Laying of First Keel in "B" Building

Summary

The first vehicles built at Ford Motor Company's Rouge factory weren't automobiles but boats. These Eagle boats were designed to challenge German submarines during World War I, but they saw only limited action before the armistice. Workers laid the first Eagle's keel on May 7, 1918. Sixty boats were completed when production ended in October 1919.

The first vehicles built at Ford Motor Company's Rouge factory weren't automobiles but boats. These Eagle boats were designed to challenge German submarines during World War I, but they saw only limited action before the armistice. Workers laid the first Eagle's keel on May 7, 1918. Sixty boats were completed when production ended in October 1919.

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

04 May 1918

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

2012.47.68

Credit

From the Collections of the Henry Ford. Gift of the Mow Family.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Linen (Material)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 7.500 in

Width: 10.500 in

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