Neafie & Levy Ship & Engine Building Co., Philadelphia PA


Neafie & Levy was one of the earliest iron shipbuilders and the chief rival to William Cramp in 19th-century Philadelphia.  It was started in 1844 by Thomas Reaney, Jacob Neafie and William Smith; Smith died in 1845 and John Levy took his place; Reaney left in 1859 to start his own shipyard in Chester and from then on it was Neafie & Levy, until it closed in 1907.  The shipyard was located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, on land now occupied by a Philadelphia Electric power plant: the plant's pier is believed to date from the site's days as a shipyard.  See it from the air on Google here.  The table below lists a tremendous number of vessels without much in the way of detail.  If anyone can provide any information about this yard and the ships it built, please e-mail it to me at tim@coltoncompany.com

Hull # Original Name Original Owner Type Tons Delivery Disposition
  Conestoga Balt and Phila Stmbt Co. Steam Canal Boat 65 1844 Abandoned 1856
  Tecumseh     198 1844  
  San Juan       1844  
  Apure Orinoco Steamship Co. Steamboat 269 1844 Sold foreign 1850
  Barclay Rancocas Steamboat Co. Steamboat 99 1845 Abandoned 1882
  Governor Moorhead       1852  
  Montezuma       1852  
  Orinoco   Steamboat 171 1852 Sold foreign 1856
  Rancocas Rancocas Steamboat Co. Steamboat 133 1852 Abandoned 1866
  Boardman No. 1       1855  
  Boardman No. 2       1855  
  Decatur   Steam Tug 45 1855 Abandoned 1860
  Henry L. Gaw   Steamboat 228 1855 Abandoned 1910
  Jacob G. Neafie   Steam Tug 103 1856 Abandoned 1876
  Elizabeth   Steamboat 245 1857 Abandoned 1897
  Fanny Cadwalader   Steamboat 218 1857 Abandoned 1907
  James Gray C.S. Navy Steam Tug 161 1857 Sold by Navy 1863
  John P. Levy   Steam Tug 59 1857 Abandoned 1898
  Octorara   Steamboat 237 1859 Abandoned 1899
  Sagua   Steamboat 187 1859 Sold foreign 1859
  Amcor       1860  
  Arasapha   Steam Ferry Boat 232 1860  
  Cotton Plant   Steamboat 85 1860 Converted 1881
  General Winfield Scott     1162 1860 Sunk 1861
  Ounalaska   Unknown   1860  
  Pacific   Steam Tug 65 1860 Abandoned 1922
  Philadelphia   Steamboat 504 1860 Sunk 1874
  Russia       1860  
  Siberia       1860  
  Union   Steamship 1124 1860 Sunk 1861
  William Woodward   Steamboat 275 1860 Abandoned 1899
  Oriental   Steamship 1202 1860 Sunk 1862
  General Meigs     329 1862 Sold foreign 1877
  General Stewart Van Vliet     63 1862 Abandoned 1891
  Josephine Thompson     268 1862 Abandoned 1900
  Pocahontas     716 1862 Sold to govt. 1863
  Alligator U.S. Navy Submarine 350 1862 Lost in a storm 1863
344 Charles Pearson Boston Towboat Co. Tug