Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

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Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
FormerlyBethlehem Steel Corporation
TypeCorporation
IndustryShipbuilding
Founded1905 (1905) in Quincy, United States
Defunct1997
Headquarters
Quincy, Massachusetts
,
USA
Area served
USA

Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works.[1][2] In 1917 it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Limited.

The division's headquarters were moved to Quincy, Massachusetts, after acquiring the Fore River Shipyard in 1913.

In 1940, Bethlehem Shipbuilding was the largest of the "Big Three" U.S. shipbuilders that could build any ship,[3] followed by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock and New York Shipbuilding Corporation (New York Ship). It had four yards: Fore River, Sparrows Point, San Francisco, and Staten Island. Bethlehem expanded during World War II as a result of the Emergency Shipbuilding program administered under the United States Maritime Commission.

In 1964, the now-corporate headquarters moved to Sparrows Point, Maryland, southeast of Baltimore, Maryland, whose shipyard had been acquired in 1916.

The Quincy / Fore River yard was sold to General Dynamics Corporation in the mid-1960s, and closed in 1986. The Alameda Works Shipyard in California was closed by Bethlehem Steel in the early 1970s, while the San Francisco facility (former Union Iron Works) was sold to British Aerospace in the mid-1990s and survives today as BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair.

Bethlehem Steel ceased shipbuilding activities in 1997 in an attempt to preserve its core steelmaking operations.

Shipyards[]

These shipyards owned by Bethlehem are listed in order of their acquisition.

  • Bethlehem Steel Wilmington (aka Harlan and Hollingsworth), Wilmington, Delaware (1904–1925, 1941–1945)[4]
  • Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California (1905–1941)
  • Hunters Point Drydocks, Hunters Point, San Francisco, California (1908–1920) – Acquired by the US Navy
  • Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts (1913–1964) Sold to General Dynamics Corporation in 1964.
  • Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland (1914–1997)[5]
  • , Elizabethport, New Jersey (1916–1921)[6]
  • Alameda Works Shipyard, Alameda, California (1916–1956)
  • Victory Plant Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts (1917–1919) The "Victory Yard" was constructed specifically for the building of destroyers for the war effort, to free up the Fore River Yard for other vessels including the aircraft carrier (originally laid down as a battlecruiser) USS Lexington (CV-2).
  • , Staten Island, New York (1938–1960)[7]
  • Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro (former Southwest Marine Terminal at Berth 240), San Pedro, California (1940–1981)[8]
  • Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland (1940–1945)[9][10]
  • Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts (1940–1945)[11]
  • Bethlehem Atlantic Works, East Boston, Massachusetts
  • Bethlehem Brooklyn 56th Street, Brooklyn, New York[12]
  • , Hoboken, New Jersey (1890–1984)[13][14]
  • , Bayonne, New Jersey ?
  • , Beaumont, Texas (1948–1989) The Beaumont Yard was one of the major sources of offshore drilling rigs built in the United States with 72 offshore rigs built at the yard.[15][16] Seventy-one Type C1 ships were built during World War II by Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc.[17][18][19][20]

References[]

  1. ^ Bethlehem Steel Company Shipbuilding Division. A century of progress, 1849-1949: San Francisco Yard. San Francisco, 1949?
  2. ^ Strohmeier, Daniel D. (1963). "A History of Bethlehem Steel Company's Shipbuilding and Ship Repairing Activities". Naval Engineers Journal. 75 (2): 259–280. doi:10.1111/j.1559-3584.1963.tb04865.x. ISSN 1559-3584.
  3. ^ "Billion-Dollar Feast", Time. May 20, 1940. Accessed August 20, 2007.
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-08-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ John Pike. "Bethlehem Shipbuilding, Sparrows Point MD". globalsecurity.org.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ John Pike. "Mariners Harbor, Staten Island". globalsecurity.org.
  8. ^ John Pike. "Southwest Marine, San Pedro CA". globalsecurity.org.
  9. ^ John Pike. "Fairfield Shipyard". globalsecurity.org.
  10. ^ "Books: Civil War - the Union". www.marylandsilver.com. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-08-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "Abbreviations & symbols". Naval History and Heritage Command. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007.
  13. ^ Richard L. Porter, et al., Historic American Engineering Record No. NJ-95, "Bethlehem Steel Company Shipyard Archived January 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine," 1994
  14. ^ John Pike. "Hoboken Shipyards". globalsecurity.org.
  15. ^ "Bethlehem Beaumont, Pennsylvania Shipyards". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  16. ^ "Drilling Rigs Built in U.S. Shipyards". ShipbuildingHistory.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  17. ^ "Bethlehem Steel Company, Beaumont, TX". Shipbuilding.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  18. ^ "Merchant Ship Builders Pennsylvania". Maritime Business Strategies, LLC (www.coltoncompany.com). Archived from the original on 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
  19. ^ "Archived copy". Maritime Business Strategies, LLC (www.coltoncompany.com). Archived from the original on 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-08-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. ^ "The Decline of U.S. Shipbuilding: Yards that built deep-draft, self-propelled, oceangoing naval and/or merchant ships". Maritime Business Strategies, LLC (www.coltoncompany.com). Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-08-28.

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