Shipbuilding History

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Johnston Boiler

Ferrysburg MI

Most recent update: August 17, 2018.

In 1864, John Watt Johnston, a direct descendant of the legendary James Watt, purchased the defunct Turnbull Boiler Company, on Pine Street in Ferrysburg, and restarted it as Johnson Boiler Company, where it continues in business today. In 1898, they expanded into shipbuilding, but returned to a concentration on boilers in 1916. The shipyard was next door to the main plant, where the North's Cove marina is now. See it from the air on Google here. The names and numbers of the various scows and other barges built by Johnston are very confused

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O/N Name Customer Type GT LOA Built Notes
127309 C. J. Bos William Verduin tugboat 34 59 1898 I. J. Lyons 1942, deleted 1976
127422 Columbia Sullivan Dredging tugboat 92 80 1900 scrapped 1960
111311 Rowira Ranney Fish Co. fish tugboat 35 56 1900 scrapped 1950
5 117013 Sea Bird T. B. Perkins yacht 21 58 1900
8 Elizabeth Hyde Chas. Hyde
9 163701 No. 35 M. Sullivan dump scow 420 125 1900
10 96548 H. Ewig H. Ewig & Son fish tugboat 62 70 1901 Col. N. L. Howard 1918, Helen H. Upham 1923, Dispatch 1943, scrapped 1973
11 96562 Henry J. Dornbos Verduin Bros. fish tugboat 44 63 1901 Urger 1920, museum in Waterford NY
12 Buffalo Dredging dipper dredge 116
? Lightship LV 75 US Light House Service lightship 427 75 1902 sold 1939, St. Clair, abandoned 1977
13 ? 163022 Dredge No. 7 dredge scow 826 1901
14 ? 163004 Scow No. 14 scow 427 1902
15 ? 163005 Scow No. 15 scow 427 1902
16 81846 William H. Kinch Frank L. Bapst tugboat 58 68 1902 scrapped 1951
17 3968 Bonita Graham & Morton tugboat 58 63 1903 Chicago Harbor No. 4 1914, Eddie B. 1960, Seneca Queen 1969, Ludington 1970, Seneca Queen 1996, Ronald J Dahlke
18 General Ludlow USACE dredge 213 140 1904 sold 1921, Pointe Hennepin 1969, scrapped 1969
19 162321 No. 11 M. Sullivan dump scow 420 125 1904
20 Lightship LV 77 US Light House Service lightship 578 75 1906 sold 1940
21 201789 Tessler Charles Tessler fish tugboat 57 80 1905 burned 1949, Upper Mississippi River
22 202285 Frank Perry Perry Lumber tugboat 496 128 1905 Sipsey 1914, to USACE 1942 as Robert H. Rolfe, sold 1946 as Bisso, scrapped 1975
23 203098 Chase S. Osborne Perry Lumber tugboat 492 128 1906 to USN 1918 as SP-1121, YT-41, sold 1921, Guardian 1922, scrapped 1961
24 M. Sullivan scow 125 1907
25 203472 J. P. Manning LS & MI Southern RR tugboat 58 68 1906 B. E. West 1927, abandoned 1980
26 203555 Robert E. Johnston Walsema & Van Toll tugboat 22 44 1906 abandoned 1974
27 204016 Charles E. Williams Buffalo Dredging tugboat 106 87 1907 Paul W. Dickinson 1935, scrapped 1958
28 204485 C. F. Bielman, Jr. Charles F. Bielman mail boat 33 75 1907 Dove 1939, deleted 1962
29 M. Sullivan drill scow 106 1907
? 163452 Destroyer scow 356 1907
? 163205 No. 18 scow 394 1907
? 164000 No. 16 scow 451 1908
30 No. 36 Buffalo Dredging dump scow 137 1908
