American Shipbuilding Company

The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before WWII. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland OH in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain OH in 1898. It changed its name to the American Ship Building Company in 1900, when it acquired Superior Shipbuilding, in Superior WI, Toledo Shipbuilding, in Toledo OH, and West Bay Shipbuilding, in West Bay City MI. With the coming of WWI, AmShip also acquired Buffalo Dry Dock, in Buffalo NY, Chicago Shipbuilding, in Chicago IL, and Detroit Shipbuilding, in Wyandotte MI.