On January 5, 1944, Kaiser Shipyards on Swan Island launched its first tanker of the year, the S.S. Nehalem. In acknowledgement of the many women who had joined the company's workforce during the war, the company staffed the launch with women only. Some women were assigned to the underside of the ship to watch over the placement of the wedges, which are hammered into place under the ship to lift it up above the ways (the timbers upon which a ship is built), and the removal of the dog-shores--struts that hold the ship in place before launch. 

A launch was exciting, but it also caused some anxiety. The process necessary to safely manuever a new ship--some of which displaced over two thousand tons of water--out of a dry dock was an engineering challenge. The launching sequence was carefully choreographed and each shipyard employee had a specific job to do. Sometimes as many as 150 workers were needed to launch a ship.

After the tanker was put in the water, the women gathered for a celebratory lunch. The entire event was documented by photographers and a story published in the company's magizine, the Bo's'n's Whistle.