This work surveys shipbuilding by way of a commodity-chain approach. During the two centuries prior to the so-called "Industrial Revolution" shipbuilding was already characterized by many of the distinguishing attributes of an industrial activity, such as labor organization and technology, as far as manufacturing within the shipyards was concerned. Shifts in major sites of shipyards are traced giving a picture in which the Mediterranean world yields its primacy to the Atlantic seaboard, more specifically to the United Provinces first, and then to England, and finally to the North American colonies. Because of the commodity-chain approach adopted, the article deals not only with the activities concentrated within the shipyards, but also the processing and procurement of naval supplies such as timber and masts, flax used for sailcloth, hemp used for ropes, pitch and tar used for protection, and iron used for anchors and nails. Shifts in loci of production of these supplies, changes in their technologies of production, and organization of provisioning are depicted at length. The article demonstrates that the specific dates chosen for inquiry help delineate important periodic transformations within each part of the process as well as for the entirety of the commodity chain.