Private company

Brown Shipbuilding

American shipbuilding company

The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1942 as a subsidiary of Brown and Root (now KBR) by brothers Herman and George R. Brown to build ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Brown Shipbuilding Company ranked 68th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. In 1941, Navy officials asked the Brown brothers to build four submarine chasers.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1942Founded¹

Industryshipbuilding¹

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Site for the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston prior to ground breaking — Photo: NASA on The Commons, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1942 as a subsidiary of Brown and Root (now KBR) by brothers Herman and George R. Brown to build ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Brown Shipbuilding Company ranked 68th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.²

Timeline

1942Founded Founded¹

Links

WikipediaBrown Shipbuilding
WikidataQ4976260

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataBrown Shipbuilding on Wikidata
2
WikipediaBrown Shipbuilding on Wikipedia
3
Wikimedia CommonsBrown Shipbuilding photo by NASA on The Commons, Public domain