Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

HMSCalder (K349) under construction as USSFormoe (DE-58), withUSSFoss (DE-59) on right atBethlehem Hingham Shipyard on theWeymouth Back River inMassachusetts
Formerly	Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Company type	Corporation
Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	1905 (1905) inQuincy, Massachusetts, U.S.
Defunct	1997
Headquarters	Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S. , U.S.
Area served	United States
Products	Ships

Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when theBethlehem Steel Corporation ofBethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired theSan Francisco-based shipyardUnion Iron Works.^[1][2] In 1917, it was incorporated asBethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Limited.

The division's headquarters were moved toQuincy, Massachusetts, after acquiring theFore River Shipyard in 1913.

In 1940, Bethlehem Shipbuilding was the largest of the "Big Three" U.S. shipbuilders that could build any ship,^[3] followed byNewport News Shipbuilding & Drydock andNew York Shipbuilding Corporation (New York Ship). Bethlehem expanded shortly before and duringWorld War II as a result of theLong Range Shipbuilding Program and later theEmergency Shipbuilding program orchestrated by theUnited States Maritime Commission and theTwo Ocean Navy program and its war-time successors by the military establishment.

In 1964, the now-corporate headquarters moved toSparrows Point, Maryland, southeast ofBaltimore, whose shipyard had been acquired in 1916.

The Quincy / Fore River yard was sold toGeneral Dynamics Corporation in the mid-1960s, and closed in 1986. TheAlameda Works Shipyard inCalifornia was closed by Bethlehem Steel in the early 1970s, while theSan Francisco facility (formerUnion Iron Works) was sold toBritish Aerospace in the mid-1990s and survives today asBAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair.

Bethlehem Steel ceased shipbuilding activities in 1997 in an attempt to preserve its core steelmaking operations.

TheBethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Hospital, first built to treat injured workers, was assigned to be on theNational Register of Historic Places in December 2022.^[4][5]

Shipyards owned or operated by Bethlehem:

• Became part of Bethlehem with the purchase of United Shipyards on June 2, 1938 for $9,320,000^[6]

• • Bethlehem Mariners Harbor,Staten Island, New York (1938–1963^[7]).^[8][9]

• • Bethlehem Brooklyn 56th Street,Brooklyn, New York (1938–1963^[7]).^[10]

• • Bethlehem Brooklyn 27th Street (1938–1963^[7]).

• • Hoboken Shipyard,Hoboken, New Jersey (1938–1984).^[11][12]

• • they were called the Staten Island Works, the Brooklyn 56th Street Works, the Brooklyn 27th Street Works and the Hoboken Works of the New York Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation.^[13]

• Bethlehem Elizabethport,Elizabethport, New Jersey (1916–1921).^[14]

• Bayonne Naval Drydock,Bayonne, New Jersey. Bethlehem used this drydock for ship repairs. Most workers were from Hoboken Shipyard.^[15]

• Fore River Shipyard,Quincy, Massachusetts (1913–1963^[7]). Sold toGeneral Dynamics Corporation.
• Victory Plant Shipyard,Quincy, Massachusetts (1917–1919). The "Victory Yard" was constructed to build destroyers and free up the Fore River Yard for other vessels including the battlecruiser-turned-aircraft carrierUSS Lexington (CV-2).
• Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard,Hingham, Massachusetts (1940–1945).^[16]
• Bethlehem Atlantic Works,East Boston, Massachusetts (1853–1984).

• Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard,Sparrows Point, Maryland (1914–1997).^[17]
• Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, (1940–1945).^[18][19]
• Bethlehem Key Highway Shipyard, Baltimore. The upper yard was sold to AME/Swirnow in 1983. The site now holds Ritz Carlton andHarborview communities next toBaltimore Museum of Industry.^[20][21]
• Bethlehem Fort McHenry Shipyard, Baltimore. The lower yard onLocust Point peninsula, it was sold to General Ship Repair in 1983. Now somePort of Baltimore terminals.^[22]

• Union Iron Works,San Francisco, California (1917–1981).
  • also called the Potrero Works and the Risdon Works of the Union plant of Bethlehem Steel
• Alameda Works Shipyard,Alameda, California (1916–1956).
  • also called the Alameda Works of the Union plant of Bethlehem Steel
• Hunters Point Drydocks,Hunters Point, San Francisco, California (1908–1920). Acquired by theU.S. Navy

• Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro onTerminal Island, formerlySouthwestern Shipbuilding.
• Bethlehem Steel Wilmington (akaHarlan and Hollingsworth),Wilmington, Delaware (1904–1925, 1941–1945).^[23]
• Bethlehem Beaumont Shipyard,Beaumont, Texas (1948–1989). A major U.S. manufacturer of offshore drilling rigs, it produced 72.^{[24][25][26][27][28][29]}
• Bethlehem Sabine,Port Arthur, Texas, (1985–1995). Sold to Texas Drydock Inc. in 1995.^[30]

• Calmar Steamship Company and other subsidiaries ofBethlehem Steel

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBethlehem Shipbuilding.

• Ship christening photos, including at the Wilmington Yard
• US Shipbuilding History - Maritime Business Strategies
• US Navy Shipyards - globalsecurity.org
• Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Bethlehem Ship Corporation photograph collectionArchived 2020-08-14 at theWayback Machine atHagley Museum and Library
• Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Shipbuilding Division Photographs, circa 1900-1945 at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

• 1905 establishments in Maryland
• 1997 disestablishments in Delaware
• American companies established in 1905
• Bethlehem shipyards
• Defunct manufacturing companies based in Delaware
• Defunct manufacturing companies based in Maryland
• Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States
• Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1997
• Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1905

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• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata