80-712: The four Richmond Shipyards , in the city of Richmond, California , United States , were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards . In World War II , Richmond built more ships than any other shipyard , turning out as many as three ships in a single day. The shipyards are part of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park , whose Rosie the Riveter memorial honors
160-455: A bow-mounted 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun and eight 20 mm cannon for use against aircraft. These were manned by United States Navy Armed Guard personnel. The VC2-S-AP5 Haskell -class attack transports were armed with the 5-inch stern gun, one quad 40 mm Bofors cannon , four dual 40 mm Bofors cannon, and ten single 20 mm cannon. The Haskell s were operated and crewed exclusively by U.S. Navy personnel. The Victory ship
240-491: A cost of $ 193 million. However, Caltrans issued a letter in 1998 saying it would not take over responsibility for the road unless it was brought up to expressway standards; as it was cost-prohibitive to convert it, the road remains the responsibility of the city and county. In 2006, the city celebrated its centennial. This coincided with the repaving and streetscaping project of Macdonald Avenue . The city's old rundown commercial district along Macdonald has been designated
320-700: A decades-long population decline ensued. The census listed 99,545 residents in 1950. By 1960 much of the temporary housing built for the shipyard workers was torn down, and the population dropped to about 71,800. Just before his April 1968 assassination , Martin Luther King Jr. had been working on plans for the Poor People's Campaign , including a multi-city tour of the U.S. with a stop in Richmond. His son, Martin Luther King III , completed
400-660: A federal surveying party, surveying and mapping the San Francisco Bay, to place the names "Point Richmond" and "Richmond" on their 1854 geodetic coastal map. The map was used at the terminal selected by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad . By 1899 maps made by the railroad carried the name "Point Richmond Avenue", a county road that later became Barrett Avenue, a central street in Richmond. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad purchased
480-448: A female householder with no husband present, 2,585 (7.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,538 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 427 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 9,546 households (26.4%) were made up of individuals, and 2,707 (7.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83. There were 24,018 families (66.5% of all households);
560-822: A further 132 vessels, although three were completed in 1946 for the Alcoa Steamship Company, making a total built in the United States of 534, made up of: Of the wartime construction, 414 were of the standard cargo variant and 117 were attack transports. Because the Atlantic battle had been won by the time the first of the Victory ships appeared none were sunk by U-boats. Three were sunk by Japanese kamikaze attack in April 1945. Many Victory ships were converted to troopships to bring US soldiers home at
640-474: A joint project of Kaiser Permanente Metals Corporation and Todd Shipyards Corporation. Construction of its first Liberty Ship at the site started in September 1941. Permanente Metals was a subcontractor building many of the pre-fabricated parts of the ships. Kaiser purchased Todd's interest in the yard in 1942 and renamed it Kaiser Richmond No. 2 Yard. The yard started by working 6 keels at a time and at its peak
720-532: A month in cash, plus opportunities to travel beyond Richmond." In 2004, Richmond was ranked the 12th most dangerous city in America. Those rankings have changed, and Richmond is no longer ranked as a "most dangerous" city, in either California or the United States. This is in large part due to the efforts of Police Chief Chris Magnus, who established "community policing", which involves police officers engaging with affected high crime communities. Richmond lies in
800-542: A part of a competition among shipyards. By 1944, the yard routinely needed only a bit more than two weeks to assemble a Liberty ship. By the end of the war the Richmond Shipyards had built $ 1.8 billion worth of ships. Kaiser and his workers applied mass assembly line techniques to building the ships. This production line technique, bringing pre-made parts together, moving them into place with huge cranes and having them welded together by "Rosies" (actually "Wendy
