Heavy Metal

The Hard Days and Nights of the Shipyard Workers Who Build America's Supercarriers

By: Michael Fabey

Narrated by: Paul Heitsch

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

An extraordinary story of American can-do, an inside look at the building of the most dangerous aircraft carrier in the world, the John F. Kennedy.

Tip the Empire State Building onto its side and you’ll have a sense of the length of the United States Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the most powerful in the world: the USS John F. Kennedy. Weighing 100,000 tons, Kennedy features the most futuristic technology ever put to sea, making it the most agile and lethal global weapon of war.

Only one place possesses the brawn, brains and brass to transform naval warfare with such a creation – the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Virginia and its 30,000 employees and shipyard workers. This is their story, the riggers, fitters, welders, electricians, machinists and other steelworkers who built the next-generation aircraft carrier.

Heavy Metal puts us on the waterfront and into the lives of these men and women as they battle layoffs, the elements, impossible deadlines, extraordinary pressure, workplace dangers and a pandemic to complete a ship that will be essential to protect America’s way of life.

The city of Newport News owes its very existence to the company that bears its name. The shipyard dominates the town—physically, politically, financially, socially, and culturally. Thanks to the yard, the city grew from a backwater to be the home of the premier naval contractor in the United States.

Heavy Metal captures an indelible moment in the history of a shipyard, a city, and a country.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Michael Fabey (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

A terrific read about a fascinating subject.

This is a great book. I am from Hampton Roads and there are few people in this area that are not acquainted in someway with NNSB. Either by knowing someone who has worked there or simply by seeing it when crossing one of the rivers between the south side and the peninsula. It is a magnificent sight with mighty aircraft carriers there either under construction or in for a refit. I have often wondered what it must be like to work there. Now I know. It is much like having an important role in our military. And I know more about our nation’s largest warships than I thought I ever would. The narration was also great. There are more than 1100 books, mostly non-fiction, in my audible library. This is one of the few I know I will listen to again and again. I got to meet the author at a book signing in Newport News shortly after the book was published. I will remember that well since this book is going to be a best seller without a doubt.

In-depth Look at Ship building

This book is an excellent look at building warships. It revolves around not only the mechanics and logistics of the process but the human factor. It goes off course for a bit when talking about building in the time of Covid with some very liberal leanings “referring to Trump and his henchmen” this part should have been left out as it’s really the only hard bias part injected by the author.

It’s very good look at the construction process and it’s human and Union perspective makes it a quality read.

Audible was horrible.

Grew up with the features of this book as part of my tribe. Generations invested in this subject matter. The book was great. The audible was an intolerable robot.

A triumph! Make sure to wear your PPE!

As a retired union boilermaker I'm always a little skeptical when I hear that a book about trade workers purports to be about the working men and women "in the trenches". While there are no trenches in shipbuilding, this book put me there! The descriptions of the lives and work of the working men and women who build our fighting ships are so well crafted that I was immediately reminded of the smell of burnt-up grinding wheels beveling a sheet of quarter inch plate! Mr. Fabey's descriptions of the men and women who make up the Newport News Shipbuilding work force are heartfelt and spot on. He has obviously worked dilligently to bring their stories to life, and has done so brilliantly! It is no easy thing to incorporate history, politics (both Washington and military) and real life day to day work into the same narrative and still keep it consistently interesting. I'll bet that many of the workers profiled never realized that their stories could be so fascinating! He could also not have chosen a more engaging narrator for this tome. Paul Heitsch has a warm, colloquial manner about his narration that is friendly and consistently interesting without being too "conversational" when dealing with relating deep background as it occurs.

As one who has done this work for part of a 25 year career as a heavy industrial boilermaker I can honesly say that I "know" these men and women. I see a little of my personal story in theirs, in my journey from apprentice to journeyman to supervisor and eventually project manager. As an instructor who trained union stewards I have seen all three sides of the business - the working man, the union, and management perspectives. Mr. Fabey dealt with all three with a refreshing even handedness that is unusual in our contentious "us against them" times. Although my entire career was not spent in shipyards (much of it in refineries and powerhouses) I did have my "turn in the barrel" working on modification of a Seawolf-class submarine. Michael Fabey brought me back there for 11 1/2 hours! Such a gift. I was proud to build things that other men couldn't! I was proud of my craft and my craftsmanship, just as these men and women are.To be able to point to that sub or carrier and say to your kids or grandkids "See that? I was part of that!" Such a feeling! I often tell people that "I don't miss the work too much, but I do miss the guys!" I was sorry when the ending credits rolled; I'd love to see the sequel! If you're looking for a read that conjures the age (which is apparently still going on!) when "men were made of iron and ships were made of steel", then look no further! Bravo Zulu, Michael!

didn't float my boat

I was hoping for a lot more info on the building/ mechanics of the work, while in actuality this about unions and politics. disappointed overall.

History of the United Steel Workers

This tome is heavy on union history and gushing over the Kennedy family, peppered with oblique shots at Donald Trump. I was hoping to get more than sparing naval technical details (problems with carrier weapons elevators, electric launch and retrieval systems e.g.). The steelworkers are obviously very talented, their work is demanding, and the whole construction program is under a lot of external pressures, but the question remains why the USA has lost so much other ship building business. The carrier business will go on as long as taxpayers still have pulses to support the artificial naval construction economy. All the work and treasure put into these supercarriers made me think about the hopes and investments in the Hood and Bismarck. The carriers are great with current US military domination, but in a conflict with China, Russia, and some others these breathtaking engineering and construction marvels are massive targets difficult to hide and defend.

What I learned ( instead of how a carrier is built)

Trump is bad. COVID is bad and the science was 110% on point, if only we had listened. Joe Biden is ok because he’s a catholic President like Kennedy. Caroline is an angel from heaven. JFK (which I already knew lots about) turns out to be somewhere after the Father and maybe the son but definitely in front of Holy Ghost. Wish I knew more about building a carrier.