Bath Iron Works

Bath, Maine is the proud location of the long-standing shipbuilding company Bath Iron Works (BIW). The shipyard sits on the shore of the Kennebec River. This shore boasts the launching of the very first English-built ship in North America, Virginia. Virginia fathered a long lineage of ships built and launched in the Kennebec River. There are many other firsts that came from the stretch of the river, Long Reach, where BIW is located. Namely, BIW constructed the Navy's original torpedo boats; these torpedo boats led to the feared destroyer. Other firsts include the builder of the triple-expansion engine and the blueprints for the "Liberty"-design destroyers.

Bath Iron Works, Ltd. was established on November 28, 1884 by Tom Hyde (also known as General Hyde for his service in the army). The Hyde family migrated to the banks of the Kennebec eighty years earlier when Tom's uncle, Jonathan Hyde, ventured there looking for better health and a better job. Later, Jonathan Hyde brought Tom's father Zina and the Hyde tradition had planted roots. Tom commenced his business career by leasing a small iron foundry and at first the company made only castings. However, as time passed, the General's ingenuity brought Hyde windlass and all kinds of marine machinery. A prominent name in shipbuilding helped the General get Bath Iron Works, Ltd. on its feet; the Sewall's put up capital for the company. By January 28,1885, a $100,000 capital had been raised. The original part of BIW, later called the North Division, was the old foundry and the windlass plant. Years following, the South Division was added to the growing company; this addition resulted from the purchase of the Goss Marine Iron Works. With a few augmentations this division became a steel shipbuilding plant. At this point BIW was ready to take on the production of all types of ships. Another Hyde proved to be a very beneficial addition to BIW: Charles E. Hyde, General Hyde's cousin. Charles Hyde had been the superintendent at Goss and was the builder of the first triple-expansion marine engine used in America. This type of engine remained the standard type of steam engine until the advent of the steam turbine. Charles Hyde became BIW's chief engineer, chief draftsman, and constructor of engines, boilers, and auxiliary machinery.

The wooden steamer Cottage City was the first ship to see the crafty hands of BIW workmen. The hull of Cottage City was built by New England Shipbuilding Company while BIW built and installed all its machinery and outfitted it under a contract with Maine Steamship Company. The ship was launched in 1890 and used for passenger and freight service between Portland, Maine, and New York City. By June 1891 the next ship came out of BIW, a sister ship of Cottage City, the Manhattan. Production picked up rapidly with naval and private contracts. The first steel vessels built in Maine were built at BIW; these steel ships, Machias and Castine, were hybrids of sail and steam. Expansion was required, capital was raised, and days were looking up for BIW in the 1890's; that was until the fire of 1894. On February 13, 1894 a fire all but destroyed Bath Iron Works. But General Hyde put all his hometown forces together and rebuilt the yard.

Over the years much of BIW's effort has gone into the private yacht. On May 7, 1894, Bath's first yacht was launched; the grandiose yacht Eleanor was built for William A. Slater of Slater Mills for a handsome sum of $300,000. However, that year and the next saw an ebb in production; luckily, this decline did not last long. By 1899 the yard had reached its highest peak of activity and BIW gained a new president in General Hyde's eldest son, Edward W. Hyde. General Hyde, experiencing poor health, retired in September 1899; and on his death on November 14, 1899, BIW bid farewell to their founder. The yard also said goodbye to hand-revited ships after the torpedo boat Biddle was launched in May 1901. A more effective way of construction was implemented; power-driven tools beat out muscle power and reduced human efforts in steel shipbuilding. This new machinery came in handy when BIW won a Navy contract to build the battleship Georgia; it was "Bath's first and only battleship." Georgia was launched October 11, 1904.

BIW went through some financial turmoil in the early years of the 20th century. BIW joined with Charles Schwaab to form a trust; soon after, the Roosevelt campaign of "trust-busting" brought an end to this relationship. Bath Iron Works was sold back to the Hyde family into the hands of John S. Hyde, General Hyde's younger son. The company's finances were rescued by the many naval contracts in the next few years. These contracts meant jobs for many workers and, eventually, provided Bath with a working capital. BIW built many destroyers, from the 700-tonners to the 1000-tonners. In fact, by this time BIW had gained the reputation as the leading specialist in destroyers. The one thing that did decrease at BIW in these prosperous years was the construction of wooden ships; in 1910 not a single wooden ship left the company's hulls. The push was for better technology and faster boats with more sufficient engines. The answer to this was found in the geared turbines.

In 1916, in vying for a huge naval contract, the blueprints for the "Liberty" design destroyers were made in the drawing rooms of Bath. These ships became known as "tin cans" and "four-pipers" and this design came to be used in other yards to produce the multitudes of destroyers for World War I. In this time of heightened production, BIW said goodbye to John S. Hyde after his death on March 20, 1917. Just before John Hyde's death, Schwaab came back with new propositions wanting to buy the BIW and turn it into an ammunition plant. Hyde turned down this offer claiming that Bath's contribution to the war efforts was going to be destroyers. On July 14, 1917 the company's ownership changed forms when, for the first time, it went into the hands of many. At this time William T. Cobb became BIW's president. From 1917 through 1920 BIW was engaged in war-bound destroyers for the Navy. These war years brought much action to Bath. However, after the war, the peacetime demand - or lack thereof - put a heavy strain on BIW. The height of the wartime flow required Bath to staff 1900 employees; post-high employee numbers declined to 650. The low became so low that not one ship was launched at Bath in 1922. Debts were increasing; and, with so few projects, BIW had to close its doors. On October 1, 1925, Bath Iron Works was sold at public auction. Bath was stripped of equipment and left to rot.

