Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.

Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company was a major shipbuilding company in Chester, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River.Its primary product was tankers, but the company built many types of ships over its 70-year history. During World War II, it participated in the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. The company was also part of the U.S. aerospace industry during the Cold War; it built various propulsion research & development structures, including the largest U.S. rocket test chamber, for Aerojet General in 1963.HistoryThe company was developed by Sun Oil Company, and launched its first ship in 1917, just as the United States was entering World War I. Under the direction of its president, John Glenn Pew, the company experienced tremendous success over the following decades. In the 1920s, it had become a large shipyard that built tankers for the Standard Oil Company and by the start of World War II, it was among the country's five largest shipyards, with eight slipways. Twenty slipways were added during the war, making Sun Ship the country's largest shipyard. At its peak, the company employed more than 40,000 workers at four shipyards, including one manned almost entirely by African Americans.