Defoe Shipbuilding Company as a Presidential Yacht. It was called the "Barbara Anne" by President Eisenhower after his granddaughter, the "Honey Fitz" by President Kennedy in honor of his maternal grandfather John Francis Fitzgerald, and the "Tricia" by President Nixon after his daughter. In 1941, the name of the company was changed to Defoe Shipbuilding Company. During World War II, all production went to the war effort. From 1939 to 1945, the company built 154 ships, including four s, 13 destroyer escorts, 11 destroyer transports (converted destroyer escorts), patrol craft, and numerous landing craft of various types. The brand-new Defoe family yacht even
Henry Fitz and built foot power machines for the grinding of lenses. He also had employees do all the other tasks involved and trained them accordingly in the process of making lenes and mirrors. The critical final mirror polishing he did himself, however, and did not allow his employees to do that. Fitz made a six-inch (152 mm) refractor telescope in 1845 for the American Institute Fair for which he received a gold medal. The South Carolina College at Columbia in 1851 bought a telescope form Fitz for $1,200. The telescope was used by the college for the next decade. After the