Laurence M. Gould under construction

hull section under construction
The hull section of the LMG under construction inside one of the shipyard buildings

In April of 1997 when I was living in Kenner, LA (a New Orleans suburb) I was visited by fellow Palmerite Al Oxton, and one weekend afternoon we decided to drive down to the North American Shipbuilding (part of ECO, at La Rose, LA (about 50 miles south of Kenner. We had no idea what we'd be able to see, but after we told the gate guard our stories about Antarctica, he let us in. Despite the fact that we weren't exactly dressed in appropriate shipyard attire, as you will see. The LMG was being constructed in sections; the hull portion (above) was being put together in one of the high-bay shop buildings, while various other modules, pieces, and parts were lying around nearby.

Below, two more photos of both sides of the hull.

starboard side
port side of the LMG hull
me taking a photo of the hull


And for documentation, here's a photo of me taking a photo.
the shipyard
Here's a view of the shipyard; the LMG hull was in one of the high bay buildings at left, in the foreground are some prefabricated pieces which may or may not belong to the LMG. In the background, another vessel is docked in a slip.

The "christening" happened here on 9 October, after everything was assembled. It was not actually launched until 11 December, and it headed south for the first time on Christmas Day.

I'm not sure what happened with the coloring on these photos. The two in which the hull has a distinct red color were taken by Al Oxton with a digital camera; the others were taken by me with film developed by Seattle Filmworks.