USS ''Bache'', Bethlehem Staten Island first Fletcher-class destroyer built in 1942 BethlehemStatenIsland_WW2

Bethlehem Staten Island also called Bethlehem Mariners Harbor was a large

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Mariners Harbor, Staten Island Mariners Harbor is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of New York City's borough of Staten Island. It is bordered by Lake Avenue to the east, Forest Avenue to the south, Richmond Terrace to the north, and Holland Avenue to the west. The ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The shipyard started building ships for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in January 1941 under the

Emergency Shipbuilding Program The Emergency Shipbuilding Program (late 1940 – September 1945) was a United States government effort to quickly build simple cargo ships to carry troops and materiel to allies and foreign theatres during World War II. Run by the U.S. Maritime ...

and as the result of the

Two-Ocean Navy Act The Two-Ocean Navy Act, also known as the Vinson-Walsh Act, was a United States law enacted on July 19, 1940, and named for Carl Vinson and David I. Walsh, who chaired the Naval Affairs Committee in the House and Senate respectively. The largest n ...

of July 1940. The shipyard was part of the

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works. In 1917 it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co ...

which built ships for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

purchased the shipyard in June 1938 from

United Shipyards The Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company was a major late 19th/early 20th century ship repair and conversion facility located in New York City. Begun in the 1880s as a small shipsmithing business known as the Morse Iron Works, the company grew to ...

. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation closed the shipyard in 1959. The

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

factory and

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

continued operation for 10 more years at the site. Since 1980 the site is the May Ship Repair Contracting Corporation next to

Shooters Island Shooters Island is a uninhabited island at the southern end of Newark Bay, off the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City. The boundary between the states of New York and New Jersey runs through the island, with a small portion on the ...

at the southern end of

Newark Bay Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, t ...

, off the North Shore.

Staten Island Shipbuilding

The site started in 1903, when William Burlee built a shipyard at the site and opened as the Staten Island Shipbuilding (SISB). William Burlee sold the shipyard to United Shipyards in 1929. William Burlee started a repair shipyard in

Port Richmond, Staten Island Port Richmond is a neighborhood situated on the North Shore of Staten Island, a borough of New York City. Port Richmond is bounded by Kill van Kull on the north, Jewett Avenue on the east, Forest Avenue on the south, and the Bayonne Bridge on t ...

(2 miles east of SISB) in 1888 as the Burlee Drydock Company. In 1903 William Burlee opened a larger shipyard at Mariners Harbor. For

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Staten Island Shipbuilding Port Richmond, built

Lapwing-class minesweeper The ''Lapwing''-class minesweeper, often called the Bird class, was an early "AM-type" oceangoing minesweeper of the United States Navy. Seven ships of the class were commissioned during World War I, and served well into the 1950s. A number were ...

s: AM5, AM6, AM7, AM8, AM44, AM45, and AM46. In 1923 SISB built four Staten Island Ferries: ''W.R. Hearst'', ''George W. Loft'', ''Youngstown'' and ''Rodman Wanamaker''. In 1925 SISB built five more New York Ferries the: ''John A. Lynch, Henry Bruckner'', ''William T. Collins, Henry A. Meyer'' ''Crathorne'', in 1927 the ''American Legion'' and in 1927 the '' Dongan Hills''. *Alex McDonald Shipyard was small shipyard next to Staten Island Shipbuilding (on the east side). Alex McDonald founded the yard before World War I. Alex McDonald built seven 110 foot

Submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

s for the US Navy for World War I. In 1929 Alex McDonald merged with Staten Island Shipbuilding.

United Shipyards, Inc

In 1929, Staten Island Shipbuilding merged with five other major New York ship repair facilities to become United Dry Docks, Inc. —the largest company of its type in the world—with the former head of

Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company The Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company was a major late 19th/early 20th century ship repair and conversion facility located in New York City. Begun in the 1880s as a small shipsmithing business known as the Morse Iron Works, the company grew to ...

Edward P. Morse Edward Phinley Morse (7 March 1859
, Family Treemaker Online.—26 August 1 ...

, as chairman of the board. United Dry Docks later changed its name to United Shipyards, Inc. United Shipyards sold off their shipyard to Bethlehem Steel in 1938."Edward P. Morse, Dry Dock Head, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 1930-08-27. "Extension for Iron Works"
''The New York Times'', 1903-01-09. "Morse Dry Dock Nearly Ready", ''The Rudder'', July 1919, pp. 372-73."Work at the Morse Dry Dock", ''The Rudder'', January 1919, pp. 13-14.

World War II ships

As ''United Dry Dock, Inc.'' * 4 of 18 (1934 and 1935) ** , , , After acquisition by Bethlehem, in the very early stages of the

and at a time when the Navy shipbuilding program was just picking up momentum * 5 of 95 C1-B (ca. 1939) ** ''Cape May'' / (MC-89), launched 3 Oct 1940 ** ''Cape Ann'' (MC-90), launched 2 Nov 1940 ** (MC-91) ** (MC-92) ** (MC-93) * 3 of 29 s (fiscal year 1939) ** , , Following the industrial mobilization as a result of the

of July 1940 and subsequent legislation * 44 of 415

destroyers In navy, naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a Naval fleet, fleet, convoy or Carrier battle group, battle group and defend them against powerful short range attack ...

** 5 of 30 *** , *** ... ** 15 of 175 *** , *** ... *** , *** ... *** ... ** 10 of 58 *** ... *** ... ** 3 of 12 destroyer minelayers (''Allen M. Sumner'') *** ... ** 11 of 98 *** ... *

Type B ship The Type B ship is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for World War II barges. Barges are very low cost to build, operate and move. Barges were needed to move large bulky cargo. A tug boat, some classed as Type V ships, cou ...

barges

Post war

Post war from 1946 to 1958 the shipyard built

car float A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a tugb ...

barges Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by Pusher (boat) ...

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

, tank barges,

derrick barge A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and a ...

s, repair barge,

fireboat A fireboat or fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with firefighting equipmen ...

and tugboats. *Examples: *LCU 1608, YFU-91, Landing Craft Utility navsource LCU 1608, YFU-91
/ref> * USNS Chattahoochee (T-AOG-82) * USAV Vulcan (FMS-789) Repair shop *

Walter B. Keane The Walter B. Keane (WB), and under the nickname "The Barge", was an 168-bed jail barge used to hold inmates for the New York City Department of Corrections. The barge is currently anchored off Staten Island but was previously docked on Rikers Is ...

Ferry * Joseph F. Merrell Ferry *

T1-MET-24a The T1 tanker or T1 are a class of sea worthy small tanker ships used to transport fuel oil before and during World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. The T1 tanker classification is still in use today. T1 tankers are about in length and are ...

Tankers: Product Carrier and Product Carrier

References

{{Authority control Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Bethlehem shipyards Shipyards building World War II warships

Staten Island Shipbuilding

United Shipyards, Inc

World War II ships

Post war

See also

References