The Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company was founded in April 1917 for the purpose of establishing a shipbuilding and repair facility in Los Angeles Harbor during World War I with Fred L. Baker of Baker Iron Works as president.

Around 5 May 1919, 6,000 workers at Los Angeles SB&DDC went on strike after demands for a closed shop were not met.

[8] For the remainder of the 1920s, after the US Shipping Board projects finished, Los Angeles SB&DDC built a number of tank barges.

Additionally, the yard built SS Catalina in 1924 and in 1925, Los Angeles City #2 fireboat, which later was known as Ralph J.

Los Angeles SB&DDC had entered bankruptcy during the Great Depression and several corporate reorganizations resulted in several changes in management.

[15] In 1939, the company submitted bids for C1-B cargo ships of the United States Maritime Commission's Long Range Shipbuilding Program, but was unsuccessful.

On 27 September 1943 a special Naval Board of Investigation was convened in San Pedro to look into the conditions at Los Angeles SB&DDC.

The Navy had invested around $64 million in equipment and construction contracts at the company and had a number of concerns regarding management of those assets.

[16] On 8 December 1943, the US Navy seized control of Los Angeles SB&DDC under an executive order signed by President Franklin D.

[1] According to The American West: The Reader, under Todd's management, the yard converted 2,376 ships in the final years of the war.

[19] After the war ended the LA division turned to ship repair and conversions, and to machine work and fabrication for other industries.

Todd's Hoboken, New Jersey, operation built two sternwheel riverboats for Freedomland U.S.A., a theme park in New York City that existed from 1960 to 1964.

[19] According to their long range facilities plan, Todd reported that no major ships were built in California following World War II until the state property tax structure was changed in 1958.

[19] Todd invested heavily into the LA division in the years following the 1958 tax changes and built a number of cargo ships for various companies.

[1] The LA division manufactured "thousands of feet of special piping for the Atomic Energy Commission."

The yard occupied 112 acres (45 ha) of land, leased from the Port of Los Angeles, at its close in 1989.