880-487: A program to prevent gun violence, the Office of Neighborhood Safety. The program collects information and analyzes public records to determine "the 50 people in Richmond most likely to shoot someone and to be shot themselves." It then offers selected individuals "a spot in a program that includes a stipend to turn their lives around". "Over an 18-month period, if the men demonstrate better behavior, ONS offers them up to $ 1,000
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#1732781046417960-483: A raised forecastle and a more sophisticated hull shape to help achieve the higher speed, they had a quite different appearance from Liberty ships. To make them less vulnerable to U-boat attacks, Victory ships made 15 to 17 knots (28 to 31 km/h), 4 to 6 knots (7.4 to 11.1 km/h) faster than the Libertys, and had longer range. The extra speed was achieved through more modern, efficient engines. Rather than
1040-478: Is a pier into San Francisco Bay south of Point Molate for oil tankers. The city of Richmond was incorporated in 1905. Until the enactment of prohibition in 1919, the city had the largest winery in the world; the small abandoned village of Winehaven remains fenced off along Western Drive in the Point Molate Area . Richmond was a small town at that time, with some industrial development centered on
1120-417: Is also home to one of the last pristine moist grassland habitats in the entire Bay Area at the former Campus Bay UC Berkeley Field Station near Meeker Slough . Richmond residents, however, have limited access to other environmental benefits. Because of the refineries located in Richmond, air quality is particularly low, and residents are especially at risk of air-pollution-related health issues. In 2006,
1200-627: Is docked nearby Kaiser Richmond No. 3 Yard. For World War 2 Kaiser opened four shipyards along the northeast shoreline of San Francisco Bay , each using prefabricated parts to build ships. Prefabricated subcontractors included: Graham Ship Repair Company, Herrick Iron Works, Independent Iron Works , Berkeley's Trailer Company of America, Steel Tank & Pipe Company, California Steel Products Corporation, Pacific Coast Engineering in Alameda and Clyde W. Wood in Stockton. Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard
1280-645: Is home to many species of animals. Canada geese visit the city on their annual migrations. Harbor seals live on the Castro Rocks, and pigeons and gulls populate the sidewalks and parking lots. Tadpoles and frogs can be found in the local creeks and vernal pools. Field mice and lizards are also found. Herons and egrets nest in protected areas on Brooks Island. Deer , falcons , raccoons , ducks, foxes, owls, and mountain lions live in Wildcat Canyon and Point Pinole Regional Shoreline . A license
1360-576: Is land and 22.4 square miles (58 km ) (comprising 42.71%) is water. The city sits on 32 miles (51 km) of waterfront, more than any other city in the Bay Area. The city borders San Francisco Bay to the southwest and San Pablo Bay to the northwest, and includes Brooks Island and the Brother Islands entirely, and half of Red Rock Island . There are several cities and unincorporated communities surrounding or bordering Richmond. To
1440-473: Is lessened. The average wind speed is 6–9 miles per hour (10–14 km/h) with stronger winds from March through August; the strongest winds are in June. The city also enjoys more than 80% sunshine seven months out of the year and ten months with 60% or more. December and January are the darkest months with about 45% average brightness. The city experiences virtually no snowfall, and brief hail annually. Richmond
1520-473: Is needed for fishing on the waterfront or city waters but not on the piers, where in addition to crabs, sturgeon are plentiful and bat rays may also be found. Striped bass , bat rays , leopard sharks , surf perch , jacksmelt , sturgeon , white croaker , and flounders are also found. Richmond is one of the few places where you can find the rare Olympia oyster on the West Coast, in the waters along
1600-556: Is the SS Red Oak Victory Cargo ship a Museum ship. Kaiser Richmond No. 3 Yard thus became the U.S. National Register of Historic Place and California Historical Landmark. At GPS 37°54′19″N 122°21′55″W / 37.9054°N 122.3653°W / 37.9054; -122.3653 . Built at Kaiser Richmond No. 3 Yard: Notable ships: USS General M. L. Hersey (AP-148) and USS General Omar Bundy (AP-152) . Kaiser Richmond No. 4 Yard
