Union Iron Works

From The Dreadnought Project
Jump to navigationJump to search

Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, was the only private shipbuilder capable of building the large warships in the Western United States prior to the First World War, and thus had a de facto monopoly on major warship construction contracts on the Pacific coast.

History

The Donohue Brothers, Scots-Irish immigrants, founded Union Iron Works in the south of Market area of San Francisco in 1849. After years as the premiere producer of mining, railroad, agricultural and locomotive machinery in California, Union Iron Works, led by I.M. Scott, entered the ship building business and relocated to Potrero Point where its shipyards still exist, making the site on the north side of the Potrero the longest running privately owned shipyard in the United States. The company also owned the Alameda Works Shipyard, located across the San Francisco Bay in Alameda.

In 1885, Union Iron Works launched the first steel-hulled ship on the west coast, the "Arago," built with steel from the Pacific Rolling Mills.

In 1886, UIW was awarded a one million dollar contract to build a Naval cruiser, the Charleston, which they completed in eighteen months. From the completion of the Arago in 1884 to 1902, UIW built seventy-five marine vessels, including two of the most famous vessels of the Spanish-American War, the Olympia and the Oregon. An 1892 description of the yards stated that between 1200 and 1500 men were employed and the yearly gross revenue was between two and four million. by the turn of the century, the area had increased and employment double to three thousand-five hundred workers. These industrial facilities used five types of power, distributed throughout; electricity, compressed air, steam, hydraulic and coal or gas fire.

In 1902, the Union Iron Works was absorbed into a combine called the United States Shipbuilding Corporation and was mired in three years of litigation. In 1905, the entire forty acre shipyard was purchased by Bethlehem Steel Corporation for one million dollars. Charles Schwab stood on the steps of the UIW office building on Twentieth Street during the auction. He was the only bidder. Schwab was widely believed to have engineered the demise of the U.S. Shipbuilding Corporation in order to gain control of the industry. Whether or not that was true, he certainly benefited from the collapse of the US Shipbuilding combine.

After 1905, the shipyard operated as part of Bethlehem Steel, and produced both warships and merchant ships.

In 1908, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation bought the Hunter's Point drydocks.

