DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the U.S.S. Aulick, right there in Orange County. Now, before we get to the ship herself, you have to understand what Orange, Texas was going through.
Back in the early 1930s, the sawmills closed. And when the sawmills closed, they took just about everything with them — leaving the city in what the marker calls a prolonged and deep economic decline. That's a polite way of saying things were rough for a good long while.
Then came September 9, 1940. A federal contract worth eighty-two million dollars was issued to the Consolidated Steel Company — right there in Orange — to construct twelve Fletcher class naval destroyers. Twelve.
And that contract, along with others that followed, helped build out major shipyard facilities all along the city's riverfront. The tide, you might say, had turned. By May 14, 1941, Orange was ready to celebrate.
The community gathered for the laying of the keels of two ships at once: the U.S.S. Aulick and the U.S.S. Charles Ausburne.
Two keels going down on the same day. That's a moment worth showing up for. But the Aulick had something special in store.
She would become the first naval destroyer ever built in Texas. And whoever scheduled her christening had a sense of occasion — because on March 2, 1942, Texas Independence Day, the Aulick was christened and launched before a crowd of six thousand people. Six thousand.
On Texas Independence Day. If you were looking for a way to announce that Texas had arrived as a shipbuilding state, that was pretty much it. The ship's name itself carried history.
John H. Aulick, born in 1787 and died in 1861, was a veteran of the War of 1812 Navy. The U.S.S.
Aulick launched in Orange was the second U.S. Naval warship ever to carry his name. And the work didn't stop with her.
By 1946, all twelve of those original destroyers had been completed — and so had over four hundred other ships, the whole lot built right there in Orange at a cost of over eight hundred and seventy-six million dollars. The shipyards humming along in wartime were run by Consolidated, Levingston, and Weaver, and when the war was over, all three converted to peacetime activities. Orange's well-developed shipyards turned out to be an invitation.
Major companies came. Several petrochemical and industrial concerns followed suit in the 1950s and 1960s, planting themselves along that same riverfront that had once gone quiet when the sawmills closed. One ship, one Independence Day, one crowd of six thousand — and a city that had been down found its way back to the water.
What the marker says
On September 9, 1940, a federal contract worth $82 million was issued to the Consolidated Steel Company to construct 12 Fletcher class naval destroyers here in Orange, Texas. This and other contracts coupled with the subsequent building of major shipyard facilities along the city's riverfront lifted the city out of a prolonged and deep economic decline which began in the early 1930s with the closing of area sawmills. The community celebrated the laying of the keels of the U. S. S. Aulick and U. S. S. Charles Ausburne on May 14, 1941. The Aulick became the first naval destroyer to be built in Texas and on Texas Independence Day, March 2, 1942, it was christened and launched amid a crowd of 6,000 people. The Aulick represented the second U. S. Naval warship to be named after War of 1812 Navy veteran John H. Aulick (1787-1861). by 1946 all 12 destroyers and over four hundred other ships had been completed here at a cost of over $876 million. Orange's well-developed shipyards encouraged major companies to build plants along the riverfront. Several petrochemical and industrial concerns followed suit in the 1950s and 1960s. Wartime shipyards operated by Consolidated, Levingston, and Weaver converted to peacetime activities.