Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro

Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro was a major shipbuilding company on Terminal Island in San Pedro, California owned by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro built: US Navy Destroyers and after the war tugboats. At its peak during the war about 6,000 worked at the yard, Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro shipyard was opened in 1918 as Southwestern Shipbuilding by Western Pipe & Steel. Western Pipe & Steel sold the shipyard to Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in 1925. Shipbuilding ended after World War 2 in 1946. In 1983 the shipyard was sold to Southwest Marine. In 1997 Southwest Marine operated four shipyards, which they sold to The Carlyle Group. Carlyle Group renamed the shipyard US Marine Repair. In 2002 US Marine Repair sold all six of its yards to United Defense Industries. In 2005 it was sold to BAE Systems but the yard was not used and the yard is now part of the Port of Los Angeles. The shipyard was located at 1047 South Seaside Ave, San Pedro.[1]

The former USS Cassin Young preserved as a museum ship in 2007

Destroyers

Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro destroyers built from 1942 to 1945: [2]

Fletcher-class destroyer, (DD-792) Callaghan sunk by kamikazes off Okinawa on July 28, 1945
World War II Destroyer Shipbuilders map from Department of Defense (DoD)

Fletcher-class destroyers:

Robert H. Smith-class destroyers:

Benson-class destroyers:

Benson-class destroyer, (DD-615) McLanahan

Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers"

Gearing-class destroyers"

Hisada-class district harbor tug
Tug USS Acoma assisting the USS Valley Forge to depart San Diego, California

Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro built. in 1946, four Hisada-class district harbor tugboats. These district Harbor Tug, Medium are 260 tons, a length of 100 ft (30 m), a beam= 25 ft (7.6 m), a draft of 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m), power diesel engine, with a single screw. A top speed of 12 knots (22 km/h). [11][12] The three tugs are:

  • USS Acoma (YTB-701)
  • YT Arawak YTM-702, removed from US Navy in December 1985 [13]
  • YT Canarsee, US Navy sold in 1975
  • YT Moratok, US Navy sold in 1985.

Southwestern Shipbuilding

Southwestern Shipbuilding owned the shipyard Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro from 1918 to 1925. Many of the ships were built under United States Shipping Board (USSB)'s Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) contacts.[14][15] Ships built:

Hull #Ship ID #Ship nameTypeTonsDeliveredNotes
1217373West CarnifaxCargo6,150Jan-19Renamed to Exford in 1928, Pan Royal in 1930, in collision and lost in 1943
2217547West CaruthCargo6,150Feb-19Renamed to Exmoor in 1923, Antonio Tripcovich in 1924, Seisho Maru in 1928, torpedoed and lost in 1944
3217709West CatanaceCargo6,150Mar-19Renamed to Atlantic in 1923, Theodore in 1947, Archon in 1951, scrapped in 1952
4217932West SequanaCargo6,150Apr-19Renamed to Golden Cloud in 1928, Waimea in 1938, Marcar in 1950, Carmar in 1952, Madelaine in 1955, scrapped in 1958
5218027West CavanalCargo6,150Jun-19Renamed to Edgar Bowling in 1923, Texmar in 1927, Irkutsk in 1945, scrapped in 1966
6218322West CawthonCargo6,150Jul-19Renamed to Empire Bison in 1940, torpedoed and lost in 1940
7218614West CayoteCargo6,150Aug-19Renamed to Washington in 1928, bombed and lost in 1942
8218323West ChetacCargo6,150Jul-19Torpedoed and lost in 1942
9218732West InskipCargo6,000Sep-19Renamed to Charcas in 1926, Carreta in 1940, Parita Sun in 1947, scrapped in 1953
10218817West ChicopeeCargo6,000Dec-19Renamed Bakersfield, renamed to Chagres in 1941, Mirafjord in 1947, San Salvatore in 1950, scrapped in 1953
11219434West NerisCargo6,000Dec-19Renamed to Irish Oak in 1941, torpedoed and lost in 1943
12219522West NigerCargo6,000Jan-20Renamed to Nevada in 1938, wrecked in 1932
13219658West NilusCargo5,650Mar-20Sunk as breakwater at Normandy in 1944
14219937West NiveriaCargo5,650Apr-20Renamed to Golden Coast in 1928, Delawarean in 1937, Empire Hawksbill in 1940, torpedoed and lost in 1942
15220024West NomentumCargo5,650May-20Renamed to Pennsylvania in 1928, Pan in 1947, Tanar in 1949, in collision and sank in 1959
16220199West NorranusCargo5,650Jun-20Renamed to Pacific Pine in 1926, Maine in 1937, Lvov in 1945, Istra in 1951, scrapped in 1958
17220315West NotusCargo5,650Jul-20Shelled and scuttled in 1942
18220527West NumidiaTanker5,650Aug-20Renamed Hollywood, wrecked and lost in 1945
19220900Mary LuckenbachCargo8,600Dec-20Renamed to C. B. Watson in 1936, Indiana in 1947, Al Horreya in 1954, Mansoura in 1957, scrapped in 1963
20167850Barge165Apr-20
21221100SS MontabelloTanker8,272Mar-21Torpedoed and lost in 1941
22221103La PlacentiaTanker8,272Apr-21Scrapped in 1948
23221691La PurisimaTanker8,272Oct-21Renamed to Taganrog in 1943, Octorara in 1944, La Purisima in 1946, scrapped in 1947
24DutchScopasTanker5,900Jul-21Scrapped in 1939
25DutchSilvanusTanker5,900Aug-21Renamed to SS Papoose in 1926 (ON 226583), torpedoed and lost in 1942
26DutchSemiramisTanker5,900Sep-21Renamed to Kyoko Maru in 1943, torpedoed and lost in 1943

See also

References
  1. shipbuildinghistory.com Bethlehem Shipbuilding San Pedro
  2. Defense Technical Information Center/ Navy After Next Contingency Producible Corvette
  3. USS Callaghan, This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
  4. "USS Cassin Young". 2012-10-03. National Park Service.
  5. Photo gallery of USS Fred T. Berry at NavSource Naval History
  6. Detailed history of USS Fred T. Berry
  7. USS Fred T. Berry veterans' website
  8. USS Harwood, This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
  9. Morison, Samuel Loring (1988). "Question 35/87". Warship International. XXV (3): 317–318. ISSN 0043-0374.
  10. Photo gallery of USS Harwood at NavSource Naval History
  11. USS Acoma, This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
  12. shipbuildinghistory.com, Samll Tugboats YTB
  13. navsource.org YTM-702
  14. laconservancy.org Southwestern Shipbuilding
  15. Wartime Shipbuilding at Terminal Island
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