1680-588: The Bureau of Indian Affairs as North Star III . AP3 types South Bend Victory and Tuskegee Victory were converted in 1957–58 to ocean hydrographic surveying ships USNS Bowditch and Dutton , respectively. Dutton aided in locating the lost hydrogen bomb following the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash . Starting in 1959, several were removed from the reserve fleet and refitted for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . One such ship
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#17327810464171760-563: The Emergency Shipbuilding program . The design was an enhancement of the Liberty ship, which had been successfully produced in extraordinary numbers. Victory ships were slightly larger than Liberty ships, 14 feet (4.3 m) longer at 455 feet (139 m), 6 feet (1.8 m) wider at 62 ft (19 m), and drawing one foot more at 28 feet (8.5 m) loaded. Displacement was up just under 1,000 tons, to 15,200. With
1840-644: The Korean War and a 100 Victory ships served in the Vietnam War . Many were sold and became commercial cargo ships and a few commercial passenger ships . Some were laid up in the United States Navy reserve fleets and then scrapped or reused. Many saw postwar conversion and various uses for years afterward. The single VC2-M-AP4 Diesel-powered MV Emory Victory operated in Alaskan waters for
1920-587: The National Park Service . See also, similar role:- Empire ship , Fort ship , Park ship , Ocean ship . Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California , United States. The city was incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a city council . Located in the San Francisco Bay Area 's East Bay region, Richmond borders San Pablo , Albany , El Cerrito and Pinole in addition to
2000-540: The Rancho San Pablo land granted to Don Francisco María Castro , from which the nearby town of San Pablo inherited its name; the Point Richmond area was known originally as The Potrero and then renamed as Point Stevens in early charts of San Francisco Bay . Point Richmond was an island, but industrial development and deliberate fill connected it to the mainland by the early 1900s. On July 4, 1900,
2080-631: The Santa Fe Railroad 's western terminus was established at Point Richmond with ferry connections from Ferry Point in the Brickyard Cove area to San Francisco. The Santa Fe railroad also built a major rail yard next to Point Richmond. It constructed a tunnel through the Potrero San Pablo ridge to run track from the yard to a ferry landing from which freight cars could be transshipped to San Francisco. Where this track crosses
2160-674: The Shipyard Railway , transported workers to the shipyards. Kaiser's Richmond shipyards built 747 Victory and Liberty ships for the war effort, more than any other site in the U.S. The shipyards broke many records, including the completion of a Liberty ship in just five days. On average the yards built a new ship in 30 days. The medical system established for the shipyard workers at the Richmond Field Hospital eventually became today's Kaiser Permanente HMO . The hospital remained in operation until 1993, when it
2240-498: The Type C4-class ship , General G. O. Squier-class transport ships. These ships had a 12,420 GRT with a length of 523 feet (159 m). While the yard closed at the end of the war in 1946 the shipyard was not taken apart. The shipyard is still intact and there have been unsuccessful attempts to reopen the yard. Kaiser Richmond No. 3 Yard is at 1040 Canal Boulevard, Richmond at Point Potrero. At 1337 Canal Boulevard Berth 5, Richmond
2320-527: The unincorporated communities of North Richmond , Hasford Heights, Kensington , El Sobrante , Bayview-Montalvin Manor , Tara Hills , and East Richmond Heights , and for a short distance San Francisco on Red Rock Island in the San Francisco Bay . Richmond is one of two cities, the other being San Rafael , that sits on the shores of both San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay . Its population
2400-523: The 1960s two Victory ships were reactivated and converted to technical research ships by the U.S. Navy with the hull type AGTR. SS Iran Victory became USS Belmont and SS Simmons Victory became USS Liberty . Liberty was attacked and severely damaged by Israeli forces in June 1967 and subsequently decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register . Belmont was decommissioned and stricken in 1970. Baton Rouge Victory
2480-600: The Bay and Red Rock Island. The city is within the 94801, 94803, 94804, 94805, and 94806 ZIP Codes . Richmond, like much of the coastal East Bay , enjoys a very mild Mediterranean climate year round. The climate is slightly warmer than the coastal areas of San Francisco, the Peninsula , and Marin County; it is however more temperate than areas further inland. The average highs range from 57 to 73 °F (14 to 23 °C) and
