Bethlehem Steel Company, Beaumont TX

(formerly Beaumont Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company and Pennsylvania Shipyards, later Trinity Beaumont)


Bethlehem Steel's shipyard in Beaumont, Texas, was originally Beaumont Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, a small shipbuilder which had been in continuous operation since at least 1918.  It was acquired by Pennsylvania Car & Foundry, of Sharon, Pennsylvania, in 1922, and renamed Pennsylvania Shipyards.  It was an active builder of tugs and barges when the WWII emergency program began.  Its 2 ways were increased to 5 in the second wave of shipbuilding expansion.  Bethlehem Steel acquired it in 1948 and developed it as a major designer and builder of jack-up drilling rigs.  It struggled for work after the rig market collapsed and Bethlehem sold it to Trinity Industries in 1989.  Trinity operated it as both a shipbuilder and a ship repairer for five years but in 1994 converted it to railcar construction.  In 2006, Trinity sold it to Chicago Bridge & Iron for use as a fabrication base for CBI's contracts to construct LNG import terminals.  See the shipyard from the air on Google here.  There are many breaks in the series of hull numbers, especially in the early years: if anyone has a hull number list or can fill any of the gaps, please e-mail tim@coltoncompany.com.

Hull #

Original Name

Original Owner Navy Type or MC Design Pennant # or MC Hull # GT Delivered Disposition

Built by Beaumont Shipbuilding & Dry Dock

  Angelina  U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Cargo Ship 447 2,554 1919  
  Oneco  U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Cargo Ship 448 2,554 1919  
  Swampscott  U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Cargo Ship 449 2,554 1919  
  Quemakoning  U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Cargo Ship 450 2,554 1919  
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2119     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2120     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2121     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2122     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2123     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2124     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2125     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Hull 2126     Cancelled
    U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Barge 2127     Cancelled
  Albert D. Cummins U.S. Shipping Board Wooden Barge 2128 1,163 1920 Completed as a sailing ship

Built by Pennsylvania Shipyards

1 Petroleum No. 3   Tank Barge     Jun-26  
5 Petroleum No. 4   Tank Barge     Aug-26  
6 Petroleum No. 5   Tank Barge     Oct-26  
7 Petroleum No. 6   Tank Barge     Nov-26  
13 Purol Pep Sabine Transportation Tanker   380 1930 Later Interstate No. 7 1940
21 Texaco 319 Texaco Tank Barge        
36 Texaco 355 Texaco Tank Barge        
47 Texaco 379 Texaco Tank Barge        
  Shamrock         1933  
61 Pan Am 200   Tank Barge     1936  
66 Texaco 396 Texaco Tank Barge     Apr-36  
67 Texaco 397 Texaco Tank Barge     Apr-36  
68 Texaco 398 Texaco Tank Barge     Apr-36  
  Julie Jack         1936  
74 Marie S. Moran Moran Towing Tug     1936 Later Afpet 5
75 B. T. 104   Tank Barge        
76 Petroleum No. 2   Tank Barge        
  Signet Vigilant   Tug     1937  
103 Seaboard No. 99   Tank Barge     Mar-37  
111 Jeanette   Tank Barge        
112 Teche   Tank Barge        
116 Mercury Cleveland Tankers Tanker   1,518 Jun-37 Later Lubrolake 1940, wrecked 1967
117 Eugenia M. Moran Moran Towing Tug   149 Oct-37 Later Janet Thomas