Davidson Shipbuilding
West Bay City MI
Most recent update: May 14, 2016.
James Davidson, a master mariner from Buffalo, started this shipyard in 1873. His first ship, the James Davidson, was said to be the first wooden ship the timbers for which were cut to specifications, in a saw mill. Davidson died in 1929 and the shipyard closed in 1932. The yard was at the foot of Randolph Street: the site is now part of Veterans Memorial Park but the graving dock is still clearly visible from the air on Google here.
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O/N | Name | Customer | Type | GT | LOA | Built | Notes | |
1 | James Davidson | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,456 | 1874 | wrecked 1883 on Thunder Bay Is, Lake Huron | ||
91272 | Minnesota | propeller | 1,138 | 1880 | burned 1903 | |||
5 | 155040 | Oceania | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,490 | 1880 | burned 1919 in the Canadian Vickers shipyard | |
6 | 115848 | Siberia | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,618 | 1882 | wrecked 1905 off Long Point, Lake Erie | |
8 | 85800 | George T. Hope | freighter | 1,558 | 1883 | Culligan 1907, foundered 1912 near Grand Isle, Lake Superior | ||
9 | 106302 | Australasia | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,820 | 1884 | burned 1896 in Whitefish Bay | |
11 | 76601 | John Shaw | schooner | 928 | 1885 | foundered 1894 | ||
12 | 145421 | Temple Emery | tugboat | 155 | 1886 | abandoned 1923 | ||
14 | 81115 | Wahnipitae | schooner | 1,432 | 1886 | wrecked 1891 in Cleveland | ||
15 | 110733 | Roumania | J. Corrigan | freighter | 1,837 | 1887 | abandoned 1928, scrapped 1933 | |
16 | 3381 | Bulgaria | J. Corrigan | freighter | 1,888 | 1887 | abandoned 1916 | |
17 | 85991 | Germanic | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,131 | 1888 | Reliever 1908, burned 1909 at Methodist Point, Georgian Bay | |
18 | 92029 | Mary B. Mitchell | schooner | 963 | 1888 | foundered 1915 | ||
18 | 91988 | Mary Woolson | schooner | 709 | 1888 | rammed and sunk 1920 | ||
19 | 126488 | C. B. Strohn | tugboat | 18 | 1888 | abandoned 1927 | ||
20 | 3400 | Britannic | W. J. White | freighter | 1,121 | 1888 | Sarnor 1913, burned 1926nat Kingston ON | |
22 | 86026 | George G. Hadley | Hadley, Kitchener | freighter | 2,073 | 1888 | William P. Rend 1902, wrecked 1917 off North Point, Thunder Bay | |
24 | 116266 | S. S. Wilhelm | J. Davidson | freighter | 683 | 1888 | L. L. Barth 1903, abandoned 1926 | |
25 | 92116 | Majestic | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,985 | 1889 | burned 1907 off Long Point, Lake Erie | |
27 | 86036 | Geyser | Bay Line & Fire boat | fire tugboat | 29 | 1889 | ||
30 | 106702 | Alex. Nimick | Irwin, Tener & Oliver | freighter | 1,968 | 1890 | wrecked 1907 in Whitefish Bay MI | |
31 | 106676 | Adriatic | schooner | 915 | 1889 | abandoned 1930 | ||
33 | 76879 | John Harper | American Tpt. Co | freighter | 1,951 | 1890 | burned 1914 in the Detroit River | |
34 | 81263 | Walter Vail | A. D. Campbell | freighter | 789 | 1890 | Herman H. Hettler 1913, wrecked 1926 off Grand Is, Lake Superior | |
35 | 150497 | Panther | Davidson Transportation Co | freighter | 1,374 | 1890 | sank 1916 off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior | |
130481 | Nirvana | schooner | 611 | 1890 | stranded 1905 | |||
40 | 126717 | City of Berlin | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,051 | 1891 | Charles A. Luck 1915, Richland Star 1916, Oakwood 1925, wrecked 1925 near Millers Point, Lake Erie | |
41 | 126722 | City of Paris | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,062 | 1891 | C. W. Jacob 1915, Isolde 1928, wrecked 1933 in Sevenmile Creek, near Erie | |
42 | 126729 | City of Glasgow | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,002 | 1891 | burned 1907 in Green Bay, made into a barge, scrapped 1922 | |
43 | 126731 | City of London | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,005 | 1891 | collision and sank 1913 off Point Pelee, Lake Erie | |
45 | 96114 | Harold | freighter | 718 | 1891 | burned 1915 | ||
46 | 92302 | Maxwell A. | tugboat | 1891 | burned 1915 | |||