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2560-824: The East Bay, from Richmond to Oakland, before World War II. From 1917 and throughout the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was active in the city. In 1930 the Ford Motor Company opened the Richmond Assembly Plant , which later moved to Milpitas in 1956. The old Ford plant in Richmond has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. In 2004 it was purchased by developer Eddie Orton, who converted it into an events center named Ford Point Building–The Craneway. At
2640-563: The Hispanic population, 27.3% were of Mexican origin, 4.7% Salvadoran , 1.7% Guatemalan , and 1.2% Nicaraguan heritage. The census reported that 102,118 people (98.5% of the population) lived in households, 670 (0.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 913 (0.9%) were institutionalized. There were 36,093 households, out of which 13,487 (37.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,502 (40.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6,931 (19.2%) had
2720-465: The Libertys' 2,500 horsepower (1,900 kW) triple expansion steam engines , Victory ships were designed to use either Lentz type reciprocating steam engines (one ship only, oil fired), Diesel engines (one ship) or steam turbines (the rest, all oil fired) (variously putting out between 6,000 and 8,500 hp (4,500 and 6,300 kW)). Another improvement was electrically powered auxiliary equipment, rather than steam-driven machinery. To prevent
2800-695: The Poverty in America Tour in 2007, stopping in Richmond. Unrest in late June 1968, sparked by the police shooting of a 15-year-old boy, damaged businesses in downtown along Macdonald Avenue. Most notably, the Travalini Furniture Store was destroyed by fire, which was assumed to be the result of the violent protests, but according to Fraser Felter, who was a reporter for the Richmond Independent , police sources told him
2880-603: The South and to a lesser extent the Midwest who took jobs in heavy industry and transport as those industries expanded to meet the needs of the war economy, while increased numbers of women also joined the industrial workforce for the first time as large numbers of working-age men were drafted for the war effort. During the war, Richmond's population increased dramatically, rising from 23,000 in 1940 to 114,899 in 1942 and peaking at around 120,000 by 1945. A specially built rail line,
2960-459: The Welders" here in the shipyards), allowed unskilled laborers to do repetitive jobs requiring relatively little training to accomplish. This sped up construction, allowed more workers to be mobilized, and opened jobs to women and minorities. In the war, thousands of men and women worked in this area in hazardous jobs. Actively recruited by Kaiser, they came from all over the United States to swell
3040-693: The average family size was 3.43. The age distribution of the population shows 25,800 people (24.9%) under the age of 18, 10,364 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 30,846 people (29.7%) aged 25 to 44, 26,109 people (25.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 10,582 people (10.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males. There were 39,328 housing units at an average density of 749.4 units per square mile (289.3 units/km ), of which 36,093 were occupied, of which 18,659 (51.7%) were owner-occupied, and 17,434 (48.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate
3120-523: The building, reusing the land for a mixed-use development including residential, retail, and logistics facilities. In the late 1990s the Richmond Parkway was built along Richmond's western industrial and northwestern parkland, connecting Interstates 80 and 580. Construction of the Parkway, which follows the alignment of SR 93 as proposed in 1958, started in 1990 and completed in 1996 at
3200-709: The city council requested a declaration of a state of emergency and asked for the intervention of the Contra Costa County Sheriff and the California Highway Patrol . Murder, vehicle theft, and larceny rates remain high, although they tend to be concentrated in the Iron Triangle and adjacent unincorporated North Richmond , which is outside the jurisdiction of the Richmond Police Department . By 1991,
3280-615: The city is the Santa Cruz tarweed which survives alongside Interstate 80. Wildcat Canyon also hosts falcons and vultures. Threatened black rails also live in the city's marshes. After a baby gray whale was beached on the Point Richmond shore in May 2007, its rotting corpse became bothersome to neighbors. Removal was delayed as various agencies argued over which would have to pay for it, at an eventual cost of $ 18,000. Richmond
