The Columbia River Shipbuilding Company was a small

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States, located on the west bank of the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

. The shipyard was located at the foot of SW Sheridan Street, just upstream of the

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

Marquam Bridge The Marquam Bridge is a double-deck, cantilever bridge, steel-truss cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 5 traffic across the Willamette River from south of downtown Portland, Oregon, on the west side to the industrial area of inner South ...

, directly adjacent to the

Northwest Steel Northwest Steel was a structural steel fabricator and shipbuilding company in Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated cl ...

shipyard. The owners of Columbia River Shipbuilding were A. F. Smith and J. Frank Watson, who were also owners of The Smith and Watson Iron Works. The shipyard was managed by Charles D. Bowles, who was also associated with

J. F. Duthie Shipbuilding J. F. Duthie & Company was a small shipyard located on List of structures on Elliott Bay#Harbor Island, the east side of Harbor Island, Seattle, Harbor Island in Seattle, Washington. It was reportedly organized in 1911 (although there is no menti ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. Columbia River Shipbuilding was established in 1918 to build

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

s for the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting ...

(USSB). The shipyard closed shortly after the end of World War I. At the time of its operation, the plant was held in high regard in the industry and held a high level of workmanship. The work environment was safe and fostered loyalty and camaraderie. At its peak, the plant had 8,500 persons on the payroll and was delivering two ships a month. In May of 1918, the plant delivered three ships. The steamer ''War Bullet/West Grove'' with a gross tonnage of 5,688, was launched in 61 days and at the time, was the fastest time that any U.S. shipyard had built. ''The City of Eureka/West Harma'', with a gross tonnage of 6,280, was built in the shortest amount of time. It was nicknamed 'the wonder ship,' as it was built in 27 days and launched ten days later. The shipyard built not just the ships, but nearly everything that went into them, including their furniture. The machinery was made at The Smith and Watson Iron Works, but the woodwork was handled by the joiner shop, the forgings were made at the blacksmith, the

boilers A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

, heat exhangers, smokestacks, uptakes, and breathings were made in the boiler shop. The company made 281,600 tonnage of ships in total. Most of the 32 ships built by the Columbia River Shipbuilding Company were the ''West'' boats, a series of steel-

hulled Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...

cargo ships built for the USSB on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

as part of the World War I war effort. The first ship built at Columbia River Shipbuilding was the cargo ship ; the final ship to be delivered was the cargo ship ''West Hassayampa'', which was delivered in January 1920.

Notable ships built by Columbia River Shipbuilding

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References

{{Reflist Shipbuilding companies of Oregon Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States Companies based in Portland, Oregon Defunct companies based in Oregon Manufacturing companies established in 1918 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1920 1918 establishments in Oregon 1920 disestablishments in Oregon History of transportation in Oregon