Omar R. King (1915-1994)
Shipbuilder

Omar R. King was one of the most knowledgeable shipbuilders in the United States from the 1940s until his death in 1994.

He began his shipbuilding career at age 14 at Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, working summers. His father, Arthur W. King, was the general foreman there. Omar joked that he polished one of the bolts that went into the RANGER, the America's Cup competition sloop, built in the spring of 1937.

In 1941, at age 26, after graduating from the naval architecture school at the University of Michigan, where he got a masters' degree, he became Hull Superintendent of the South Portland [Maine] Shipyard, later known as the New England Shipbuilding Company. Two years later he was promoted to Shipyard Manager. After the war, he returned to Bath Iron Works as Assistant General Manager. He was shortly thereafter promoted to Shipyard Manager and in 1955 became Vice President and Works Manager.

Between 1941 and 1945, the South Portland shipyards built 30 Ocean class freighters and 244 Liberty ships, including the JEREMIAH O'BRIEN, the only surviving Liberty ship other than the JOHN W. BROWN, and the very last Liberty ship built, the ALBERT M. BOE, which was delivered on October 30, 1945. At its peak, New England Shipbuilding employed 30,000 people.

Contributed by Suzanne K. Nusbaum, daughter of Omar R. King