Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

{{Short description|1905–1997 shipbuilding company in the United States}} {{Infobox company | name = Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | logo_padding = | image = Buckley class destroyer escorts under construction at the Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard, Massachusetts (USA), on 20 January 1943 (BS 85616).jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | defunct = 1997 | image_caption = [[HMS Calder (K349)|HMS ''Calder'' (K349)]] under construction as USS ''Formoe'' (DE-58), with [[USS Foss (DE-59)|USS ''Foss'' (DE-59)]] on right at [[Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard]] on the [[Weymouth Back River]] in [[Massachusetts]] | native_name = | native_name_lang =  | former_name = Bethlehem Steel Corporation | type = Corporation | industry = Shipbuilding | founded = {{start date|1905}} in [[Quincy, Massachusetts]], U.S. | founder =  | hq_location = | hq_location_city = [[Quincy, Massachusetts]], U.S. | hq_location_country = U.S. | area_served = United States | key_people = | products = [[Ship]]s | brands = | services = | owner =  | website =  }}

'''Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division''' was created in 1905 when the [[Bethlehem Steel]] Corporation of [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]], acquired the [[San Francisco]]-based shipyard [[Union Iron Works]].<ref>Bethlehem Steel Company Shipbuilding Division. A century of progress, 1849-1949: San Francisco Yard. San Francisco, 1949?</ref><ref name="Strohmeier 1963">{{Cite journal|last=Strohmeier|first=Daniel D.|date=1963|title=A History of Bethlehem Steel Company's Shipbuilding and Ship Repairing Activities|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1559-3584.1963.tb04865.x|journal=Naval Engineers Journal |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=259–280 |doi=10.1111/j.1559-3584.1963.tb04865.x|bibcode=1963NEngJ..75..259S |issn=1559-3584|url-access=subscription}}</ref> 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,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930115119/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,849272-1,00.html "Billion-Dollar Feast"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. May 20, 1940. Accessed August 20, 2007.</ref> followed by [[Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock]] and [[New York Shipbuilding]] Corporation (New York Ship). Bethlehem expanded shortly before and during [[World War II]] as a result of the [[Long Range Shipbuilding Program]] and later the [[Emergency Shipbuilding program]] orchestrated by the [[United States Maritime Commission]] and the [[Two-Ocean Navy Act|Two Ocean Navy]] program and its war-time successors by the military establishment.

In 1964, the now-corporate headquarters moved to [[Sparrows Point, Maryland]], southeast of [[Baltimore]], 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.

The [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Hospital]], first built to treat injured workers, was assigned to be on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco|National Register of Historic Places]] in December 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Register #100008498: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Hospital |url=https://noehill.com/sf/landmarks/nat2022100008498.asp |access-date=2025-06-15 |website=noehill.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Weekly List 2023 01 06 - National Register of Historic Places |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-2023-01-06.htm |access-date=2025-06-15 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>

==Shipyards== Shipyards owned or operated by Bethlehem:

=== New York === * Became part of Bethlehem with the purchase of United Shipyards on June 2, 1938 for $9,320,000<ref name="pmr_38_7_42">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/pacificmarinerev3538paci/page/n361/mode/1up|title=Bethlehem Shipbuilding Expansion|magazine=Pacific Marine Review|date=July 1938|page=42}}</ref>

**[[Bethlehem Mariners Harbor]], [[Staten Island]], New York (1938–1963<ref name="closed63">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bethlehemsteelcompanyannualreports/bethlehemsteel1963/page/n6/mode/1up |title=Bethlehem Steel Corporation Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 1963}}</ref>).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/staten-island.htm|title=Mariners Harbor, Staten Island|author=John Pike|work=globalsecurity.org}}</ref><ref>[http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/bethstatenisland.htm shipbuildinghistory.com Bethlehem Staten Island]</ref>

** [[Bethlehem Brooklyn 56th Street]], [[Brooklyn, New York]] (1938–1963<ref name="closed63"/>).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/abbreviations.htm |title=Abbreviations & symbols |website=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824020721/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/abbreviations.htm |archive-date=August 24, 2007 }}</ref>