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3360-406: The city was sued by an environmental group for dumping raw sewage into the Bay. Councilmember Tom Butt was very vocal on the subject, accusing the city council of turning a blind eye to the problem. A 60-acre, 10.5-megawatt solar farm was opened within the city in 2018. The farm sits on a former landfill owned by Chevron . The city has in the past suffered from a high crime rate; at one point,
3440-572: The city's "Main Street District" by the state of California. This has led to funding of improvements in the form of state grants. Richmond is located at 37°56′09″N 122°20′52″W / 37.93583°N 122.34778°W / 37.93583; -122.34778 . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 52.5 square miles (136 km ), of which 30.1 square miles (78 km )
3520-462: The city's all-time high of 62 homicides, among a population of 98,000, was seven times the national average. The portion of these homicides that were drug- or gang-related increased from 5 percent to 55 percent between 1989 and 1991. Despite the city making extreme headway in crime reduction and prevention, Richmond received widespread attention in 2009 when a girl was gang raped at a homecoming dance at Richmond High School. In 2007, Richmond opened
3600-562: The city; they are tested on the first Wednesday of every month, at 11 am PST (12 pm PDT), and are usually used to warn of toxic chemical releases from the Chevron Richmond Refinery . In a July 26, 1993, industrial accident, a General Chemical company rail tanker car containing oleum overheated and exploded in the General Chemical railyard. This resulted in a 17-mile (27 km) area contaminated with
3680-493: The design of what came to be known as the Victory class. Initially designated EC2-S-AP1, where EC2 = Emergency Cargo, type 2 (Load Waterline Length between 400 and 450 feet (120 and 140 m)), S = steam propulsion with AP1 = one aft propeller (EC2-S-C1 had been the designation of the Liberty ship design), it was changed to VC2-S-AP1 before the name "Victory Ship" was officially adopted on 28 April 1943. The ships were built under
3760-571: The earlier Liberty ship , were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engines, giving higher speed to allow participation in high-speed convoys and make them more difficult targets for German U-boats . A total of 531 Victory ships were built in between 1944 and 1946. One of the first acts of the United States War Shipping Administration upon its formation in February 1942 was to commission
3840-652: The end of World War II as part of Operation Magic Carpet . A total of 97 Victory ships were converted to carry up to 1,600 soldiers. To convert the ships the cargo holds were converted to bunk beds and hammocks stacked three high for hot bunking . Mess halls and exercise places were also added. Some examples of Victory troopship are: SS Aiken Victory , SS Chanute Victory , SS Cody Victory , SS Colby Victory , SS Cranston Victory , SS Gustavus Victory , SS Hagerstown Victory , SS Maritime Victory , and SS U.S.S.R. Victory . Some 184 Victory ships served in
3920-632: The fire was set to avoid a debt instead by destroying store records. In the 1970s, the Hilltop area was developed in Richmond's northern suburbs, further depressing the downtown area as it drew retail clients and tenants away to the large indoor Hilltop Mall, which opened in 1976. The shopping mall, last named Hilltop Horizon , was opened under Taubman Centers , and has been sold since then to GM Pension Trust (1998), Simon Property Group (2007), Jones Lang LaSalle (2012), LBG Real Estate (2017), and Prologis (2021), who announced plans to close and demolish
4000-735: The first keel laid on May 15, 1942. Needing faster cargo ships the next series of ships built were Victory ships , with the first keel laid on January 17, 1944. After the war, in 1946, the yard closed. Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard was at 700 Wright Ave, Richmond on the Parr Canal. The site now has general docks for construction supplies. Located at GPS 37°55′15″N 122°21′47″W / 37.920887°N 122.362920°W / 37.920887; -122.362920 . Built at Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard: Notable ships: Ocean Victory , Ocean Vigour , Chief Ouray , Logan Victory and Northeastern Victory . Kaiser Richmond No. 2 Yard started as
4080-438: The hull cracks that many Liberty ships developed—making some break in half—the spacing between frames was widened from 30 inches (760 mm) to 36 inches (910 mm), making the ships less stiff and more able to flex. Like Liberty ships, the hull was welded rather than riveted. The VC2-S-AP2, VC2-S-AP3, and VC2-M-AP4 were armed with a 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber stern gun for use against submarines and surface ships, and
