When one thinks of shipyards, one thinks of seaside installations, with the accompanying smell of salt water and the crying of the gulls. Much of America's shipbuilding efforts have, after all, been located on the east and west coasts, which makes good logistical sense; ships have to be built near water. It's not like a small recreational pleasure boat, after all, that one can stick on a trailer and drive cross-country.
Still, with China currently outpacing the USA in shipbuilding, there's an alternative that the Trump administration may want to look into, that being our fourth coast - the Great Lakes.
In 2024, Beijing's largest ship maker produced 250 ships. Combined, these ships could carry the weight of the total number of ships America has produced since World War II, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. If war were to break out in the Pacific the U.S. shipbuilding industry would not be able to repair and replace losses at the rate in which Chinese shipyards could. In a conflict over Taiwan or over the South China Sea, the ability to produce and replace ships would be key to a naval victory. Such a conflict would almost certainly be fought primarily on the seas. This gap in shipbuilding capabilities cannot go unnoticed. While many are focused on the size of the United States navy, and keeping pace with Beijing, there is an overlooked problem preventing America from keeping pace with China in terms of commercial and military shipbuilding capacity. The root of the problem is America's decaying industrial base, and the solution may lie in an unlikely place: the Great Lakes.
It's an interesting notion. There are already several shipyards on the Great Lakes: The Fincantieri Marine Group has three, in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Marinette, Wisconsin, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. There are others, mostly smaller yards focused on repairs rather than building new ships.
Why shouldn't there be more? Some ideas are being floated:
Modeled after Opportunity Zones, Maritime Prosperity Zones would target investment to shipbuilding hubs within the Great Lakes, or the Fourth Coast, meaning America’s fourth coastal area after the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts. These zones would combine tax incentives, accelerated depreciation for shipyard modernization, and direct federal contracts tied to shipbuilding capacity expansion. Nowhere is this opportunity clearer than in the Great Lakes, which already possess the industrial muscle, port access, and workforce density to serve as the nation’s next-generation shipbuilding corridor.
The Great Lakes are the only region with a continuous chain of maritime manufacturing hubs, Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Duluth, sitting within a single integrated logistics ecosystem. By tying incentives to measurable outputs such as reduced production lead times, new apprenticeships, or dual-use vessel construction, policymakers can ensure that taxpayer investment translates into tangible industrial resilience and results. Just as the Arsenal of Democracy once converted automobile plants into tank factories during World War II, Maritime Prosperity Zones would mobilize America’s industrial base.
It's not the worst of notions.
Read More: Shipbuilder Teams With Robotics Company to Speed-Boost Ship Production
SECNAV John Phelan Cuts Ribbon in Alabama on 'Golden Fleet' Manufacturing Facility
The Great Lakes are vast and deep, being not only Ice Age leftovers but also more freshwater inland seas than lakes. The upper Midwest around the Great Lakes already has a lot of industrial plants and infrastructure. It's a great place to consider new shipbuilding efforts, and consider also that the Great Lakes are a much longer reach for any possible future enemy than either our east or west coasts. There is access to the Atlantic as well, down the St. Lawrence Seaway.
A Great Lakes shipyard may not be the place to build something like a nuclear super-carrier. But the Navy needs lots of what my uncle, a retired Navy Master Chief and destroyer sailor, always called the "little gray ships." We need to be building more of these fast, versatile destroyers and frigates, and the Great Lakes shipyards may just be the right place to get this done. It's an idea that makes sense, and something that the Trump administration would do well to consider.
Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.
Help us report on Trump and Hegesth's successes as they make our military great again. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member