Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

HMS Calder (K349) under construction as USS Formoe (DE-58), with USS Foss (DE-59) on the right at the Hingham shipyard on the Weymouth Back River in Massachusetts
Formerly called	Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Type	Corporation
Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	1905 (1905) in Quincy, United States
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 in 1905.^[1] In 1917 it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Limited; otherwise known as BethShip.

Headquarters were in Quincy, Massachusetts, after acquiring the Fore River Shipyard in 1913, and later in Sparrows Point, Maryland, southeast of Baltimore, Maryland in formerly rural/now suburban Baltimore County, (acquired 1916), in 1964.

In 1940, it was number 1 of the "Big Three" U.S. shipbuilders who could build any ship.^[2] Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock and New York Shipbuilding Corporation (New York Ship) were #2 and #3. Bethlehem had 4 yards in early 1940: 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.

The Quincy / Fore River yard was later 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 steel making operations.

Shipyards

The following shipyards were owned by Bethlehem. They are listed in order of acquisition.

• Bethlehem Wilmington, Wilmington, Delaware (1904–1925, 1941–1945) ^[3]
• 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) ^[4]
• Bethlehem Elizabethport, Elizabethport, New Jersey (1916–1921) ^[5]
• 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 battlecruiser USS Lexington (CV-2).
• Bethlehem Mariners Harbor, Staten Island, New York (1938–1960) ^[6]
• Bethlehem Shipyard (Southwest Marine Terminal at Berth 240), San Pedro, California (1940–1981) ^[7]
• Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland (1940–1945) ^[8][9]
• Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts (1940–1945) ^[10]
• Bethlehem Atlantic Works, East Boston, Massachusetts
• Bethlehem Brooklyn 56th Street, Brooklyn, New York ^[11]
• Hoboken Shipyard, Hoboken, New Jersey (1890–1984)^[12][13]
• Bayonne Naval Drydock, Bayonne, New Jersey ?
• Bethlehem Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc., Beaumont, Texas (1948–1989) The Beaumont Yard was one of the major sources of offshore drilling rigs built in the United States with seventy–two (72) offshore rigs built at the yard.^[14] Seventy-one Type C1 ships were built during World War II by Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc.^{[15][16][17][18]}

References

External links

• Ship christening photos, including at the Wilmington Yard
• US Shipbuilding History - Maritime Business Strategies
• US Navy Shipyards - globalsecurity.org
• Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Ship Corporation photograph collection at Hagley Museum and Library
• Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Shipbuilding Division Photographs, circa 1900-1945 at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park