Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco CA

(formerly Union Brass & Iron Works [1849-1906] and Union Iron Works [1906-1917]

and incorporating Risdon Iron Works [in San Francisco] and United Engineering Works [in Alameda])


Bethlehem San Francisco was founded as Union Brass & Iron Works in 1849, by Peter Donahue, one of San Francisco's three Donahue brothers, who were known as the "iron men".  It was sold to Bethlehem Steel in 1906 but continued to use the Union Iron Works name until 1917, after Bethlehem acquired Quincy, Sparrows Point and a number of smaller yards, and standardized the yard names and the hull numbering system.  The San Francisco shipyard was expanded in 1911 by the acquisition of the adjoining Risdon Iron Works, which had built locomotives, and this facility was used in WWI for destroyer construction.  The yard remained in continuous operation throughout the inter-war years and was the only major shipbuilder on the West Coast prior to WWII.  Bethlehem Steel sold the yard to the City in 1982, for a dollar.  It was then leased to Southwest Marine under the name San Francisco Drydock and continues today as a division of BAE Systems.  See it from the air on Google here.

The Alameda shipyard, formerly United Engineering Works, was added in 1916, at the onset of WWI, to build standard cargo ships for the U.S. Shipping Board.  After WWI, the yard was converted to ship repair, although it built 10 troopships in WWII.   The Alameda yard closed in 1956.  In the table below, the ships that were built in Alameda are identified by an A after the hull number.

Hull # USSB, USMC or MARAD Hull # Original Name Original Owner Ship Type Gov't. Type or Design Code Pennant # GT LDT or DWT Delivered Disposition

Built in San Francisco

1   Arago Oregon Coal Co. Psgr. Cargo     947 1,450 1884 Wrecked 1896
2   Adeline   Steam Launch         1885  
3   General McDowell   Psgr. Cargo     150 309 1886  
4   Balboa         80 134 1885  
5   Emerald   Passenger     20 40 1886  
6   Premier E. W. Spencer Psgr. Cargo     1,080   1887 Later Charmer 1893, scrapped 1935
7   Charleston US Navy Cruiser C 2   3,730 26-Dec-89 Wrecked in the Philippines 1899
8                   Number not used
9   Pomona Pacific Coast Line Psgr. Cargo     1,264 1,459 Jul-88 Wrecked near San Francisco 1908
10   Active US Navy Tug     173 256    
11   San Francisco US Navy Cruiser C 5   4,083 15-Nov-90 Renamed Yosemite 1931, scrapped 1939
12   Romola   Launch     3 4    
13   Colis San Francisco Co. Tug     205 314 1989  
14   Salmo         58 30    
15   Monterey US Navy Monitor BM 6   4,084 13-Feb-93 Scrapped 1922
16   Whisper         20 18    
17   Olympia US Navy Cruiser C 6   5,870 20-Feb-94 Memorial in Philadelphia 1957
18   Oregon US Navy Battleship BB 3   10,288 26-Jun-96 Scrapped 1956
19   Columbia US Lightship Service Light Ship     250 425    
20   Fearless J. C. Spreckels & Bros. Tug     400 635 Feb-92 Later Iroquois 1898, LT 461 1942, scrapped 1952
21   Peru Pacific Mail Line Passenger     3,525 4,275 Jun-92 Later Lux 1919, missing in Mediterranean 1920 
22   El Primero Edward Hopkins Steam Yacht     102   1893 Now a charter cruise boat in West Vancouver BC: see a picture of her being launched here
23   Gracie S Bay Pilots Assn. Pilot Boat     52 13    
24   Santa Lucia   Tug