Today, September 7, 2020 marks the 78th anniversary of when construction began on the first ship built at Port Cargill. When the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, the military realized they needed additional ships to support the U.S. Navy’s efforts in the Pacific region. Before World War II, Cargill, Inc. had become known for building large barges to haul grain. This reputation, combined with the large local labor pool, prompted the Navy to select Savage as the site for a new military shipyard in 1942. The wartime labor shortage led to women being allowed to work in shipyards for the first time, and they made up a quarter of the workforce at Savage.
To handle the new, larger ships that would be constructed at the shipyard, the Minnesota River had to be dredged. The river was normally only 3.5 feet deep, but it was dredged for fourteen miles to a minimum depth of nine feet. This work cost $250,000.
The yard’s first ship, named the USS Agawam, was launched on May 6, 1943, in front of a crowd of cheering shipyard supporters. The ships were launched publicly, to increase morale. At one such event, five identical sisters launched five boats simultaneously. The internationally famous young women were the world’s first surviving quintuplets, and the event drew some 15,000 people
