Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy MA                            Most recent update: February 22, 2009.

(formerly The Fore River Ship & Engine Company [1886-1913])

(later General Dynamics, Quincy [1963-1987])

The Quincy shipyard was started by Alexander Graham Bell's famous assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in 1886, as The Fore River Engine Company.  It was originally located in East Braintree but soon moved to Quincy and became The Fore River Ship & Engine Company.  It was one of the world's great shipbuilders.  The company was sold to Bethlehem Steel in 1913 and in World War One operated an emergency facility at Squantum Point to build destroyers.  Along with only a handful of other large yards, it remained in full operation between the wars.  Its capabilities were expanded at the start of the World War Two emergency, with an injection of $21mm from the Navy.  It operated an emergency facility in World War Two as well: this one, at Hingham, built landing craft, DEs and LSTs - see its table here.  At its peak, the yard employed 32,000 people.  The shipyard continued as both a merchant and a naval shipbuilder after the war but was not successful, even when Bethlehem's other yards were doing well, and Bethlehem sold it to General Dynamics in 1963.  (Note that Bethlehem's last hull number was 1691: GD started again at hull #1, always an unlucky thing to do.)  GD invested heavily and concentrated on naval shipbuilding, but they couldn't make money there either: they closed the yard in 1986 and sold the property to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  A start-up company called Massachusetts Heavy Industries bought it in 1997 and partially modernized it, with the aid of Title XI financing rammed down MARAD's throat by the Massachusetts congressional delegation.  This company, which had no idea what it was doing, went bankrupt in 1999 before it could complete the modernization and the yard became MARAD's.  It was sold at auction in January 2003 to a used-car dealer for $9 million and has now been liquidated.  See the Quincy shipyard from the air on Google here and the site of the Squantum shipyard here.

Hull # Original Name Original Owner Ship Type Navy Type or Gov't. Design Code Pennant # or Gov't. Hull # GT LDT or DWT Price ($mm) Delivered Disposition
Built by Fore River Ship & Engine Company
100 Sally Lyman Yacht     9        
101 Caprice Robinson Yacht     9        
102 Eleanor Clapp Yacht              
103 Lawrence U. S. Navy Destroyer DD 8   400   7-Apr-03 Scrapped 1920
104 MacDonough U. S. Navy Destroyer DD 9   400   3-Jul-03 Scrapped 1920
105 Jule Julia Arthur Yacht     19     12-Jun-99  
106 Diamond Shoals U. S. Coast Guard Light Vessel LV 72   616   13-Feb-01 Discarded 1937
107 Des Moines U. S. Navy Cruiser C 15   3,200   5-Mar-04 Later PG 29 and CL 17, scrapped 1930
108 New Jersey U. S. Navy Battleship BB 16   14,680   12-May-06 Sunk as target 1922
109 Rhode Island U. S. Navy Battleship BB 17   14,680   12-Feb-06 Scrapped 1924
110 Thomas W. Lawson Coastwise Transportation Co. Bulk Carrier     5,218     10-Sep-02 Seven-masted schooner, wrecked 1907
111 No 40 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float     954     6-Dec-02  
112 No 41 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float     954     6-Dec-02  
113 William L. Douglas Coastwise Transportation Co. Bulk Carrier     3,708     11-Nov-03 Six-masted schooner
114 Boston New England Nav Co. Cargo Ship     3,626     16-Jul-04 Scrapped 1934
115 Providence New England Nav Co. Psgr./Cargo Ship     4,365     21-Mar-05 Scrapped 1938
116 No 44 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float     954     17-Nov-03  
