View source for Union Iron Works

'''Union Iron Works''', located in San Francisco, California, was the only private shipbuilder capable of building the large warships in the Western United States prior to the First World War, and thus had a ''de facto'' monopoly on major warship construction contracts on the Pacific coast.

==History==
The Donohue Brothers, Scots-Irish immigrants, founded Union Iron Works in the south of Market area of San Francisco in 1849. After years as the premiere producer of mining, railroad, agricultural and locomotive machinery in California, Union Iron Works, led by I.M. Scott, entered the ship building business and relocated to Potrero Point where its shipyards still exist, making the site on the north side of the Potrero the longest running privately owned shipyard in the United States. The company also owned the Alameda Works Shipyard, located across the San Francisco Bay in Alameda.

In 1885, Union Iron Works launched the first steel-hulled ship on the west coast, the "Arago," built with steel from the Pacific Rolling Mills.

In 1886, UIW was awarded a one million dollar contract to build a Naval cruiser, the {{US-Charleston}}, which they completed in eighteen months. From the completion of the ''Arago'' in 1884 to 1902, UIW built seventy-five marine vessels, including two of the most famous vessels of the [[Spanish-American War]], the {{US-Olympia}} and the {{US-Oregon}}. An 1892 description of the yards stated that between 1200 and 1500 men were employed and the yearly gross revenue was between two and four million. by the turn of the century, the area had increased and employment double to three thousand-five hundred workers. These industrial facilities used five types of power, distributed throughout; electricity, compressed air, steam, hydraulic and coal or gas fire.

In 1902, the Union Iron Works was absorbed into a combine called the [[United States Shipbuilding Corporation]] and was mired in three years of litigation. In 1905, the entire forty acre shipyard was purchased by [[Bethlehem Steel Corporation]] for one million dollars. Charles Schwab stood on the steps of the UIW office building on Twentieth Street during the auction. He was the only bidder. Schwab was widely believed to have engineered the demise of the U.S. Shipbuilding Corporation in order to gain control of the industry. Whether or not that was true, he certainly benefited from the collapse of the US Shipbuilding combine. 

After 1905, the shipyard operated as part of Bethlehem Steel, and produced both warships and merchant ships.

In 1908, [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]] bought the Hunter's Point drydocks.

