J. F. Duthie & Company

47.57428°N 122.34644°W / 47.57428; -122.34644

West Bridge, one of the "West" boats built at J. F. Duthie & Company, shortly before her completion in May 1918

J. F. Duthie & Company was a small shipyard located on the east side of Harbor Island in Seattle, Washington. It was reportedly organized in 1911 (although there is no mention of it on the 1912 Baist map[1] at the location where the shipyard would be built) and expanded to 4 slipways on 25 acres of property[2] in World War I to build cargo ships for the United Kingdom, France and Norway, but those resources were eventually all diverted at the behest of the United States Shipping Board (USSB). Work on the new plant started on 10 September 1916 and the first keel was laid on 29 November the same year.[3] At that time, the new Skinner & Eddy plant across the water was already launching its first two ships: Niels Nielsen (21 September) and Hanna Nielsen (23 October).

Some 24 of the 33 ships built at J. F. Duthie were the "West boats," a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built for the USSB on the West Coast of the United States as part of the World War I war effort, with 12 requisitioned and 12 built under contract, 16% of the steel tonnage built in Puget Sound for the USSB. Duthie was supplied with boilers by Willamette Iron and Steel Works of Portland, Oregon.[4]

After the war, Wallace F. Duthie, the son of the founder J. F. Duthie, organized the dismantling of the shipbuilding facilities. Wallace died in 1922 at age 23.[5]

In 1928 the company's name was changed to Wallace Bridge Company. It built structural steel for local projects, including the Washington Athletic Club building in 1930.

Notable ships built at J. F. Duthie & Company
Duthie plant on the East Waterway of the Duwamish, 1917.
View from the water
View from the water, 1917

Among the first 7 boats built, before the Federal Government dominated the shipbuilding industry, was the steam ferry Leschi, which after an illustrious career capsized during Reagan's second term.

Requisitioned by USSB
Yard#OriginalOwner[6]Renamed ToLaunched[lower-alpha 1]DeliveredMaradFate[6][lower-alpha 2]
8War LeopardShipping ControllerWest Point2 Sep 17Jan 18scrapped 1938
9HallbjorgP. Kloppe, OsloWesternerNov 17Feb 18scrapped 1935
10War GeneralShipping ControllerWestfield8 Dec 17Feb 18scrapped 1930
17War PortWestern King3 Jan 18Mar 18scrapped 1938
15War MoonWestboro26 Mar 18Apr 18USSR 1945
11War TopazWest Bridge24 Apr 18May 18USSR 1945
14War SunWestover17 Feb 18May 18torpedoed 1918
12War EmeraldWestern Sea25 May 18Jun 18scrapped 1931
16ViviamFrench LineWestern Star4 Jul 18Aug 18scrapped 1935
18War DiskShipping ControllerWestern Cross4 Jul 18Aug 18scrapped 1931
19War RubyWestern Hope29 Jul 18Sep 18scrapped 1932
20PetainFrench LineWestpool21 Sep 18Oct 18UK 1941, torpedoed 1941
  1. See List of ship launches in 1917 and List of ship launches in 1918 for references
  2. Ships listed as "scrapped 19xx" were only operated by the USSB

In November of 1918, World War I came to an end. In February of 1919, Seattle workers went on strike.

Yard#USSB#NameLaunched[lower-alpha 1]Delivered[lower-alpha 1]MaradLend-Lease
211471West Helix14 Dec 18Y
221472West Hembrie29 Mar 1917 May 19Y
231473West Hematite26 Apr 1913 Jun 19
241474West Henshaw2 Jun 1914 Jul 19Y
251475West Hepburn21 Jun 192 Aug 19Y
261476West Herkimer / Seattle Spirit16 July 1916 Aug 19
271477West Herrick / Dewey23 Aug 1930 Sep 19
281478West Hesperia / Deuel27 Sep 1911 Nov 19
291479West Hesseltine22 Nov 19Y
301480West Ivan20 Dec 19
312602West Campgaw
322603West Mahwah
  1. See List of ship launches in 1918 and 1919 for references
  • For the Coastwise SS Co

Conversions of Japan-built USSB contract ships to oil burners during 1920: Eastern Crown, Eastern Dawn, Eastern Glen, Eastern Exporter for total of $338,094 on USSB account[7]

See also

References
  1. Baist's Real Estate Surveys of Seattle, Plate 26
  2. "Annual_Report_of_the_United_States_Shipping Board, Volume 3, 1919, p. 160".
  3. "One of Seattle's Great Institutions". Pacific Marine Review. July 1918. p. 102.
  4. "$2,500,000 Worth of Boilers". Pacific Marine Review. February 1919. p. 132.
  5. "Obituaries". Marine Review. Penton Publishing Company. 52: 244. June 1922.
  6. McKellar, Norman L. "Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921, The Requisitioned Ships" (PDF). Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921. ShipScribe.
  7. "Nearly 1,750,000 is spent on Japanese ships in Seattle". Weekly Commercial News. Vol. 61, no. 19. 6 November 1920. p. 9.
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