On Saturday, November 8th, 2025 the Seaside Public Library will welcome author Peter Marsh for a talk on his book, “Liberty Factory: The Untold Story of Henry Kaiser’s Oregon Shipyards” The event will take place at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room and there will be a time afterwards for a Q&A.
Churchill famously claimed that the only thing that had really frightened him during the war was the Battle of the Atlantic. Keeping open the lifeline between the US and the UK was essential to preparations for the invasion of Europe and crucial to this achievement was the British-designed “Liberty Ship,” a simple cargo ship that could be built rapidly, combined with the untapped industrial potential of the U.S. that could build them in vast numbers.
Undoubtedly the most important individual in the rapid expansion of U.S. wartime shipyard capacity was Henry Kaiser, a man with no previous shipbuilding experience but an entrepreneur of vision and drive. This book tells the story of how he established huge new yards using novel mass-production techniques in the most surprising location―Oregon, one of the least industrially developed areas of the US and one without an existing pool of skilled labor to draw on.
Peter Marsh was born in Greenwich, right at the heart of Britain’s maritime heritage, and was soon smitten with a love of small boats and sailing. Marsh brings decades of expertise to the topic, having served as boatyard correspondent and editor for Freshwater News and playing a key role in developing the Hanthorn Cannery Museum in Astoria. He currently lives in Astoria.