Heldenfels Shipyard was established in October of
1917 at 1800 S. Church Street. They had a government contract to build four, 281 ft. cargo vessels
during WWI.
The ‘Baychester’ was launched on July 31, 1919,
and the ‘Zuniga’ followed on September 9th. They
hired over 900 employees and in 1920 they delivered the ‘Jasper’ and the ‘Manchester’ following
the devastating Hurricane of 1919, which was quite
an impressive feat.
Early in 1941, Westergard-Rice Brothers and Co.,
here in Rockport, had a contract to build 20 of 39
wooden-hulled, Submarine-Chasers. The first off
the production line hit the Aransas Bay on July 4,
1941. Only five months later, the Japanese would
attack Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th and thus commence
WWII.
Sub-Chaser, PC 497 - not as famous as
the PC 498 that had an article written in
Business Week Magazine.
Known as the ‘Splinter Fleet’ for their wooden
hulls, which made them vulnerable to enemy Subs
that decided to fight them on the surface. The only
effective weapon they had against Subs were their
‘Depth Charges’.
PC 498 - launched f &