48 | 126885 | City of Venice | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,108 | 1892 | collision and sank 1902 off Rondeau LH, Lake Erie | |
49 | 126897 | City of Genoa | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,446 | 1892 | collision and sank 1911 off Sarnia, scuttled 1915 | |
50 | 126899 | City of Naples | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,394 | 1892 | Frank O'Connor 1916, burned 1919 off Cana Is WI | |
52 | 106975 | Aberdeen | schooner | 1,045 | 1892 | H. Gladys 1910, abandoned 1932 | ||
53 | 81423 | William D. Becker | schooner | 1,046 | 1892 | foundered 1907 | ||
51 | 150609 | Perfection | tugboat | 71 | 1892 | abandoned 1912 | ||
55 | 150621 | Paisley | schooner | 1,047 | 1893 | later Richland Daisy 1916, Colpet 1923, abandoned 1931 | ||
56 | H. A. Barr | schooner | 1893 | sold 1901, foundered 1902 off Port Stanley | ||||
57 | 145648 | Thomas Cranage | T. Cranage | freighter | 2,219 | 1893 | wrecked off Watcher Is, Georgian Bay 1911 | |
58 | W. P. Ketcham | J. A. Calbick | freighter | 946 | 1893 | later Lucy Neff 1902, foundered off Fenwick Is 1915 | ||
59 | 86264 | Geo. B. Owen | schooner | 744 | 1893 | sank 1926 | ||
60 | 116623 | Shenandoah | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,251 | 1894 | abandoned in West Bay City 1924 | |
61 | 130669 | Nicaragua | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,204 | 1894 | scrapped 1923 | |
62 | 86293 | Grampian | schooner | 844 | 1894 | abandoned 1945 | ||
64 | 92598 | Madagascar | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,203 | 1894 | later Kenosha 1906, foundered off NY 1909 | |
66 | 111083 | Rappahannock | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,380 | 1895 | foundered in Jackfish Bay, Lake Superior 1911 | |
69 | 116682 | Sacramento | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,380 | 1895 | hulked in Bay City 1930, stripped by 1939 | |
70 | 67313 | No. 001 | barge | 1,545 | 1895 | stranded 1918 | ||
71 | 67314 | No. 002 | barge | 1,549 | 1895 | sank 1906 | ||
72 | 86317 | Granada | schooner | 1,729 | 1895 | scrapped 1928 | ||
73 | 107219 | Armenia | schooner | 2,040 | 1896 | foundered 1906 | ||
74 | 107221 | Abyssinia | schooner | 2,038 | 1896 | stranded 1917 | ||
75 | 107222 | Algeria | schooner | 2.039 | 1896 | foundered 1906 | ||
76 | 107236 | Appomattox | Boston Coal Dock | freighter | 2,643 | 1896 | wrecked on North Point Reef, Milwaukee 1905 | |
77 | 161786 | Venezuela | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,125 | 1897 | later Erie 1923, barge 1923, deleted 1928 | |
78 | 86387 | G. A. Tomlinson | tugboat | 79 | 1896 | scrapped 1910 | ||
79 | 150751 | Prodigy | tugboat | 55 | 1897 | abandoned 1910 | ||
80 | 100629 | Industry | tugboat | 80 | 1897 | scrapped 1909 | ||
81 | 127180 | Crete | schooner | 2,040 | 1897 | abandoned 1930 | ||
82 | 107276 | Athens | schooner | 2,074 | 1897 | foundered 1917 | ||
83 | 3729 | Bermuda | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,312 | 1897 | later Senator Derbyshire 1909, burned off E Point Petre Light, Lake Ontario 1924 | |
84 | 111147 | Rita McDonald | tugboat | 70 | 1897 | abandoned 1920 | ||
87 | 155317 | Orinoco | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,226 | 1898 | foundered near Montreal Is, Lake Superior 1924 | |
88 | 107348 | Amazonas | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,228 | 1898 | later Richland Queen 1916, Petcol 1922, abandoned 1929 | |
89 | 127255 | Chattanooga | schooner | 2,340 | 1898 | abandoned 1926 | ||
90 | 127259 | Chickamauga | schooner | 2,472 | 1898 | foundered 1919 | ||
91 | 116893 | Santiago | schooner | 2,600 | 1899 | foundered 1918 | ||
92 | 92954 | Matanzas | schooner | 2,600 | 1899 | abandoned 1927 | ||
93 | 86498 | General | Union Towing | tugboat | 132 | 1900 | burned 1930 | |
94 | 150872 | Pretoria | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,790 | 1900 | foundered 1905 | |
95 | 127526 | Cartagena | J. Davidson | freighter | 1,532 | 1901 | wrecked on Salvage Rocks, Cape Negro NS, 1907 | |
100 | 127703 | Chieftain | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,704 | 1902 | burned 1953 | |
101 | 93397 | Montezuma | J. Davidson | freighter | 2,722 | 1903 | abandoned 1938 | |
102 | 200293 | Sardinia | tugboat | 35 | 1903 | abandoned 1939 |