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#17327810464174160-512: The intersection of El Portal Drive and Via Verdi. Although no one was hurt, a car fell into the sinkhole. On August 6, 2012, at around 6:15 PM, a large fire erupted at the Chevron refinery, sending significant plumes of toxic smoke into the surrounding area and resulting in over 15,000 people to seek medical treatment at local hospitals. Just minutes after the fire was reported, Contra Costa Health Services notified residents “ shelter in place ”;
4240-487: The local siren system was activated and several messages were issued through the Emergency Alert System warning people of the fire and hazardous materials incident. The fire was reported contained at around 10:40 PM. The 2010 United States census reported that Richmond had a population of 103,701. The population density was 1,976.0 inhabitants per square mile (762.9/km ). The racial makeup of Richmond
4320-513: The lows range from 43 to 56 °F (6 to 13 °C) year round. Richmond usually enjoys an " Indian summer ", and September is, on average, the warmest month. January is on average the coldest month. The highest recorded temperature in Richmond was 107 °F (42 °C) in September 1971 while the coldest was 24 °F (−4 °C) in December 1990. The rainy season begins in late October and ends in April, with some showers in May. Most of
4400-550: The main street in Point Richmond, there remain two of the last operational wigwag grade crossing signals in the United States, and the only surviving examples of the "upside-down" type. The wigwag is a type of railroad crossing signal that was phased out in the 1970s and '80s across the country. There was controversy in 2005 when the State Transportation Authority ordered the BNSF railroad company to upgrade
4480-523: The onset of World War II , the four Richmond Shipyards were built along Richmond's waterfront, employing thousands of workers, many migrating to Richmond from other parts of the country after being recruited. These new workers generally lived in housing constructed specifically for the wartime boom, scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Richmond, Berkeley and Albany. Many of these new migrants were Black Americans from
4560-438: The poisonous gas, and led to 25,000 people landing in the hospital. The incident led to lawsuits, and has been referred to as a mini- Bhopal . The city's shoreline and wildlife were seriously affected by the 2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill . Beaches and shoreline were closed, but later reopened. Keller Beach was closed to public access for swimmers. On April 15, 2010, a sinkhole roughly 30 feet (9.1 m) deep appeared at
4640-431: The population of Richmond from 20,000 to over 100,000 in three years. For many of them, this was the first time they worked, earned money, and faced the problems of working parents: finding day care and housing. Women and minorities entered the workforce in areas previously denied to them. However, they still faced unequal pay, were shunted off into "auxiliary" unions and still had to deal with prejudice and inequities. In
4720-433: The railroad crossing signals. A compromise was achieved that included installing new modern crossing gates, red lights and bells while not removing, but simply shutting off, the historic ones and preserving their functionality for special events. Standard Oil set up operations on land sold by Emily Tewksbury in 1901, including what is now the Chevron Richmond Refinery and tank farm , which Chevron still operates. There
4800-462: The railroad making their terminus at Richmond. The first post office opened in 1900, and the city of Richmond incorporated in 1905. The Ohlone were the first inhabitants of the Richmond area, settling an estimated 5,000 years ago. They spoke the Chochenyo language , and subsisted as hunter-gatherers and harvesters . The site that would eventually become the city of Richmond was part of
4880-444: The rain occurs during stronger storms which occur between November and March and drop 3.3–4.91 inches (84–125 mm) of rain per month. January and February are the rainiest months. Like most of the Bay Area, Richmond is made up of several microclimates . Southern parts of the city and the ridges receive more fog than northern areas. Summer temperatures are higher in inland areas, where the moderating influence of San Francisco Bay
