Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans LA

Most recent update: October 5, 2011.

Avondale Shipyards was founded in 1938 as Avondale Marine Ways, in Westwego LA, on the west bank of the Mississippi river in New Orleans.  The original owners were James Viavant, Harry Koch and Perry Ellis.  Initially it built tugs and barges but when the war effort started, it expanded to build small cargo ships for the Maritime Commission.  After the war, it expanded to its present site and to a repair yard on the Harvey Canal.  In 1959, the original owners sold it to Ogden Corporation for $14 million and it became Avondale Shipyards.  In 1985 Ogden sold it, together with a number of other Ogden interests, to an ESOP called Connell Partnership and the new group became Avondale Industries.  There were major clashes of personalities between the shipyard's management and Connell's management, however, and in 1987 the shipyard was spun off from the rest of the group as Avondale Industries.  The new company was then publicly traded until it was acquired by Litton Industries in 1999 and became Litton Ship Systems Avondale Operations.  At this point, the shipyard finally lost its long-running battle against the unionization of its workforce.  Litton was itself acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2001 and Avondale was integrated with Ingalls and became formally known as Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Avondale Operations.  In January 2008, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems was integrated with Newport News as part of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.  In July 2010, Northrop Grumman announced its intention to close Avondale after it completes LPD 25, which should be in early 2013, and the new owners, Huntington Ingalls Industries, have confirmed this decision.  See the shipyard from the air on Google here.

Avondale's hull numbers are now up in the 2500s, because most of its output has been barges (including over 1000 LASH barges) and small vessels.  Boats and barges built by Avondale Marine Ways, in Westwego, were given numbers in the same series as the main yard.  Avondale Marine Ways closed in 1963 but was revived in 1988 as Avondale's Boats Division and the boats built there were given a new series of numbers.  Avondale also set up two remote yards in Gulfport MS, one to build MHCs, as follow yard to Intermarine USA , the other to build LCACs, as follow yard to Textron Marine Systems.