31 205585 Herbert G. Mollhagen & Co. tugboat 55 68 1908 H. Ewig 1918, Roy R. Love 1939, Charlevoix 1968, Roy R. Love 1992
32 206346 Francis B. Hackett Hackett Towing salvage tugboat 194 96 1909 to USN 1917 as SP-1161, YT-36, Shenandoah 1920, Choptank 1923, sold 1947, Gloria St. Philip 1969, Choptank 1979, Admiral 1989, scrapped 2006
33 205777 Forelle F. W. Tamms Bros. fish tugboat 46 54 1908 foundered on Lake Michigan 1923
34 206238 Castanet Ranney Fisheries fish tugboat 46 69 1909 Donald Wells 1930, abandoned 1931
35 206658 Mackinac Arnold Transit ferry 350 138 1909 Woonsocket 1926, training ship 1968, Claude 'Sonny' Simmons 1969, scrapped 1994
36 206692 James Edwards Great Lakes Dredge tugboat 82 81 1906 Terry E. Buchanan 1952
37 207111 A. Fisher Fisher's Sons fish tugboat 58 68 1909 Oscar F. Mayer 1912, scrapped 1951
38 Central Dredging tugboat not built
39 Shearwater US Bureau of Fisheries tugboat 95 85 1909 to USCG 1940, sold 1944, Cindy K. 1961
40 207427 John E. Meyer Barnett & Record tugboat 133 1910
41 Composite Edwards Bros tugboat 70
42 Bucyrus Co. S.A. Dredge 105
43 Bucyrus Co. India Dredge 95
44 208243 Harvey Schneiderwind & Sons fish tugboat 81 70 1910 deleted 1951
45 208478 Andrew H. Green Great Lakes Dredge tugboat 115 86 1911 scrapped 1957
46 164439 No. 37 Buffalo Dredging dump scow 156 1910
47 Great Lakes Dredge dump scow 137 1911
48 209789 William J. McCarthy Great Lakes Dredge tugboat 98 82 1912 Central 1924, Capt. Frank Becker 1957, Vixen 1968, Alice St. Philip 1972, scrapped 1977
49 Natoma No. 10 Natoma Const'n. dredge 150 1911
50 252397 Oscar I New Aetna Cement tugboat 16 44 1911 later Oscar
51 Natoma No. 8 Natoma Const'n. dredge 150 1911
52 David Campbell City of Portland OR fireboat 125 1912
53 Natoma No. 7 Natoma Const'n. dredge 135 1912
54 Bucyrus Co. dredge 110 1912
55 Bucyrus Co. S. A. Dredge 110 1912
56 176251 Handy Andy New Aetna Cement scow 51 54 1913 abandoned 1977
57 Lake Winnipeg Shipping tugboat 112 1913
58 274070 Oscar II New Aetna Cement dredge 50 58 1913 G.L. 110 1960, scrapped 1978
59 New Aetna Cement Hopper Scow 58 1913
60 New Aetna Cement Hopper Scow 58 1913
61 Yuba Construction placer dredge 131 1914
62 Yuba Construction placer dredge 131 1914
63 212278 Ottawa GR, H & C RR ferry 75 57 1914
64 212487 American American Construction tugboat 88 72 1914 Fred W. Upham 1922, Lila Haden 1942, N. R. Coppedge 1961, scrapped 1977
65 212588 Philip T. Dodge International Paper tugboat 68 70 1914 Eugene F. Moran 1919, Schenectedy 1920, Dauntless No. 5 1924, Cathleen E. Moran 1955, Mary D. 1964, Clayton P. Kehoe 1968, Dori 1971, Robert A. Bott
66 213529 J. C. Stewart Stewart Co. tugboat 113 71 1915 to USACE 1924 as Col. M.J. McDonough, sold 1946 as J.C. Stewart, scrapped 1965
67 Natoma No. 4 Natoma Const'n. placer dredge 112 1915
68 Yuba No. 15 Yuba Construction dredge 165 1915
69 592612 USACE dump scow 388 126 1916 later Scow 21
70 USACE dump scow 126 1916

Printed from shipbuildinghistory.njscuba.net