However, the spirit of Bath still lived in William S. (Pete) Newell, once a young draftsman at the yard. He pulled Iron 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 BIW launched the private yacht Vanda in 1928. Yachts were the saving grace of BIW during this period of restoration. Private investors wanted finer, bigger 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. However, the coast guard kept BIW from stagnancy. With prohibition still lingering in 1931, the coast guard needed seven 165-ft patrol cutters to sustain the rumrunners 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. BIW worked diligently to build up revenue after many hard blows and established itself in the industry as a stalwart by 1936.

The next phase of Bath was the trawlers, Bath's contribution in the Maine 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.

Early in the 1940's a congregational appropriation mandated that the navy undergo a facelift. The over-aged ships, those over sixteen years old, were to be taken out of commission in the US Navy. The US made a deal with Great Britain trading fifty old WWI destroyers for lease rights on eight British occupations. It was a great time for Bath; the US Navy would need a new fleet of destroyers and BIW had the expertise. The new designs for the destroyers turned out bigger ships that broke record speeds. WWII 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 BIW on their toes. Bath even recruited employees, men and women, skilled and not, for relief of the great demands. BIW expanded its facilities by adding Harding'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 presidency 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 BIW.

The war's end would guide Bath to fill the gaps with subsequent ventures. Most of the Bath post-WWII efforts were spent on trawlers, yachts, and navy contracts of shipbuilding and diversification. Bath's success was kept alive by the diversification of naval ships. Bath achieved lead yard during the Korean War and produced five new-design LST's (Landing Ships, Tank). From the 1950's until present Bath has also become the leader in production of ten naval non-nuclear surface ship classes. Other feats of the yard include diversification outside the realm of shipbuilding; Bath produced alternative industrial products such as turbine exhaust casings, pulp-molding machinery, water-circulating pumps, and replacement parts for naval ship supply systems.

The next decade, the 1960's, Bath saw a lot of business changes; it was a decade of mergers. Entrepreneur William D. Kyle of Milwaukee purchased a "substantial amount" of the BIW's stock as did John W. O'Boyle of Texas. As a major stockholder, Kyle became Chairman of the Board and encouraged business changes. In 1967 BIW joined teams with Penn-Crusher and Hyde Windlass to form Bath Industries, Inc. The following year Bath united with Congoleum-Nairn for another merger. 1965 saw John R. Newell retire; James F. Goodrich (a former naval architect for Todd Shipyards) took the president's seat. During the Goodrich years Bath again gained a significant reputation in the industry. Bath made additions for the improvement of the facilities. These improvements would serve as a means to conquer more projects in increasing number and complexity. Some of the projects of the time were as follows: merchant ships for American Export Lines including 8 Seawitch class containerships, five 2500-ton charter tankers for Military Sealift Command, and a power-generating barge for General Electric Company.

Though Goodrich's term was a very productive one, it was short compared to those held in the earlier years of Bath shipbuilding. John F. Sullivan, Jr. was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the company 1975. Improvements continued to be made to production methods. One development was the implementation of modular construction. This proved to be a great asset to the production process enabling the building process to be done in sections, with as many of the sections as possible constructed indoors away from the cold weather. In the 1980's Bath initiated a construction program involving the Arliegh Burke class AEGIS guided missile destroyers, the most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world. Today Bath is the leading producer of these destroyers.

Sullivan proved to be another short term as president when the office was turned over to William E. Haggett in 1983. Haggett, the son of a BIW employee, grew up surrounded by the Bath experience. With Haggett came additional expansion. This time the facilities were enhanced for overhaul and repair; Bath gained the newest facility of its type for ship repair on the East Coast. Among the additions were an 81,000-ton floating dry-dock, extended piers, crane service, modern shops, and a highly skilled staff of employees (as was the Bath tradition).

Bath continues to produce all types of ships. Some of the most recent accomplishments of Bath are DDG's such as the USS Donald Cook DDG 75 and the USS Higgins DDG 76. In 1995, after BIW ran into some financial problems, General Dynamics purchased the company. At present the yard is busy with the naval contract of 21 Arliegh Burke Class destroyers (DDG 51). The yard has other contracts with the Navy including production of the new class of amphibious transport ships (LPD 17) and the next generation of surface combatant ships (DD 21), as well as an upcoming deal for maintenance of the Perry class (FFG 7) frigates. Bath is the largest private employer in ME; in 1995 employee numbers reached a total of 10,500. Bath has a transformation and modernization project to be completed in 2001. Allan C. Cameroon presides as the current president of Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics Company.

Ships constructed, remodeled, and repaired at Bath Iron Works Shipyard:

Kinds of Ships constructed, remodeled, repaired: