When the newly built destroyer tender Tidewater was launched into the Cooper River in the summer of 1945, Elma England was aboard for the ride.

It was only fitting that England have a spot on the ship because she helped build it during her 3-1/2 years as a welder at Charleston Naval Shipyard.

"That was a booming place," she said of the shipyard, which had 23,000 employees working three shifts in those days.

England is among about 70 people who worked or sailed aboard the Tidewater who are holding their first reunion in Charleston this weekend.

England worked inside the vessel as it took shape in a dry dock, donning a hood and apron to ward off sparks from her welder's torch.

Her wartime career got a boost during the age of Rosie the Riveter because many of the nation's young men went into the military during World War II.

"I got out of high school in Grover and was looking for a job," said England, a Charleston resident.

"They sent me to Murray (Vocational) School for a several weeks. Then they asked us, 'Who wants to work night shifts or who wants to become a welder?' I didn't want to work nights, so I became a welder."

Construction on the Tidewater was completed in 1946, but with the war over, it went into mothballs in Charleston soon after it was commissioned.

The ship, recalled for the Korean War, essentially was a floating shipyard, remaining in port for weeks or months and repairing nearly anything that floated.

The ship's company and repair crew numbered more than 800 sailors.

Jesse Gorden of San Antonio, Dick Mengerink of Napoleon, Ohio, and Larry Salley of Greenville went aboard the ship as it was being restored to the fleet. They were on the Tidewater when it ran aground in front of the Stat-ue of Liberty and when the destroyer escort Coates rammed the ship's side off Glasgow, Scotland.

The Tidewater wasn't severely damaged, and after the hole was repaired, it got under way again.

Gorden recalled that two sailors were killed in strange accidents while the Tidewater was docked at former Charleston Naval Base. One sailor fell overboard, he said, while another man drove a motorcycle off the pier into the Cooper River.

England said she was one of about 300 workers who were allowed to ride the ship into the water during that summer day when it was launched in 1945. She will join the Tidewater's company tonight for a reunion banquet, but not before then, out of respect for the sailors who served aboard the ship.

"This is their reunion," she said.