armour Kirby and the Walsh Construction bomb plant in South Portland |
Date |
2025 |
Scope & Content |
Feature story about Armour Kirby and the Walsh Construction bomb plant in South Portland, Maine. A Window on the Past history column by Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo, executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. Published on the South Portland Historical Society blog on wordpress.com, August 29, 2025. Walsh Construction was first hired here in 1941 as a subcontractor participating in the construction of the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding yard in South Portland. In 1943, Walsh Construction formed a joint venture with Henry J. Kaiser, creating and operating the Walsh-Kaiser shipyard in Providence, RI - that yard built Liberty ships and corvettes that were used as anti-submarine escorts. In 1945, Walsh operated a bomb-making plant at Thompson's Point in Portland for a very short time. In 1952, Walsh Construction was awarded a contract to build 750-pound bomb casings for the Army. They leased the former West Yard of the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland. The project manager was Armour A. Kirby. By the summer of 1953, the defense contract had doubled. Mass production of bomb casings began here in the fall of 1953. Only the casings were made in South Portland; the casings were sent elsewhere for the explosive material to be inserted. All production came to a halt in March of 1956 when the Army put them on standby. The Army removed its equipment from the building in 1958. In 1959, Walsh Construction moved its engineering design division to South Portland. Walsh began its scrapping operation here, disassembling Liberty ships, submarines and other Navy surplus vessels in the former shipyard basins. Most of the scrapping took place in 1959 and 1960. The company laid off most workers in the fall of 1960 when the scrap metal market took a dive. Limited scrapping took place after that, with the last of the scrap metal shipped out in 1962. |
Search Terms |
A Window on the Past (news columns) Walsh Construction Company East Yard (post-war) |
Subjects |
Bombs Manufacturing Scrapyards |
People |
DiPhilippo, Kathryn Onos Kirby, Armour A. |