From 1942 to 1944, Pacific American Fisheries leased its shipyard to the Northwest Shipbuilding Company, which formed in response to World War II to construct military vessels for the US Army and US Navy. The company invested approximately $150,000 to enlarge and modernize the 12-acre property at the end of Harris Avenue in Fairhaven, including the construction of a marine railway, 11 shipways, a new machine shop known as the Carpenter Building, and the Harris Avenue Pier. Most of the site stood on land west of where the Bellingham Cruise Terminal stands today. During World War II, Bellingham Bay was home to two large shipyards, the Northwest Shipbuilding Company and Bellingham Shipyards. The Northwest Shipbuilding Company was one of Bellingham's largest employers, with as many as 1,000 employees working around the clock, seven days a week. By the end of the war, the shipyard had built at least 25 ships. Bellingham Shipyards also produced wooden-hulled minesweepers and was the largest privately owned shipyard in the US during the war. Together, these shipyards helped the region gain a national reputation for quality shipbuilding.