** [[Bethlehem Brooklyn 27th Street]] (1938–1963<ref name="closed63"/>).

** [[Hoboken Shipyard]], [[Hoboken, New Jersey]] (1938–1984).<ref>Richard L. Porter, et al., [[Historic American Engineering Record]] No. NJ-95, "[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/nj/nj1500/nj1528/data/nj1528data.pdf Bethlehem Steel Company Shipyard] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107065814/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/nj/nj1500/nj1528/data/nj1528data.pdf |date=January 7, 2014 }}," 1994</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/hoboken.htm|title=Hoboken Shipyards|author=John Pike|work=globalsecurity.org}}</ref>

** they were called the Staten Island Works, the Brooklyn 56th Street Works, the Brooklyn 27th Street Works and the Hoboken Works of the New York Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation.<ref name="pmr_38_8_53">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/pacificmarinerev3538paci/page/n422/mode/1up|title=(Bethlehem announcement ad)|magazine=Pacific Marine Review|date=August 1938|page=53}}</ref>

*[[Bethlehem Elizabethport]], [[Elizabethport, New Jersey]] (1916–1921).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/prewwii/shipyards/atlantic/bethelizabethport.htm |title=Bethlehem Steel Elizabethport, Crescent Shipyard, Lewis Nixon, Samuel Moore |access-date=2007-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015053/http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/prewwii/shipyards/atlantic/bethelizabethport.htm |archive-date=2007-09-28}}</ref>

*[[Bayonne Naval Drydock]], [[Bayonne, New Jersey]]. Bethlehem used this drydock for ship repairs. Most workers were from Hoboken Shipyard.<ref>[https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/bayonne.htm globalsecurity.org Bayonne Naval Drydock]</ref>

=== Boston === *[[Fore River Shipyard]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts]] (1913–1963<ref name="closed63"/>). Sold to [[General Dynamics Corporation]]. *[[Victory Plant Shipyard]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts]] (1917–1919). The "Victory Yard" was constructed to build destroyers and free up the Fore River Yard for other vessels including the battlecruiser-turned-aircraft carrier {{USS|Lexington|CV-2}}. *[[Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard]], [[Hingham, Massachusetts]] (1940–1945).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/wwii/navalshipbuilders/bethhingham.htm |title=Bethlehem Hingham |access-date=2007-08-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185039/http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/wwii/navalshipbuilders/bethhingham.htm |archive-date=2007-09-30}}</ref> *[[Bethlehem Atlantic Works]], [[East Boston, Massachusetts]] (1853–1984).

=== Baltimore === *[[Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard]], [[Sparrows Point, Maryland]] (1914–1997).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/bethlehem.htm|title=Bethlehem Shipbuilding, Sparrows Point MD|author=John Pike|work=globalsecurity.org}}</ref> *[[Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard]], [[Baltimore]], (1940–1945).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fairfield.htm|title=Fairfield Shipyard|author=John Pike|work=globalsecurity.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marylandsilver.com/books.htm |title=Books: Civil War - the Union |website=www.marylandsilver.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106032131/http://www.marylandsilver.com/books.htm |archive-date=6 January 2014}}</ref> *[[Bethlehem Key Highway Shipyard]], Baltimore. The upper yard was sold to AME/Swirnow in 1983. The site now holds Ritz Carlton and [[Harborview, Baltimore|Harborview]] communities next to [[Baltimore Museum of Industry]].<ref>[https://thedailyrecord.com/2008/01/10/new-dry-dock-expected-to-boost-familyowned-general-ship-repair/ thedailyrecord.com, General ship repair]</ref><ref>[https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/686 baltimoreheritage.org Bethlehem Key Highway]</ref> *[[Bethlehem Fort McHenry Shipyard]], Baltimore. The lower yard on [[Locust Point Industrial Area, Baltimore|Locust Point]] peninsula, it was sold to General Ship Repair in 1983. Now some [[Port of Baltimore]] terminals.<ref>[https://www.thebmi.org/bethlehem-baltimore-shipyards/ Bethlehem Baltimore shipyards]</ref>

