The Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Company (1872–1899), was located in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on the Locust Point peninsula, adjacent to

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack ...

. Founded by William T. Malster (1843–1907) who later partnered with William B. Reaney in 1879, it opened for business on 16 July 1880. The company was located on adjacent to Fort McHenry where it leased the property from the Baltimore Dry Dock Company. It built several early vessels of 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

United States Revenue Cutter Service ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

, including: * USRC ''Tench Coxe'' * USRC ''Seminole'' * USS ''Detroit'' * USS ''Petrel'' * USS ''Montgomery'' * USS ''Foote'' * USS ''Rodgers'' * USS ''Winslow'' * USS ''McKee'' * USS ''Tingey'' It also built the ''

Argonaut The Argonauts (; Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', n ...

'', a submarine designed by

Simon Lake Simon Lake (September 4, 1866 – June 23, 1945) was a Quaker American mechanical engineer and naval architect who obtained over two hundred patents for advances in naval design and competed with John Philip Holland to build the first submarines f ...

, and ''Plunger'', a submarine designed by

John Philip Holland John Philip Holland ( ga, Seán Pilib Ó hUallacháin/Ó Maolchalann) (24 February 184112 August 1914) was an Irish engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, and the first Royal Navy submarine, ''Ho ...

for the U.S. Navy that was not accepted. The company built the lighthouse tender USLHT ''Arbutus''. It went into receivership in 1899 and was reorganized as

Baltimore Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

and was purchased by William B. Skinner and Sons in 1905. In 1915, Skinner and Sons went into receivership and was reorganized as the

Baltimore Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Corporation Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. This company was taken over by

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 ...

in September 1921.

References

*"Ask for More Time – Columbian Iron Works Creditors Desire an Extension to Finish Work." ''The New York Times.'' December 28, 1899, Wednesday Page 3, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/12/28/102500443.pdf *"Columbian Iron Works Failure." ''The New York Times'' December 21, 1899, Wednesday Page 4, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/12/21/117936615.pdf *Keith, Robert C. ''Baltimore Harbor: A Pictorial History.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press 2005. p. 93 *Knowles, Richard. ''John P. Holland, 1841-1914: Inventor of the Modern Submarine''. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1998. p. 74 *"Columbian Iron Works" in ''Directory of Iron and Steel Works of the United States and Canada.'' Philadelphia: American Iron and Steel Association v. 13 (1896) p. 256 *"Another Cruiser Afloat – The Launch of the Montgomery at Baltimore – A New Two-Thousand-Ton War Vessel Now Ready for Her Machinery and Fittings – Christened by Miss Sophia Smith." ''The New York Times.'' December 6, 1891, Wednesday Page 16, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/12/06/103354840.pdf *"Argonaut Does It!" ''New York Sun'', Dec. 17, 1897 http://www.simonlake.com/html/argonaut_does_it_.html *Forrest, Clarence H. ''Official History of the Fire Department of the City of Baltimore: Together with Biographies and Portraits of Eminent Citizens of Baltimore.''Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1898. pg 154 *Hall, Clayton Coleman.
M1 Baltimore: Its History and Its People
Volume 1: History.'' New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1912. pp. 376–377 *"William T. Malster" ''The New York Times.'' March 3, 1907, Sunday Page 7, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/03/03/104981296.pdf *Howard, George Washington."William B. Reaney" in ''The Monumental City: Its Past History and Present Resources ''. Baltimore: J.D. Ehlers,1873. p. 822 *Howard, George Washington. "William T. Malster" in ''The Monumental City: Its Past History and Present Resources'' Baltimore: J.D. Ehlers, 1873. pp 670–673. *"Consolidation of Dry Docks – Negotiations Under Way for Two Companies in Baltimore." ''The New York Times.'' February 19, 1903, Thursday Page 1, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/02/19/101974141.pdf *"Columbian Iron Works Gets Extension" ''The New York Times.'' December 31, 1899, Wednesday Page 3, https://www.nytimes.com/1899/12/31/archives/columbian-iron-works-gets-extension.html {{coord, 39, 16, 11.07, N , 76, 35, 8.40, W, display=title Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Locust Point, Baltimore Ships built in Baltimore