==Shipbuilding==
<div name=fredbot:ships>
{|border=1
|'''Ship'''||'''Type'''||'''Launched'''||'''Fate'''
|-
|{{US-1Charleston|f=p}}||protected cruiser||19 Jul, 1888||Wrecked 2 Nov, 1899
|-
|{{US-SanFrancisco|f=p}}||protected cruiser||26 Oct, 1889||Sold 20 Apr, 1939
|-
|{{US-Monterey|f=p}}||monitor||28 Apr, 1891||Sold 25 Feb, 1922
|-
|{{US-Olympia|f=p}}||protected cruiser||5 Nov, 1892||Preserved 11 Sep, 1957
|-
|{{US-Oregon|f=p}}||pre-dreadnought||26 Oct, 1893||Sold 1956
|-
|{{US-Wheeling|f=p}}||gunboat||18 Mar, 1897||Sold 31 Oct, 1946
|-
|{{US-Marietta|f=p}}||gunboat||18 Mar, 1897||Sold 25 Mar, 1920
|-
|{{US-1Farragut|f=p}}||torpedo boat||16 Jul, 1898||Sold 9 Sep, 1919
|-
|{{US-Wisconsin|f=p}}||pre-dreadnought||16 Nov, 1898||Sold 1922
|-
|{{US-Cheyenne|f=p}}||monitor||8 Sep, 1900||Sold 20 Apr, 1939
|-
|{{US-Ohio|f=p}}||pre-dreadnought||1901||Sold 1923
|-
|{{US-Grampus|f=p}}||submarine||31 Jul, 1902|| 
|-
|{{US-Pike|f=p}}||submarine||14 Jan, 1903|| 
|-
|{{US-Tacoma|f=p}}||protected cruiser||2 Jun, 1903||Sold 5 Sep, 1924
|-
|{{US-1California|f=p}}||armoured cruiser||28 Apr, 1904||Sunk 19 Jul, 1918
|-
|{{US-SouthDakota|f=p}}||armoured cruiser||21 Jul, 1904||Sold 1930
|-
|{{US-1Milwaukee|f=p}}||armoured cruiser||10 Sep, 1904||Wrecked 13 Jan, 1917
|-
|{{US-Carp|f=p}}||submarine||6 Sep, 1911||Collision 17 Dec, 1917
|-
|{{US-1Barracuda|f=p}}||submarine||19 Mar, 1912||Sold 17 Aug, 1922
|-
|{{US-Seawolf|f=p}}||submarine||6 May, 1913||Sunk 12 Mar, 1920
|-
|{{US-Nautilus|f=p}}||submarine||4 Jun, 1913||Broken up 1931
|-
|{{US-Orca|f=p}}||submarine||14 Mar, 1914||Broken up 1931
|-
|{{US-K7|f=p}}||submarine||20 Jun, 1914||Broken up 1931
|-
|{{US-K8|f=p}}||submarine||11 Jul, 1914||Broken up 1931
|-
|{{US-R15|f=p}}||submarine||10 Dec, 1917||Stricken 1946
|-
|{{US-R16|f=p}}||submarine||15 Dec, 1917||Sold 1946
|-
|{{US-R17|f=p}}||submarine||24 Dec, 1917||Transferred 9 Mar, 1942
|-
|{{US-R18|f=p}}||submarine||8 Jan, 1918||Sold 1946
|-
|{{US-R19|f=p}}||submarine||28 Jan, 1918||Transferred 9 Mar, 1942
|-
|{{US-McKee|f=p}}||destroyer||23 Mar, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Robinson|f=p}}||destroyer||28 Mar, 1918||Broken up 1946
|-
|{{US-Schley|f=p}}||destroyer||28 Mar, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Champlin|f=p}}||destroyer||7 Apr, 1918||Expended 12 Aug, 1936
|-
|{{US-Ringgold|f=p}}||destroyer||14 Apr, 1918||Broken up 1947
|-
|{{US-Mugford|f=p}}||destroyer||14 Apr, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Chew|f=p}}||destroyer||26 May, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Ludlow|f=p}}||destroyer||9 Jun, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Hazelwood|f=p}}||destroyer||22 Jun, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-McKean|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918||Torpedoed 17 Nov, 1943
|-
|{{US-Harding|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Gridley|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Williams|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Crane|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Hart|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Ingraham|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918||Expended 23 Jul, 1937
|-
|{{US-Burns|f=p}}||destroyer||4 Jul, 1918||Sold 2 Apr, 1932
|-
|{{US-Anthony|f=p}}||destroyer||10 Aug, 1918||Expended 22 Jul, 1937
|-
|{{US-Sproston|f=p}}||destroyer||10 Aug, 1918||Expended 20 Jul, 1937
|-
|{{US-R20|f=p}}||submarine||21 Aug, 1918||Sold 1946
|-
|{{US-Rizal|f=p}}||destroyer||21 Sep, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Renshaw|f=p}}||destroyer||21 Sep, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Mackenzie|f=p}}||destroyer||29 Sep, 1918||Sold 21 Jun, 1945
|-
|{{US-JohnFrancisBurnes|f=p}}||destroyer||10 Nov, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Farragut|f=p}}||destroyer||10 Nov, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-Somers|f=p}}||destroyer||21 Nov, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-S30|f=p}}||submarine||21 Nov, 1918||Sold Dec, 1946
