James Rees & Sons
Pittsburgh PA
Most recent update: May 16, 2016.
James Rees, a Welshman, established this shipyard, which was originally a machine shop and engine works called Rees & Thorn. In 1878, they began building ships. It is claimed that they built not only the first steel-hulled boat in America - the "Francisco Montoya", in 1878 - but also the first boat with electric light throughout - the "Kate Adams", in 1882. It is also notable for building many knock-down (KD) boats for service in South America. The yard closed in 1930. It was located at Duquesne Way (now Fort Duquesne Boulevard) and Fancourt Street (later Fourth Street and roughly where Stanwix Street is now). See the site from the air on Google here. The table below is clearly far from complete.
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| O/N | Name | Customer | Type | Tons | LOA | Built | Notes | |
| E. A. Woodruff | USACE | snag boat | 1876 | |||||
| Helena | Fort Benton Transportation | steamship | 1878 | sank 1891 | ||||
| Francisco Montoya | Magdalena Steam Nav. | steamship | 1878 | for South America | ||||
| Buckeye State | Pittsburgh & Cincinnati | steamship | 1878 | |||||
| ? | 76049 | J. B. O'Brien | towboat | 61 | 1878 | later S. S. Prentiss | ||
| Victoria | steamship | 1880 | for South America | |||||
| Venezuela | Zulia River Navigation | steamship | 1880 | for South America | ||||
| Benner | U.S. Government | medical boat | 1880 | |||||
| Saratoga Lake | steam catamaran | 1880 | ||||||
| U.S. Government | launch | 1880 | ||||||
| U.S. Government | tugboat | 1881 | ||||||
| U.S. Government | tugboat | 1881 | ||||||
| U.S. Government | tugboat | 1881 | ||||||
| 3188 | Boaz | tugboat | 623 | 1882 | ||||
| Rober Carliator | steamship | 1882 | for South America | |||||
| De Castro | steamship | 1882 | for South America | |||||
| Chattahoochee | Chattahoochee River Trade | steam packet | 436 | 1882 | ||||
| Will S. Hays | W. H. Brown's Sons | steamship | 1882 | |||||
| Kate Adams | Memph. & Ark. Packet | steam packet | 1882 | burned 1888 | ||||
| Chickasaw | Memph. & White R. Packet | steamship | 1883 | |||||
| Tenafly | 134 | 1885 | ||||||
| 161543 | Voyager | towboat | 99 | 1885 | ||||
| Mary Disston | Anclote River, Florida | steamship | 1885 | |||||
| Mexico | Tres Hermanos | Thebaud Brothers | steamship | 1885 | ||||
| Charles R. Suter | USACE | snag boat | 1886 | |||||
| Eugene | Arkansas River Packet Co. | steamship | 1887 | |||||
| Ethel | Tippecanoe Lake, Indiana | steamship | 1887 | |||||
| Baltimore | A. Booth & Sons | towboat | 1887 | |||||
| Missouri | USACE | snag boat | 510 | 1888 | ||||
| Storm | Conneaut Lake, PA | steamship | 1889 | |||||
| Bailey Gatzert | Seattle-Tacoma | steamship | 1890 | |||||
| Georgia Oaks | Lake Coeur de Lion, ID | steamship | 1891 | |||||
| Lize | Kranewski and Peasant | steamship | 35 | 1893 | ||||
| 92348 | M. D. Wayman | towboat | 242 | 1891 | ||||
| 92509 | M. Dougherty | towboat | 43 | 1893 | ||||
| 96228 | Harry No. 2 | towboat | 48 | 1893 | ||||
| 145653 | Troubadour | yacht | 15 | 1893 | ||||
| 157405 | Dowling & Sons | towboat | 45 | 1894 | later E. F. Jackson | |||
| J. N. Harbin | Arkansas River Packet Co. | steamship | 1895 | |||||
| Beta | USACE | dredge | 600 | 1896 | ||||
| 77307 | J. K. Davison | dredge | 259 | 1898 | ||||
| Will H. Isom | N. American Transportation | steamship | 1901 | |||||
| Vesta | Vesta Coal | sternwheel towboat | 142 | 1902 | ||||
| Swan | USACE | snag boat | 264 | 1902 | ||||
| Mexico | Hidalgo | Thebaud Brothers | steamship | 1904 | ||||
| Nicaragua | Jas. Deitrick | U.S. & Nicaragua Co. | steamship | 1904 | ||||
| 202543 | Henry A. Laughlin | Jones & Laughlin Steel | sternwheel towboat | 151 | 1905 | |||
| T. P. Roberts | USACE | towboat | 206 | 1906 | ||||
| 202126 | Scimitar II | steamboat | 256 | 1906 | to USACE 1921 | |||
| S. S. Brown | Memphis and Vicksburg | steamship | 643 | 1906 | ||||
| 205738 | B. F. Jones, Jr. | Jones & Laughlin Steel | sternwheel towboat | 91 | 1908 | |||
| 220723 | Chatham | freighter | 27 | 1908 | ||||
| Oregon | Foreign Christian Miss. Soc. | Mission Steamer | 1909 | |||||
| Brazil | Olivia | Brazilian Owners | KD riverboat | 160 | 1912 | |||
| Brazil | Itacoatiara | Brazilian Owners | KD riverboat | 160 | 1913 | |||
| Brazil | Campinas | Brazilian Owners | KD riverboat | 160 | 1913 | |||
| Brazil | Aracaju | Brazilian Owners | KD riverboat | 160 | 1913 | |||
| Brazil | Gaiola | Julio Guimaraes | KD riverboat | 160 | 1913 | later Benjamin Guimaraes | ||
| 212813 | Idlewild | West Memphis Packet Co. | steam packet | 260 | 1914 | later Belle of Louisville, museum in Louisville KY | ||
| 212008 | G. W. Cobbett | sternwheel towboat | 191 | 1915 | scrapped 1952 | |||
| 212522 | Aliquippa | Jones & Laughlin Steel | sternwheel towboat | 191 | 1915 | scrapped 1952 | ||
| Nolin River | USACE | dipper dredge | 210 | 1915 | ||||
| 214180 | A. Gallagher | ferry | 10 | 1916 | ||||
| Brazil | Parahyba | KD riverboat | 160 | 1916 | ||||
| 215523 | Early Bird | towboat | 10 | 1917 | ||||
| 217232 | W. H. Clingerman | Carnegie Steel | sternwheel towboat | 234 | 1918 | later W. P. Snyder. Jr., museum in Marietta OH | ||
| 218194 | Victory | sternwheel towboat | 240 | 1919 | ||||
| 218203 | Waren Elsey | sternwheel towboat | 240 | 1919 | ||||
| 218584 | C. S. 1 | towboat | 17 | 1919 | ||||
| 218994 | Homestead | Carnegie Steel | sternwheel towboat | 234 | 1919 | |||
| Evelyn | USACE | towboat | 30 | 1920 | ||||
| Monallo | USACE | derrick boat | 470 | 1921 | ||||
| 221138 | Relief | towboat | 30 | 1921 | ||||
| 221494 | C. S. 2 | towboat | 40 | 1921 | ||||
| Capt. Chas. D. Harris | USACE | sternwheel towboat | 335 | 1921 | ||||
| Colombia | Ayacucho | Soc. Colombiana de Tptes | steamboat | burned and sank 1961 |