Agnes Moore

Agnes Moore was a Journeyman Welder from 1942-1945 at Richmond Kaiser Shipyard #3.

NPS Photo

Richmond Kaiser Shipyard #3 - Journeyman Welder, 1942-1945
Agnes Moore was born February, 1920, the 6th of 7 children in Searcy County, Arkansas. In 1924 her father, the local sheriff, was killed in the line of duty, leaving her mother a widow and to raise Agnes and her siblings on her own, now ages 2 to14.

As expected of girls during that time Agnes had married at 16 and had a 1 year old daughter when she and her soon-to-be ex came out to California in 1939, following her siblings to Salinas. She was able to find work in the vegetable packing industry. The young couple eventually divorced and Agnes now had to support herself and her child.

While driving her car one day, the radio announcer said, “Women, do something for your country, go to the Richmond shipyards and be a welder!” Agnes had no idea what a welder was but she felt this was something worthwhile that she could do to help bring the “boys” back home from the war. Off she went to the hiring hall in Richmond dressed in her finest black suit, matching high heeled pumps, gloves and veiled hat. After announcing to the receptionist that she was there to apply for a welding position, the receptionist looked her over and suggested Agnes take a job in the office. Agnes gave her a firm “no” saying she was responding to the radio announcement recruiting women to weld.

Becoming a war-time Welder at that time consisted of attending a two-week training class. Upon completion, Agnes was sent to the Outfitting dock to weld. Kaiser had developed a method of prefabrication for building ships for the military. While the building of the ship’s hull was happening in the Way, other areas of the yard would build sections of the ship and those parts were brought over to the Way using Whirley Cranes, put all together like pieces of a puzzle, and finally launched. The ship couldn’t sail under its own power, so it was pulled by a tugboat to the Outfitting dock where Agnes helped finish it.

Dressed in heavy leathers (jacket, bibs, and gloves to the elbows), heavy, steel- toed boots, her hair tied up in a bandana with a welder’s cap and hood on her head, she would climb the ship’s gang plank to meet the lead man who would appoint her job for the night. She would follow him across a deck strewn with electric lines, welding lines, and acetylene gas welding lines, through an escape hatch, down ladders, often into poorly lit spaces (about 18” wide by 18” tall x 10’ long) and weld for hours. Other times would find her kneeling or lying on cold steel decks or standing on ladders, welding overhead while the sparks would make their way down her shirt collar. The work environment was hot, smoke and dust filled, and the bulkheads resounded with the deafening sounds made by the chipping guns and all other craftsmen. As she was following him she would be carrying her rod pot which held the equipment she would need for her job. In the pot was her stinger, welding rods (up to 5 lbs.), steel brush, chipping hammer, flashlight, and extension light that you would need to plug in somewhere. The stinger was carried around the neck and one end of it was plugged into a line, which is full of copper wires, 25 feet in length, and extremely heavy. You had to have enough of those lines wherever your job was to reach your welding machine on the top deck.

To weld you would clamp the welding rod into the stinger and then strike an arc wherever it was needed. You had to hit real quick because if you did it slow the rod would weld itself onto the metal and then you’d have an awful time breaking it loose. So you learned to hit real fast and not pull it too far away. The ship had to be grounded in order for this process to work. As you welded you had to oscillate it all the way and do it just very smooth. If it wasn’t done smoothly you wouldn’t have a good weld.

The hammer was used to chip everything off of the weld after you made it. Then the brush was used on the weld and if there were any pin holes or undercutting, it would have to be chipped out or redone.

To inspect your weld you would use either the light or flashlight. The light had an electric bulb on the end of a long electric wire and it had a protective frame around the bulb so it wouldn’t get broken. If you were welding in a smaller cramped space you would need to use the flashlight instead. All of your equipment was kept in a locker at the shipyard.

The welder’s hood had a clear glass strip for looking through but while welding, a very dark colored glass had to be pulled down over that in order to protect the eyes from the arc. You couldn’t see through this glass until you struck an arc & started welding. You not only had to protect your eyes from your own welding but from the welding done by the people around you. One time Agnes had to insert a new rod so she raised her hood to look for one and when she did the worker next to her struck an arc and she got a “Flash”. The effects of a flash were very painful, making your eyes red, teary, and sore. You would have to go to First Aid to get eye drops and miss a few days of work.

After her divorce Agnes not only had to support her daughter she also had to find childcare for her. Childcare for shipyard workers was established with round the clock care to accommodate any shift a parent might work. Agnes would bundle her daughter up in her pajamas, drop her off at 11:30 pm, work the graveyard shift from 12:00am – 7:am, go home to sleep and then pick up her daughter at 3pm. (her daughter would sleep overnight at the Center, be fed breakfast in the morning , and attend preschool until Agnes picked her up).

Agnes lived in San Francisco with her sister & brother-in-law and they would take a streetcar to the Ferry building in order to catch the ferry to Richmond. After she remarried in 1943, she and her husband Ray bought a house in Richmond.

After several months as a welder she passed the American Bureau of Shipping test and became a certified Journeyman Welder, therefore upping her pay rate. Agnes was making $85.00 a week take-home pay. ($1,133.60 in 2015 dollars).

Agnes’ work in the shipyards was hard and challenging and she was happy to give up her job as a welder when the war ended but it gave her the opportunity to do something for her country, support the troops in winning the war and to help bring the ‘boys’ back safely. Welding in the Kaiser Shipyards has been one of the proudest and most rewarding experiences of her life.