Northwest Steel
Northwest Steel was a small shipyard in Portland, Oregon. Little is known of its background or owners, but during World War I the yard built cargo ships for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). Some 37 of the 46 ships ship built at Northwest Steel were the West boats, a series of 5,500-gross register ton (GRT) steel-hulled cargo ships built for the USSB on the West Coast of the United States as part of the World War I war effort.[1]
It was headed by Joseph R. Bowles, who was indicted for bribing a government official in about 1918 and then convicted of contempt of court.[2] He was later described as a "greedy, domineering and difficult person, with no sense of civic responsibility."[2]
The first ship built at Northwest Steel was the cargo ship War Baron, originally launched on March 31, 1917, as the Cunard Line ship Vesterlide,[1] a British-flagged ship sunk by German submarine U-55 in January 1918.[3] The final ship built was the 8,200 GRT tanker Swiftwind, completed in June 1921.[1]
Notable ships built at Northwest Steel[]
- SS Centaurus ordered as West Minsi, cancelled, completed privately as Centaurus, renamed 1930 Portmar, bombed, beached and refloated at Darwin, Australia on 19 February 1942, torpedoed and lost 16 June 1943.[1][4]
- SS War Baron (originally Vesterlide)
- SS West Celeron
- Torpedoed and sunk 19 August 1942.
- SS West Cheswald
- USS West Compo (ID-3912)
- SS West Nohno
- SS West Pocasset, torpedoed and sunk as Chepo in January 1942[5]
- SS West Saginaw
- USS West View
- USS Western Chief (ID-3161)
- USS Western Comet (ID-3569)
- USS Western Light (ID-3300)
- USS Western Maid (ID-3703)
- USS West Modus
- USS Western Spirit (ID-3164)
References[]
- ^ a b c d Colton 2010.
- ^ a b MacColl 1979, p. 29.
- ^ Helgason.
- ^ Maritime Administration.
- ^ "Chepo". uboat.net. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
Bibliography[]
- Colton, Tim (November 27, 2010). "Northwest Steel, Portland OR". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: War Baron". U-boat War in WWI. Uboat.net. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
- MacColl, E. Kimbark (November 1979). The Growth of a City: Power and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1915 to 1950. . p. 29. ISBN 0-9603408-1-5. LCCN 79022316.
- Maritime Administration. "PORTMAR". Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
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