Crescent Shipyard, located on Newark Bay in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and allied nations as well during their production run, which lasted about ten years while under the Crescent name and banner. Production of these ships began before the Spanish–American War and occurred far before the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Arthur Leopold Busch, a recent emigre from Great Britain, started the yard with former Navy Lt. Lewis Nixon in January 1895. Both men previously worked for William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia. Both Nixon and Busch were regarded to be amongst the best in their respected fields - and what they did at this time - as designers and builders of the latest, most advanced types of ships. Nixon, a cofounder of Crescent Shipyard was also the lead designer of America's first class of

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

s at William Cramp & Sons Shipyard, in Philadelphia. He also built the Anstice

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

(1902) that was renamed the ''Sandy Hook''. Isaac Rice's Electric Launch Company, which was started to build electrically propelled launches and small craft, also began its operations here. . The Crescent Shipyard was operated by Nixon until 1904. In 1904 Crescent Shipyard was acquired by

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

in 1904. Bethlehem Steel leased the yard to John W. Sullivan and part to New Jersey Dry Dock & Transportation Company. In 1916, Bethlehem Steel took over operation of the shipyard. The yard was closed permanently shortly after the conclusion of

in 1921.

Submarine works

Busch, as this shipyard's superintendent, supervised several classes of naval ships, including

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

s, and

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

s in addition to the first commissioned submarine of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

USS Holland (SS-1) USS ''Holland'' (SS-1) was the United States Navy's first submarine, although not its first underwater watercraft, which was the 1775 Turtle (submersible), submersible ''Turtle''. The boat was originally laid down as ''Holland VI'' at the Cres ...

. The Holland is considered technologically revolutionary in several respects. This submarine was considered a historic first, and revolutionary in a timeline of naval innovations in world history. Internationally, many "advanced" industrialized nations around the world took note – almost immediately – and some acquired the rights to build them soon after the purchase of the ''Holland VI'' on 11 April 1900. Busch, as shipyard construction chief and naval architect for Lewis Nixon, went on to supervise the building of the prototype "Fulton", which followed the USS ''Holland'' and was used as an example and template in development of America's A-class or s. Busch reviewed the engineering plans of ''Fulton'' with Holland, who approved the works of Busch. These pioneering submarines were built for the Holland Torpedo Boat Company named after this company's founder

John Philip Holland John Philip Holland (; February 24, 1841August 12, 1914) was an Irish marine engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, USS Holland (SS-1) and the first Royal Navy submarine, ''Holland 1''. Early lif ...

. Work on these submarines began at this shipyard in the late fall of 1896 with the keel to the ''Holland VI'' being laid down by early December of that year.
Another account of the United States Navy's first fully commissioned submarine USS Holland SS-1 purchased on 11 April 1900 for $150,000. Holland's company evolved into the Electric Boat Company after this company was officially incorporated on 7 February 1899. Japan's first five submarines were developed under Busch's direction while working at Fore River Ship and Engine Company in Quincy, Massachutsetts for Electric Boat and Admiral Francis T. Bowles, President of the shipyard in 1904. Electric Boat had subcontracted with the Fore River Shipbuilding yard for some twenty years (since this time) before moving to their present location in Groton, CT.

Bethlehem Elizabethport

Bethlehem Elizabethport built

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting ...

cargo Ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

reefer ship A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo ship typically used to transport perishable cargo, which require air conditioning, temperature-controlled handling, such as fruits, meat, vegetables, dairy products, and similar items. Description ''Types ...

s, tanker ships starting in 1918 for World War I. The ships were part of the Emergency Fleet Corporation program. The site of the shipyard at Front and Marshall Streets is now Veterans Memorial Waterfront Park.

John W. Sullivan Company

John W. Sullivan Company from 1914 to 1926 built: cargo ships. tungboats,

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s, Ferry ships, tankers,

fireboat A fireboat or Fire-float Pyronaut, 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 ...

s and salvage ship.

New Jersey Dry Dock & Transportation Company

The New Jersey Dry Dock & Transportation Company from 1914 to 1916 built: tugs, a cutter, Fire Boat and a

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

Samuel L Moore & Company

Samuel L Moore & Company built from 1890 to 1893 tug,

, ferry, lighthouse tender and

References

* *

External links

* {{cite web , first = Robert , last = Mitchell , author2 = Dembek, Stephen , title = Submarine Pioneers , publisher = Chief of Naval Operations, Submarine Warfare Division, United States Navy , date = 2001-03-03 , url = http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/history/pioneers3.html#Frank%20Cable , accessdate = 2008-02-12 , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150612145717/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/history/pioneers3.html#Frank%20Cable , archivedate = 2015-06-12 1895 establishments in New Jersey Economy of Elizabeth, New Jersey Companies based in Union County, New Jersey Bethlehem shipyards Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Shipyards of New Jersey Former submarine builders