The Nation - News from May 18, 1986

The General Dynamics shipyard christened its last ship, ending 102 years of shipbuilding along the Fore River at Quincy, Mass. A large crowd gathered in the rain to hear company and military officials praise those who had built more than 500 battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines since 1884. “Perhaps in the rain there is a message,” said Gen. Paul X. Kelley, Marine Corps commandant. “Perhaps the good Lord and all those former Fore River workers who have gone to their last reward are up there weeping . . . and hoping there may be a miracle.” The yard was closed because of a decline in contracts.