Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company

Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Shipbuilding, Construction
Founded	1898
Fate	Purchased by Lockheed in 1959 and renamed Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company; shipyard closed in 1987
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington , United States
Products	Ships (including U.S. Navy vessels), construction projects (Harbor Island, irrigation canals, bridges, stadium)
Parent	Lockheed (from 1959)

Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company was a leading shipbuilding and construction enterprise headquartered in Seattle, Washington, situated on Harbor Island within Elliott Bay. Established in 1898, the firm played a key role in the creation of Harbor Island, finalized in 1909. It undertook significant construction assignments nationwide and specialized in building vessels largely for the U.S. Navy throughout and following World War II. During the wartime period, it operated under the name Associated Shipbuilders as part of a partnership with Lake Union Dry Dock Company. In 1959, Lockheed purchased the company, rebranding it as Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company. The shipyard ceased operations permanently in 1987.

Construction and shipbuilding

Throughout its 61 years of operation, Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging delivered numerous important projects.

Ships

• The inaugural vessel produced by the company was Governor Pingree (1898), a 140-foot stern-wheeler designed for the Yukon gold trade.
• Two wooden cargo ships, each weighing 5,400 tons—Broxton and Snoqualmie (1918)—were originally constructed for World War I but were later utilized in Pacific commercial routes.
• The company built over 2,000 vessels, including around 100 steel ships commissioned by the U.S. Navy during and after World War II. Among these was the USS Turner Joy, a destroyer famously linked to the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
• Several sizable ferries were also constructed for the Washington State Ferry System.

World War II List of Ships

• Built 4 out of 30 Barnegat class seaplane tenders
  • USS Rockaway (AVP-29) through USS Yakutat (AVP-32)
• Constructed 14 of 123 Admirable class minesweepers
  • USS Signet (AM-302) through USS Superior (AM-311)
  • USS Execute (AM-232) through USS Fixity (AM-235)
• Produced 16 of 95 Auk class minesweepers
  • USS Spear (AM-322) through USS Vigilance (AM-324)
  • HMS Catherine (J12) (BAM-9) through HMS Elfreda (J402) (BAM-16)
  • HMS Fairy (J403) (BAM-25) through HMS Garnet (J407) (BAM-29)
• Delivered 3 tugboats
• Supplied 25 barges

Other constructions

• Harbor Island in Seattle, completed in 1909, was at that time the largest man-made island in the United States and remains the largest to this day.
• The Umatilla Project irrigation canals located in northwestern Oregon, completed in 1906, represent a major infrastructure development.
• A five-story King County courthouse in Seattle was finalized in 1914.
• Husky Stadium at the University of Washington was built in 1920.
• A substantial dam for Lake Dallas in Denton County, Texas, was completed in 1924.
• Development work on Port Townsend harbor in Washington State was carried out in 1931.
• The first Lake Washington Floating Bridge was finished in 1940.
• From 1949 to 1952, the company managed a railroad locomotive refurbishment program.
• The inaugural Hood Canal Floating Bridge was constructed in 1961.

External links

• Lockheed Shipbuilding, Seattle WA

See also

• Category:Ships built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company: vessels produced during the PSB&D period
• Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation#Shipbuilding in Puget Sound