Pendleton E. Leyde founded Pendleton Shipyard Company in 1941. In 1947 it closed and was sold to Calmes Engineering, which had been in the administration of John Wise Calmes. The yard was located at the Florida Avenue Wharf in New Orleans, and its primary activity was handling inspection of the many small vessels built by inland shipyards. The ships were then shipped down the Mississippi and delivered to the Navy. The yard closed after the death of Calmes in 1958. People who worked there were exposed to asbestos significantly, as the mineral was present in almost any products aboard a military ship. When they handled asbestos products such as insulation, toxic dust was released, which they inevitably breathed in and swallowed.
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