bath iron works of portsmouth newhampshire
launched at bath in 1922. With so few projects, Bath had to close and on October 1, 1925, Bath Iron Works was sold at a public auction. Bath was stripped of equipment and left to rot.
The spirit of Bath still lived in William S. Newell, once a young draftsman at the yard. He pulled Ion Works out of its abandonment and in 1927 stocked it with equipment from the auctioned William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding of Philadelphia. The newly re-established Bath Iron Works launched the private yacht vanda in 1928. Yachts were the saving grace of Bath during this period of restoration. Private investors wanted finer bugger private yachts. The yachts indeed grew bigger and faster until the stock market crash of 1929. The decline in yachts equaled the decline in work at the yard. In 1931 the coast guard needed seven 165-ft patrol cutters to sustain the rumrunner blockade. While this project was getting underway, US navy projects started rolling in. The first of these contracts was for the USS Dewey won in September 1931, which was followed by the destroyers Drayton and Lamson delivered in 1936.
The next phase of Bath was the trawlers, Bath’s contribution in the Main fishing industry. Bath won the contract with Frank J. O’Hara of Boston for several beam trawlers. Some of the trawlers were delivered by the end of 1929. Being well satisfied with Bath’s works, O’Hara ordered more trawlers that were delivered in 1929 and 1930. Other companies followed O’Hara’s lead and Bath received orders from Red Diamond Trawler Company and Bay State Fishing Company. Into the late 30's Newell was enlightened when he discovered the use of steel pipes in the place of scaffolding. This addition To the yard would prove to save money, time, and accidents.
World War 2 broke out and naval demands increased. The activity involving the construction of the destroyers as well as some freighters, which Bath had won the contract to build, kept all the employees of Bath Iron Works on their toes. Bath even hired men and women skilled and not, for relief of the great demands. Bath expanded its facilities by adding Harden’s Plant, in Brunswick, ME, to help alleviate the wartime demands on the Bath yard. Then the war was over and demand diminished, as did production at Bath. Pete Newell retired from president in December 1946, yet he served until the next president was elected. John R. Newell, the son of Pete Newell, was appointed vice-president in charge of production in July of 1947. And in April 1950 John R. Newell succeeded his father as president of Bath Iron Works
The war’s end would guide Bath to fill in the gaps with subsequent ventures. Most of Bath’s post World War II efforts were spent on trawlers, yachts, and navy contracts of shipbuilding. Bath achieved lead yard during the Korean War [next page]