Bethlehem San Francisco was a major pre-war shipbuilder, in continuous operation throughout the inter-war years and the only major shipbuilder on the West Coast prior to WWII. It was founded as Union Iron and Brass Works in 1849, by Peter Donahue, one of San Francisco's three Donahue brothers, known as the “iron men.” It was sold to Bethlehem Steel in 1906 but it continued to use the Union Iron Works name until 1917, after Bethlehem acquired Quincy, Sparrows Point and a number of smaller yards. The Alameda shipyard, formerly United Engineering Works, was added at the onset of WWI, to build standard cargo ships for the U.S. Shipping Board and the San Francisco plant was expanded by the acquisition of the adjoining Risdon Iron Works, which had built locomotives, and this facility was used for destroyer construction. After the war, the Alameda yard was converted to ship repair, although it built 10 troopships in WWII. The Alameda yard closed in the 1970s but the San Francisco yard continues today as
San Francisco Drydock.