=== San Francisco === *[[Union Iron Works]], [[San Francisco]], California (1917–1981). ** also called the Potrero Works and the Risdon Works of the Union plant of Bethlehem Steel *[[Alameda Works Shipyard]], [[Alameda, California]] (1916–1956). ** also called the Alameda Works of the Union plant of Bethlehem Steel *[[Hunters Point Drydocks]], [[Hunters Point, San Francisco, California]] (1908–1920). Acquired by the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]

=== Others === *[[Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro]] on [[Terminal Island]], formerly ''Southwestern Shipbuilding''. *[[Bethlehem Steel Wilmington]] (aka [[Harlan and Hollingsworth]]), [[Wilmington, Delaware]] (1904–1925, 1941–1945).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/prewwii/shipyards/atlantic/bethwilmington.htm |title=Bethlehem Steel Wilmington, Harlan & Hollingsworth |access-date=2007-08-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185518/http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/prewwii/shipyards/atlantic/bethwilmington.htm |archive-date=2007-09-30 }}</ref> *[[Bethlehem Beaumont Shipyard]], [[Beaumont, Texas]] (1948–1989). A major U.S. manufacturer of offshore drilling rigs, it produced 72.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bethlehem Beaumont, Pennsylvania Shipyards|url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/bethbeaumont.htm|access-date=2021-07-21|website=shipbuildinghistory.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Drilling Rigs Built in U.S. Shipyards |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/merchantships/postwwii/drillingrigs.htm|publisher=ShipbuildingHistory.com|access-date=November 9, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110041418/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/merchantships/postwwii/drillingrigs.htm|archive-date=November 10, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bethlehem Steel Company, Beaumont, TX|url=http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/bethbeaumont.htm|publisher=Shipbuilding.com|access-date=November 9, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102224214/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/bethbeaumont.htm|archive-date=January 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/wwii/merchantshipbuilders/pennsylvania.htm |title=Merchant Ship Builders Pennsylvania |website=Maritime Business Strategies, LLC (www.coltoncompany.com) |access-date=2007-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070815223626/http://coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/wwii/merchantshipbuilders/pennsylvania.htm |archive-date=2007-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/postwwii/shipyards/inactive/gulf/bethbeaumont.htm |title=Bethlehem Beaumont |website=Maritime Business Strategies, LLC (www.coltoncompany.com) |access-date=2007-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823140656/http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/ussbldrs/postwwii/shipyards/inactive/gulf/bethbeaumont.htm |archive-date=2007-08-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/statistics/usdecline.htm |title=The Decline of U.S. Shipbuilding: Yards that built deep-draft, self-propelled, oceangoing naval and/or merchant ships. |website=Maritime Business Strategies, LLC (www.coltoncompany.com) |access-date=2007-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185357/http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/statistics/usdecline.htm |archive-date=2007-09-30}}</ref> *[[Bethlehem Sabine]], [[Port Arthur, Texas]], (1985–1995). Sold to Texas Drydock Inc. in 1995.<ref>[https://magazines.marinelink.com/tags/person/sabine-yard Bethlehem Steel Dedicates Its New Sabine Yard In Port Arthur, Texas Maritime Reporter, Dec. 1985]</ref>

==See also== *[[Calmar Steamship Company]] and other subsidiaries of [[Bethlehem Steel]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Category commons}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120722082216/http://www.phillyseaport.org/LWL Ship christening photos, including at the Wilmington Yard] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070922173711/http://www.coltoncompany.com/shipbldg/usshipbldrs.htm US Shipbuilding History] - Maritime Business Strategies *[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/shipyard.htm US Navy Shipyards] - globalsecurity.org *[http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/1980_300.xml Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Ship Corporation photograph collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814204811/https://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead%2F1980_300.xml |date=2020-08-14 }} at [[Hagley Museum and Library]] *[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6489r1ff/ Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Shipbuilding Division Photographs, circa 1900-1945] at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

[[Category:1905 establishments in Maryland]] [[Category:1997 disestablishments in Delaware]] [[Category:American companies established in 1905]] [[Category:Bethlehem shipyards]] [[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Delaware]] [[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Maryland]] [[Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States]] [[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1997]] [[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1905]]