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 new house. Fitz, however, died suddenly at the end of the year. Some have reported that the cause was when a large chandelier fell from the ceiling of his new home. Obituaries report, however, his demise was from tuberculosis. Before his final illness and death, he was about to sail for Europe to select a glass for a telescope, and to procure patents for a camera involving a new form of lens. Henry Fitz Henry Fitz was a notable American telescope manufacturer. Fitz was born in 1808 in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The family moved to Albany, New York, some eleven years