|-
|{{US-Fuller|f=p}}||destroyer||5 Dec, 1918||Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
|-
|{{US-Percival|f=p}}||destroyer||5 Dec, 1918|| 
|-
|{{US-S33|f=p}}||submarine||5 Dec, 1918||Sold 1946
|-
|{{US-S31|f=p}}||submarine||28 Dec, 1918||Sold May, 1946
|-
|{{US-Stoddert|f=p}}||destroyer||8 Jan, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-S32|f=p}}||submarine||11 Jan, 1919||Sold May, 1946
|-
|{{US-Farquhar|f=p}}||destroyer||18 Jan, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Thompson|f=p}}||destroyer||19 Jan, 1919||Expended 1944
|-
|{{US-Reno|f=p}}||destroyer||22 Jan, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Woodbury|f=p}}||destroyer||6 Feb, 1919||Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
|-
|{{US-S34|f=p}}||submarine||13 Feb, 1919||Sold 1946
|-
|{{US-Kennedy|f=p}}||destroyer||15 Feb, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-PaulHamilton|f=p}}||destroyer||21 Feb, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-S35|f=p}}||submarine||27 Feb, 1919||Expended 4 Apr, 1942
|-
|{{US-O'Bannon|f=p}}||destroyer||28 Feb, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-WilliamJones|f=p}}||destroyer||9 Apr, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Hogan|f=p}}||destroyer||12 Apr, 1919||Expended 8 Nov, 1945
|-
|{{US-SPLee|f=p}}||destroyer||22 Apr, 1919||Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
|-
|{{US-Howard|f=p}}||destroyer||26 Apr, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Nicholas|f=p}}||destroyer||1 May, 1919||Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
|-
|{{US-Young|f=p}}||destroyer||8 May, 1919||Grounded 8 Sep, 1923
|-
|{{US-Sloat|f=p}}||destroyer||14 May, 1919||Expended 26 Jun, 1935
|-
|{{US-Stansbury|f=p}}||destroyer||16 May, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Zeilin|f=p}}||destroyer||28 May, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Wood|f=p}}||destroyer||28 May, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-S36|f=p}}||submarine||3 Jun, 1919||Sunk 20 Jan, 1942
|-
|{{US-S38|f=p}}||submarine||17 Jun, 1919||Expended 20 Feb, 1945
|-
|{{US-Yarborough|f=p}}||destroyer||20 Jun, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Shirk|f=p}}||destroyer||20 Jun, 1919||Broken up 1931
|-
|{{US-S37|f=p}}||submarine||20 Jun, 1919||Sunk 20 Feb, 1945
|-
|{{US-S39|f=p}}||submarine||2 Jul, 1919||Sunk 14 Aug, 1942
|-
|{{US-Kidder|f=p}}||destroyer||10 Jul, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-LaVallette|f=p}}||destroyer||15 Jul, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Selfridge|f=p}}||destroyer||25 Jul, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Mervine|f=p}}||destroyer||11 Aug, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Marcus|f=p}}||destroyer||22 Aug, 1919||Expended 25 Jun, 1935
|-
|{{US-Chase|f=p}}||destroyer||2 Sep, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-RobertSmith|f=p}}||destroyer||19 Sep, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Chauncey|f=p}}||destroyer||29 Sep, 1919|| 
|-
|{{US-Bruce|f=p}}||destroyer||20 May, 1920||Sold Aug, 1932
|-
|{{US-Coghlan|f=p}}||destroyer||16 Jun, 1920|| 
|-
|{{US-Mullany|f=p}}||destroyer||9 Jul, 1920|| 
|-
|{{US-Preston|f=p}}||destroyer||7 Aug, 1920||Sold 23 Aug, 1932
|-
|{{US-Lamson|f=p}}||destroyer||1 Sep, 1920|| 
|-
|{{US-Sumner|f=p}}||destroyer||24 Nov, 1920||Sold 1934
|-
|{{US-Macdonough|f=p}}||destroyer||15 Dec, 1920|| 
|-
|{{US-S40|f=p}}||submarine||5 Jan, 1921||Sold 1946
|-
|{{US-Hull|f=p}}||destroyer||18 Feb, 1921|| 
|-
|{{US-S41|f=p}}||submarine||21 Feb, 1921||Sold 1946
|-
|{{US-Farenholt|f=p}}||destroyer||9 Mar, 1921|| 
|-
|{{US-Corry|f=p}}||destroyer||28 Mar, 1921|| 
|-
|{{US-Melvin|f=p}}||destroyer||11 Apr, 1921|| 
|}
</div name=fredbot:ships>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
{{refend}}

{{CatPrivateShipBuilder|US}}