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#17327810464174960-414: The refinery's shoreline. Rainbow trout have recently returned to San Pablo and Wildcat creeks. Red-tailed hawks patrol the skies. Monarch butterflies migrate through the city on their journey between Mexico and Canada. Wildcat Marsh has two ponds where Canada geese often rest, and is also the home of the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse and California clapper rail . Another endangered species in
5040-438: The remainder given miscellaneous names. The AP5 type attack transports were named after United States counties , without "Victory" in their name, with the exception of USS Marvin H. McIntyre , which was named after President Roosevelt's late personal secretary. Although initial deliveries were slow—only 15 had been delivered by May 1944—by the end of the war 531 had been constructed. The Commission cancelled orders for
5120-610: The shipyard workers. Shipyard #3 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a California Historical Landmark # 1032. Henry J. Kaiser had been building cargo ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission in the late 1930s. When he received orders for ships from the British government , already at war with Nazi Germany , Kaiser established his first Richmond shipyard in December 1940. The shipyard legacy continues by virtue of its innovative medical care, which
5200-606: The south is the city of Albany which is in Alameda County and the city of El Cerrito . The unincorporated communities of East Richmond Heights , Rollingwood , Hasford Heights, and El Sobrante lie to the east. North Richmond to the west and San Pablo to the east are almost entirely surrounded by Richmond's city limits. To the north, Richmond borders the city of Pinole and the unincorporated areas of Bayview , Montalvin Manor , Hilltop Green, Tara Hills . Richmond borders Alameda , San Francisco, and Marin counties in
5280-448: The volatile California region that has a potential for devastating earthquakes. Many buildings were damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . The city has also had at least one minor tornado. The Chevron Richmond Refinery had highly noted chemical leaks in the 1990s. The company has been fined thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars. Richmond has a siren system consisting of 17 emergency warning sirens located across
5360-529: The war, labor strikes and sit-down work stoppages eventually led to better conditions. Many workers commuted from other parts of the Bay Area to the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond on the Shipyard Railway , a temporary wartime railway whose trains used cars of the local Key System and whose line extended from a depot in Emeryville to a loop serving all four shipyards. The SS Red Oak Victory
5440-526: The waterfront based around the railroad and oil refineries. The Pullman Company also established a major facility in Richmond in the early 20th century. The facility connected with both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific and serviced their passenger coach equipment. The Pullman Company was a large employer of African American men, who worked mainly as porters on the Pullman cars. Many of them settled in
5520-653: Was SS Kingsport Victory , which was renamed USNS Kingsport and converted into the world's first satellite communications ship. Another was the former Haiti Victory , which recovered the first man-made object to return from orbit, the nose cone of Discoverer 13 , on 11 August 1960. USS Sherburne was converted in 1969–1970 to the range instrumentation ship USNS Range Sentinel for downrange tracking of ballistic missile tests. Four Victory ships became fleet ballistic missile cargo ships transporting torpedoes, Poseidon missiles , packaged petroleum, and spare parts to deployed submarine tenders : In
5600-418: Was SS United Victory launched at Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on 12 January 1944 and completed on 28 February 1944, making her maiden voyage a month later. American vessels frequently had a name incorporating the word "Victory". After United Victory , the next 34 vessels were named after allied countries , the following 218 after American cities, the next 150 after educational institutions and
5680-487: Was 116,448 as of the 2020 census making it the second largest city in the United States named Richmond after Richmond, Virginia . The name "Richmond" predates incorporation of the city by more than fifty years. Edmund Randolph , originally from Richmond, Virginia , represented the city of San Francisco when California's first legislature met in San Jose in December 1849, and he became state assemblyman from San Francisco. Out of fondness for his hometown, Randolph persuaded
