33.7706°N -118.2138°Wthumb|right|Light Vessel No.57 at Toledo, OhioCraig Shipbuilding was a shipbuilding company in Long Beach, California. To support the World War I demand for ships Craig Shipbuilding shipyard switched over to military construction and built: US Navy Submarines and Cargo Ships. Craig Shipbuilding was started in 1906 by John F. Craig. John F. Craig had worked in Toledo, Ohio with his father, John Craig (1838-1934), and Blythe Craig, both shipbuilders, their first ship was built in 1864 at Craig Shipbuilding Toledo. John F. Craig opened his shipbuilding company in Port of Long Beach on the south side of Channel 3, the current location of Pier 41 in the inner harbor, becoming the port's first shipyard. In 1908 Craig Shipbuilding was given the contract to finishing dredging of the Port of Long Beach inner harbor and to dredge the channel connecting it to the Pacific Ocean. In 1917 Craig sold the shipyard to the short-lived California Shipbuilding Company. but then opened a new shipyard next to the one he just sold and called it the Long Beach Shipbuilding Company. The Long Beach Shipbuilding Company built cargo ships in 1918, 1919, and 1920 for the United States Shipping Board.
In 1918 California Shipbuilding started to have difficulties completing contracts that it had purchased with the Craig Shipyard, including two submarines and a lighthouse tender. In 1921, Craig purchased his original shipyard back and renamed it back to Craig Shipbuilding. At the same time he renamed the Long Beach Shipbuilding to Craig Shipbuilding and ran both as one company. The tow shipyard did repair work on built yachts.
The United States Maritime Commission started a shipbuilding program in 1939, to support the World War 2 demand for ships. Craig leased the Long Beach Shipbuilding yard to the Consolidated Steel Corporation. Consolidated Steel built Type C1-B and C1-M cargo merchant ships and two Type P1 passenger ships at the leased yard from prefabricated sections erected at their Maywood plant inland. Consolidated Steel operated two other large shipyards, one nearby in the Port of Los Angeles West Basin in Wilmington, which was also supplied by Maywood, the other in Orange, Texas, and two other small boatyards. After World war 2, the Consolidated-leased yard closed. Craig shipyard continued to do repair work as the Long Beach Marine Repair and closed in 1970.[1]
Notable ships built at Craig Shipbuilding Toledo (1864-1905), later purchased by a syndicate of investors in 1905 and renamed Toledo Shipbuilding Company, and then purchased in 1945 by the American Ship Building Company.[2] Run today by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority:[3] [4] [5]
On May 19, 1908, the Western Dredging and Marine Construction Co., of which John F. Craig was president and C. H. Windham general manager and treasurer was contracted to complete for $600,000 all dredging of the harbor, including that of Channels 1, 2, 3 and Slips 4 and 6, the turning basin and the ocean entrance at the mouth of San Gabriel River. Included was the purchase of the new electric dredge for $65,000.[11]
Notable ships built at Craig Shipbuilding Long Beach Yard (1906 to 1 January 1916, when it was bought by the California Shipbuilding Company[12]) and (1922-1934):[13]
In 1932 Craig reconditioned 2 cargo vessels (Point Ancha, Point Lobos) for Swayne & Hoyt, including the installation of a low pressure turbine at theexhaust end of the triple-expansion engine to increase the speed of the ships.[16]
The yard was the smallest of the three steel shipyards in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach active during the World War I shipbuilding boom, responsible for 17% of the tonnage produced there. The Llewellyn Iron Works of Los Angeles produced engines for a number of yards on the West Coast. It is unknown whether a particular hull was towed to them for outfitting or their engine delivered to the yard.
| Yard# | USSB#[17] [18] | Type | Engine ! | Name | Launched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124 | 3,000dwt cargo | Silverado | 11 Feb 18 | ||
| 125 | Eldorado | 7 May 18 | |||
| 126 | 2515 | 3,200dwt cargo | Wallingford | 15 Jan 19 | |
| 127 | 423 | 6,000dwt cargo | 5 Jun 18 | ||
| 128 | 424 | Oshkosh | 31 Aug 18 | ||
| 129 | 425 | Magunkook | 25 Sep 18 | ||
| 130 | 2075 | 15 Mar 19 | |||
| 131 | 2076 | West Keene | 26 Apr 19 | ||
| 132 | 2077 | West Katan | 26 May 19 | ||
| 133 | 2078 | Vinita | |||
| 134 | 2079 | 13 Sep 19 | |||
| 135 | 2080 | LIW | West Keats | ||
| 136 | 2081 | West Kebar | |||
| 137 | 2082 | ||||
| 138 - 141 | 2511 - 2514 | cancelled | |||
Other notable ships built at Long Beach Shipbuilding Company Long Beach Yard (1918-1921):
This company was established in 1915 with John F. Craig as president, but due to World War I, it was a dormant operation until its service was inaugurated with the launch of the . The line was to establish a trade route between Los Angeles and ports on the west coast of Mexico north of Mazatlán.[24] The round trips were planned to include La Paz, Topolobampo, Mazatlan, San Bias, Manzanilio and at times Guaymas and last 25 days.[25]
J. McMillan was general manager and Chas. G. Krueger, Los Angeles agent was also local agent for Swayne & Hoyt on their traffic passing through San Pedro.[26]
In August 1921 the company advertised as representing Swayne & Hoyt (whose volume of course was much bigger than the company's own sailings), and as having offices in 794 Pacific Electric Building and operating on the Fifth Street Wharf in Los Angeles Harbor.[27]
| From | To | Departure | Arrival | Cargo / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | |||||
| San Pedro | 17 Feb | ship maiden voyage, line inaugural voyage[28] | |||
| San Pedro | 18 Mar | 22 survivors of [29] | |||
| San Pedro | 20 Apr | 1500 tons of Mexican tomatoes[30] | |||
| San Pedro | 19 May | La Paz district governor General Metza with $150,000 to $200,000 in gold stolen from the Mexican government[31] | |||
| Mazatlan | San Francisco | 5 Jun | 11 Jun | 750 tons sugar Topolobampo to S.F., also panocha, expected in San Pedro 12 or 13 June[32] | |
| San Pedro | 11 Aug | 700 tons of garabanzas, to be put onto the West Coyote for Britain. 250 tons general for San Francsico. Excepted back from there 28 August.[33] | |||
The Llewellyn Iron Works, builder of marine engines for ships launched from Long Beach during World War I was one of the companies merged into Consolidated Steel. Consolidated did not build any engines during World War II.
See: Consolidated Steel Corporation#Long Beach shipyard