117 No 45 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float     954     12-Dec-03  
118 No 46 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float     954     10-Feb-04  
119 No 47 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float     954     10-Feb-04  
120 Vermont U. S. Navy Battleship BB 20   16,040   11-Feb-07 Scrapped 1924
121 S.O.Co. No 3 Standard Oil Co. of New York Tank Barge     509     23-Nov-04  
122 S.O.Co. No 4 Standard Oil Co. of New York Tank Barge     509     16-Dec-04  
123 No 1 Japanese Navy Submarine       105   16-Oct-05 Scrapped 1921
124 No 2 Japanese Navy Submarine       105   5-Sep-05 Scrapped 1921
125 No 3 Japanese Navy Submarine       105   5-Sep-05 Scrapped 1921
126 No 4 Japanese Navy Submarine       105   1-Oct-05 Scrapped 1921
127 No 5 Japanese Navy Submarine       105   1-Oct-05 Scrapped 1921
128 Octopus (C 1) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 9   238   16-May-08 Scrapped 1922
129 Viper (B 1) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 10   145   16-Oct-07 Sunk as target 1922
130 Cuttlefish (B 2) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 11   145   16-Oct-07 Sunk as target 1922
131 Tarantula (B 3) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 12   145   29-Nov-07 Sunk as target 1922
132 Birmingham U. S. Navy Cruiser CS 2   3,750   10-Apr-08 Later CL 2, scrapped 1930
133 Salem U. S. Navy Cruiser CS 3   3,750   27-Jul-08 Later CL 3, scrapped 1930
134 Spray Bay State Fishing Co. Trawler     283     6-Dec-05 Later Patrick J. O'Hara 1929, scrapped 1952
135 Creole Southern Pacific Co. Psgr. Ship     6,754     22-Dec-07 Scrapped 1934
136 South Shore Nantasket Beach Steamboat Co. Psgr. Ship     874     16-Jun-06 Wrecked 1928
137 Satilla Brunswick S S Co. Cargo Ship     2,667     10-Nov-06 Later Hans Kinck 1916, torpedoed and lost 1917
138 Ogeechee Brunswick S S Co. Cargo Ship     2,667     4-Apr-07 Later Gyldenpris 1917, sunk by gunfire 1917
139 Ocmulgee Brunswick S S Co. Cargo Ship     2,667     29-Dec-06 Scrapped 1929
140 Ossabaw Brunswick S S Co. Cargo Ship     2,667     24-Feb-07 Scrapped 1933
141 Everett New England Coal & Coke Co. Collier     5,103     19-Oct-07 Scrapped 1948
142 Malden New England Coal & Coke Co. Collier     5,103     2-Dec-07 In collision off Montauk Point and sank 1921
143 Melrose New England Coal & Coke Co. Collier     5,103     11-Jan-08 Scrapped 1947
144 Altamaha Brunswick S S Co. Cargo Ship     2,667     30-Dec-07 Wrecked 1923 but cut down to a barge, abandoned 1933
145 New England New England Nav Co. Tank Barge     417     2-Dec-07 Later tanker Sarah Pinser 1944, scrapped 1951
146 Transfer No 21 New York, New Haven & Hartford Tug     268     19-Jan-08 Later Tigre 1920, Molosse 1922, Transfer No. 21 1926, scrapped 1960
147 Hedge Fence U. S. Coast Guard Light Vessel LV 90 478     14-May-08 Later WAL 514, sold 1955
148 Relief No 1 U. S. Coast Guard Light Vessel LV 91 478     29-May-08 Later WAL 515, sold 1963
149 Relief No 2 U. S. Coast Guard Light Vessel LV 92 478     15-Jun-08 Later WAL 516, sold 1954
150 Swiftsure U. S. Coast Guard Light Vessel LV 93 478     6-Jul-08 Later WAL 517, sold 1955
151 North Dakota U. S. Navy Battleship BB 29   20,000   10-Apr-10 Scrapped 1931
152 Stingray (C 2) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 13   238   16-Oct-09 Scrapped 1922
153 Tarpon (C 3) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 14   238   14-Oct-09 Scrapped 1922
154 Bonita (C 4 ) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 15   238   20-Oct-09 Scrapped 1922
155 Snapper (C 5) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 16   238   22-Oct-09 Scrapped 1922