Shipbuilding

Ship Type Launched Fate
U.S.S. Charleston protected cruiser 19 Jul, 1888 Wrecked 2 Nov, 1899
U.S.S. San Francisco protected cruiser 26 Oct, 1889 Sold 20 Apr, 1939
U.S.S. Monterey monitor 28 Apr, 1891 Sold 25 Feb, 1922
U.S.S. Olympia protected cruiser 5 Nov, 1892 Preserved 11 Sep, 1957
U.S.S. Oregon pre-dreadnought 26 Oct, 1893 Sold 1956
U.S.S. Wheeling gunboat 18 Mar, 1897 Sold 31 Oct, 1946
U.S.S. Marietta gunboat 18 Mar, 1897 Sold 25 Mar, 1920
U.S.S. Farragut torpedo boat 16 Jul, 1898 Sold 9 Sep, 1919
U.S.S. Wisconsin pre-dreadnought 16 Nov, 1898 Sold 1922
U.S.S. Cheyenne monitor 8 Sep, 1900 Sold 20 Apr, 1939
U.S.S. Ohio pre-dreadnought 1901 Sold 1923
U.S.S. Grampus submarine 31 Jul, 1902
U.S.S. Pike submarine 14 Jan, 1903
U.S.S. Tacoma protected cruiser 2 Jun, 1903 Sold 5 Sep, 1924
U.S.S. California armoured cruiser 28 Apr, 1904 Sunk 19 Jul, 1918
U.S.S. South Dakota armoured cruiser 21 Jul, 1904 Sold 1930
U.S.S. Milwaukee armoured cruiser 10 Sep, 1904 Wrecked 13 Jan, 1917
U.S.S. Carp submarine 6 Sep, 1911 Collision 17 Dec, 1917
U.S.S. Barracuda submarine 19 Mar, 1912 Sold 17 Aug, 1922
U.S.S. Seawolf submarine 6 May, 1913 Sunk 12 Mar, 1920
U.S.S. Nautilus submarine 4 Jun, 1913 Broken up 1931
U.S.S. Orca submarine 14 Mar, 1914 Broken up 1931
U.S.S. K-7 submarine 20 Jun, 1914 Broken up 1931
U.S.S. K-8 submarine 11 Jul, 1914 Broken up 1931
U.S.S. R-15 submarine 10 Dec, 1917 Stricken 1946
U.S.S. R-16 submarine 15 Dec, 1917 Sold 1946
U.S.S. R-17 submarine 24 Dec, 1917 Transferred 9 Mar, 1942
U.S.S. R-18 submarine 8 Jan, 1918 Sold 1946
U.S.S. R-19 submarine 28 Jan, 1918 Transferred 9 Mar, 1942
U.S.S. McKee destroyer 23 Mar, 1918
U.S.S. Robinson destroyer 28 Mar, 1918 Broken up 1946
U.S.S. Schley destroyer 28 Mar, 1918
U.S.S. Champlin destroyer 7 Apr, 1918 Expended 12 Aug, 1936
U.S.S. Ringgold destroyer 14 Apr, 1918 Broken up 1947
U.S.S. Mugford destroyer 14 Apr, 1918
U.S.S. Chew destroyer 26 May, 1918
U.S.S. Ludlow destroyer 9 Jun, 1918
U.S.S. Hazelwood destroyer 22 Jun, 1918
U.S.S. McKean destroyer 4 Jul, 1918 Torpedoed 17 Nov, 1943
U.S.S. Harding destroyer 4 Jul, 1918
U.S.S. Gridley destroyer 4 Jul, 1918
U.S.S. Williams destroyer 4 Jul, 1918
U.S.S. Crane destroyer 4 Jul, 1918
U.S.S. Hart destroyer 4 Jul, 1918
U.S.S. Ingraham destroyer 4 Jul, 1918 Expended 23 Jul, 1937
U.S.S. Burns destroyer 4 Jul, 1918 Sold 2 Apr, 1932
U.S.S. Anthony destroyer 10 Aug, 1918 Expended 22 Jul, 1937
U.S.S. Sproston destroyer 10 Aug, 1918 Expended 20 Jul, 1937
U.S.S. R-20 submarine 21 Aug, 1918 Sold 1946
U.S.S. Rizal destroyer 21 Sep, 1918
U.S.S. Renshaw destroyer 21 Sep, 1918
U.S.S. Mackenzie destroyer 29 Sep, 1918 Sold 21 Jun, 1945
U.S.S. John Francis Burnes destroyer 10 Nov, 1918
U.S.S. Farragut destroyer 10 Nov, 1918
U.S.S. Somers destroyer 21 Nov, 1918
U.S.S. S-30 submarine 21 Nov, 1918 Sold Dec, 1946
U.S.S. Fuller destroyer 5 Dec, 1918 Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
U.S.S. Percival destroyer 5 Dec, 1918
U.S.S. S-33 submarine 5 Dec, 1918 Sold 1946
U.S.S. S-31 submarine 28 Dec, 1918 Sold May, 1946
U.S.S. Stoddert destroyer 8 Jan, 1919
U.S.S. S-32 submarine 11 Jan, 1919 Sold May, 1946
U.S.S. Farquhar destroyer 18 Jan, 1919
U.S.S. Thompson destroyer 19 Jan, 1919 Expended 1944
U.S.S. Reno destroyer 22 Jan, 1919
U.S.S. Woodbury destroyer 6 Feb, 1919 Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
U.S.S. S-34 submarine 13 Feb, 1919 Sold 1946
U.S.S. Kennedy destroyer 15 Feb, 1919
U.S.S. Paul Hamilton destroyer 21 Feb, 1919
U.S.S. S-35 submarine 27 Feb, 1919 Expended 4 Apr, 1942
U.S.S. O'Bannon destroyer 28 Feb, 1919
U.S.S. William Jones destroyer 9 Apr, 1919
U.S.S. Hogan destroyer 12 Apr, 1919 Expended 8 Nov, 1945
U.S.S. S. P. Lee destroyer 22 Apr, 1919 Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
U.S.S. Howard destroyer 26 Apr, 1919
U.S.S. Nicholas destroyer 1 May, 1919 Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
U.S.S. Young destroyer 8 May, 1919 Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
U.S.S. Sloat destroyer 14 May, 1919 Expended 26 Jun, 1935
U.S.S. Stansbury destroyer 16 May, 1919
U.S.S. Zeilin destroyer 28 May, 1919
U.S.S. Wood destroyer 28 May, 1919
U.S.S. S-36 submarine 3 Jun, 1919 Sunk 20 Jan, 1942
U.S.S. S-38 submarine 17 Jun, 1919 Expended 20 Feb, 1945
U.S.S. Yarborough destroyer 20 Jun, 1919
U.S.S. Shirk destroyer 20 Jun, 1919 Broken up 1931
U.S.S. S-37 submarine 20 Jun, 1919 Sunk 20 Feb, 1945
U.S.S. S-39 submarine 2 Jul, 1919 Sunk 14 Aug, 1942
U.S.S. Kidder destroyer 10 Jul, 1919
U.S.S. La Vallette destroyer 15 Jul, 1919
U.S.S. Selfridge destroyer 25 Jul, 1919
U.S.S. Mervine destroyer 11 Aug, 1919
U.S.S. Marcus destroyer 22 Aug, 1919 Expended 25 Jun, 1935
U.S.S. Chase destroyer 2 Sep, 1919
U.S.S. Robert Smith destroyer 19 Sep, 1919
U.S.S. Chauncey destroyer 29 Sep, 1919
U.S.S. Bruce destroyer 20 May, 1920 Sold Aug, 1932
U.S.S. Coghlan destroyer 16 Jun, 1920
U.S.S. Mullany destroyer 9 Jul, 1920
U.S.S. Preston destroyer 7 Aug, 1920 Sold 23 Aug, 1932
U.S.S. Lamson destroyer 1 Sep, 1920
U.S.S. Sumner destroyer 24 Nov, 1920 Sold 1934
U.S.S. Macdonough destroyer 15 Dec, 1920
U.S.S. S-40 submarine 5 Jan, 1921 Sold 1946
U.S.S. Hull destroyer 18 Feb, 1921
U.S.S. S-41 submarine 21 Feb, 1921 Sold 1946
U.S.S. Farenholt destroyer 9 Mar, 1921
U.S.S. Corry destroyer 28 Mar, 1921
U.S.S. Melvin destroyer 11 Apr, 1921

Footnotes

Bibliography