Bethlehem Steel's No. 2 Machine Shop, built in 1890 and stretching nearly a third of a mile, was among the world's largest industrial buildings, where workers milled and drilled steel into finished products and parts including weapons, ammunition, and ships. Wartime brought major growth to Bethlehem Steel: after the First World War began in 1914, the company earned record profits producing armaments first for European countries at war and then for the US Army and Navy. During World War II, productivity and profits rose even higher, and the workforce reached a record of more than 30,000, including several thousand women. With all plants devoted to wartime production, Bethlehem Steel became the largest single supplier for the Allied Forces and in 1943 produced one naval ship a day. As men enlisted to fight abroad, thousands of women filled labor shortages by working as plant patrol, matrons, sweepers, welders, crane operators, and inspectors.