156 Narwhal (D 1 ) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 17   238   7-Oct-09 Scrapped 1922
157 Grayling (D 2) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 18   238   11-Oct-09 Scrapped 1922
158 Salmon (D 3) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 19   238   1-Sep-10 Scrapped 1922
159 General Robert Anderson U. S. Army Tug     153     25-Jan-09  
160 General Richard Arnold U. S. Army Tug     153     29-Jan-09  
161 General R. B. Ayers U. S. Army Tug     153     9-Feb-09  
162 General J. M. Brannan U. S. Army Tug     153     13-Feb-09  
163 General H. Brown U. S. Army Tug     153     20-Feb-09  
164 General G. B. Getty U. S. Army Tug     153     1-Mar-09  
165 General R. H. Jackson U. S. Army Tug     153     8-Mar-09  
166 General A. M. Randol U. S. Army Tug     153     19-Mar-09  
167 No 54 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float           21-Nov-08  
168 No 55 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float           5-Dec-08  
169 No 56 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float           22-Dec-08  
170 No 57 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float           2-Jan-09  
171 No 58 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float           20-Jan-09  
172 No 59 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float           13-Feb-09  
173 No 60 New York, New Haven & Hartford Car Float           18-Feb-09  
174 Transfer No 22 New York, New Haven & Hartford Tug     268     4-May-09  
175 Perkins U. S. Navy Destroyer DD 26   742   15-Nov-10 Scrapped 1935
176 Sterett U. S. Navy Destroyer DD 27   742   12-Dec-10 Scrapped 1935
177 Aloha A C James Yacht     659     11-May-10  
178 Herman Frasch Union Sulphur Co Inc. Bulk Carrier     3,803     5-Apr-10 In collision and sank 1918
179 Skipjack (E 1) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 24   287   13-Feb-12 Scrapped 1922
180 Sturgeon (E 2) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 25   287   14-Feb-12 Scrapped 1925
181 Walke U. S. Navy Destroyer DD 34   742   18-Jul-11 Scrapped 1935
182 No 13 U. S. Navy Ammo Lighter YE 13       19-Jan-10  
183 Miguelito Porto Rico Mercantile Molasses Lighter     276     29-Jan-10  
184 Fifi Cuba Distilling Co Inc. Molasses Barge     368     31-Jan-10  
185 Graziela Cuba Distilling Co Inc. Molasses Barge     368     31-Jan-10  
186 Santa Maria II Columbus Distilling Co. Molasses Barge     265     5-Feb-10  
187 Rivadavia Argentine Navy Battleship BB     27,566   27-Aug-14 Scrapped 1956
188 Currier Cuba Distilling Co Inc. Tanker     4,711     15-Dec-10 Later Victory Sword 1941, scuttled as a breakwater at Normandy 1944
189 Foam Bay State Fishing Co. Trawler     244     14-Sep-10 Scrapped 1927
190 Unnamed Pennsylvania R R Co. Car Float           28-Dec-10  
191 Unnamed Pennsylvania R R Co. Car Float           17-Dec-10  
192 Sankaty New Bedford S S Co. Psgr. Ship     678     14-Apr-11 Later Charles A. Dunning 1947, sank 1964
193 Ripple Bay State Fishing Co. Trawler     244     23-Dec-10 Later Boston 1927, scrapped 1949
194 New Orleans U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Suction Dredge       4,425   4-Apr-12  
195 Crest Bay State Fishing Co. Trawler     244     1-May-11  
196 Henley U. S. Navy Destroyer DD 39   742   5-May-12 Scrapped 1934
197 Newton New England Coal & Coke Co. Cargo Ship     5,194     20-Nov-11 Scrapped 1948
198 Haddock (K 1) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 32   392   17-Apr-14 Scrapped 1931
199 Cachalot (K 2) U. S. Navy Submarine SS 33   392   28-Jan-14 Scrapped 1931
200 Swell Bay State Fishing Co. Trawler     253     29-Dec-11  
201 Surf Bay State Fishing Co. Trawler     253     4-Jan-12  
202 Duncan U. S. Navy Destroyer DD 46   101   30-Aug-13