5760-411: Was 2.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.1%. 52,683 people (50.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 49,435 people (47.7%) lived in rented housing. Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to
5840-440: Was 32,590 (31.4%) White , 27,542 (26.6%) African American , 662 (0.6%) Native American , 13,984 (13.5%) Asian (4.0% Chinese , 3.5% Filipino , 1.6% Laotian , 1.2% Indian , 0.7% Vietnamese , 0.6% Japanese , 0.4% Korean , 0.2% Pakistani , 0.1% Thai ), 537 (0.5%) Pacific Islander , 22,573 (21.8%) from other races , and 5,813 (5.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 40,921 persons (39.5%). Among
5920-555: Was a new shipyard built to support the demand for ships for World War 2. Kaiser purchased the contact and the yard to build type Ocean ship from the Todd Shipyards in 1940. Kaiser built yard No. 1 to build the Ocean ships. Yard No. 1 was built on unoccupied land with construction starting in December 1940. In April 1941 the keel for the first British bound Ocean ship was laid. The next series of ships built were Liberty ships, with
6000-479: Was derived from Kaiser's earlier California Colorado Aqueduct Project insurance and today called Kaiser Permanente . The four Richmond Kaiser Shipyards built 747 ships in World War II, a rate never equaled. Compared to the average ship built elsewhere, Richmond ships were completed in two-thirds the time and at a quarter of the cost. The Liberty ship Robert E. Peary was assembled in less than five days as
6080-538: Was noted for good proportion of cubic between holds for a cargo ship of its day. A Victory ship's cargo hold one, two and five hatches are single rigged with a capacity of 70,400, 76,700, and 69,500 bale cubic feet respectively. Victory ships hold three and four hatches are double rigged with a capacity of 136,100 and 100,300 bale cubic feet respectively. Victory ships have built-in mast , booms and derrick cranes and can load and unload their own cargo without dock side cranes or gantry if needed. The first vessel
6160-856: Was planned to be called Richmond #3A Yard, as just an expansion of Richmond #3. But when opened became its own shipyard with separate management. The yard opened in 1943 and closed at the end of the war in 1945. The yard was at 800 Wharf Street Richmond, on the south side of Richmond Inner Harbor Channel's Santa Fe Channel. The site now is Sugar Dock, a deepwater service port in Point Richmond. At GPS 37°55′13″N 122°22′19″W / 37.9203°N 122.37186°W / 37.9203; -122.37186 . Built at Kaiser Richmond No. 4 Yard: Notable ships: USS LST-480 , USS Tacoma (PF-3) , USS Pasco (PF-6) , USS Fentress (AK-180) , USS Beltrami and USS Blount . [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of
6240-507: Was replaced by the Richmond Medical Center hospital, which has since expanded to a multi-building campus. Point Richmond was Richmond's original commercial hub, but a new downtown arose in the center of the city along Macdonald Avenue during the war. It was populated by department stores such as Kress , J.C. Penney , Sears , Macy's , and Woolworth's . When the war ended the shipyard workers were no longer needed, and
6320-758: Was sunk in the Mekong delta by a Viet Cong mine in August 1966 and temporarily blocked the channel to Saigon . According to the War Production Board minutes in 1943, the Victory Ship had a relative cost of $ 238 per deadweight ton (10,500 deadweight tonnage ) for $ 2,522,800, equivalent to $ 35,500,000 in 2023. Most Victory ships were constructed in six West Coast and one Baltimore emergency shipyards that were set up in World War II to build Liberty, Victory, and other ships. The Victory ship
6400-1109: Was working on 12 keels a day. Most ships being built in under 30 days. The yard was built starting in 1941 and closed at the end of the war in 1945, no traces of yard No. 2 remain. The yard was at 1923 Esplanade Drive, Richmond. The site is now the north side of the Inner Harbour Basin , in the Richmond Marina Bay , at Marina Bay Park. At the park is the Rosie the Riveter Memorial. GPS site is 37°54′55″N 122°20′58″W / 37.915315°N 122.349372°W / 37.915315; -122.349372 . Built at Kaiser Richmond No. 2 Yard: Notable ships: Timothy Pickering , Stephen Hopkins , Samuel Huntington , Robert T. Lincoln , Hobart Baker , Melville E. Stone , E. A. Bryan , Antoine Saugrain , and Hobbs Victory . Kaiser Richmond No. 3 Yard opened in 1943 and built Kaiser's largest ships,
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