Charles Ward Engineering ~ Shipbuilding History

Charles Ward Engineering

Charleston WV

Charles Ward Engineering Works was founded by Charles Ward in 1872, incorporated in 1907 and remained in operation until 1932, when it closed due to economic and ownership succession issues. It was an early developer of water tube boilers on ships, pioneered the development of the tunnel stern propeller-driven towboat and was among the first companies to install internal combustion engines in towboats. The yard was located on the south bank of the Kanawha River, on McCorkle Avenue, directly opposite the Haddad Riverfront Park, but there's no sign of a shipyard there any more.

	O/N	Name	Customer	Type	GT	LOA	Delivered	Notes
		Mascot	USACE	launch	8		1893	sold 1911 as Mascot (ON 209085), abandoned 1921
		Madge (I)	Charles Ward	launch			1894
	92850	Madge (II)	Charles Ward	yacht	9		1897	later for Mrs. Ward, to USACE 1903 as Ouachita
	25342	Unique	Charles Ward	yacht	33		Oct 1901	to USACE 1904 as Unique, sold 1929 as tug Etta J, sunk 1942
		James Rumsey	USACE	towboat	126		1903	sold 1934 as Steve Click Jr. (ON 233621)
	203714	A. M. Scott	Charles Ward Engineering	towboat	168		Nov 1906	abandoned 1933
		Madge (III)	Charles Ward	yacht			May 1909
		Inspector	USACE	towboat	158		1915
10	216817	Clairton	Carnegie Steel Co.	towboat	245		Sep 1918	later Kanawha, Alicia, Henry A. Roemer, J. M. Leithead
11	220773	Natchez	US Railway Administration	towboat	757		1920
12	221271	Vicksburg	US Railway Administration	towboat	757		1921
13		No. 21	USACE	barge			1921
14		No. 22	USACE	barge			1921
15		No. 23	USACE	barge			1921
16		No. 24	USACE	barge			1921
17	221980	General Frank M. Coxe	US Army	ferry	539		1 Dec 1922	sold 1947 as General Frank M. Coxe (ON 252866), Showboat, Pattaya Princess, The Sherman, General Frank M. Coxe
18	222147	General John McE. Hyde	US Army	ferry	539		5 Dec 1922	sunk by gunfire at Corregidor 1942
19	222391	Destrehan	Pan American Petroleum	towboat	371		3 Aug 1922	Charles R. Hook 1941, scrapped 1957
20	222668	Ste. Genevieve	Missouri-Illinois RR	rail ferry	1,667		1 Dec 1922
21		Greenbrier (WAGL-214)	USCG	tender	305		20 Jun 1924	sold 1948 as dredge Mississippi (ON 264233)
22			USACE	tank barge			Mar 1923
23			USACE	tank barge			Mar 1923
24	222941	W. C. Kelly	Kelly Axe Mfg. Co.	towboat	111		31 May 1923	later Flavia 19??
25			Kelly Axe Mfg. Co.	derrick boat			18 Jan 1923
26			Kelly Axe Mfg. Co.	covered barge			31 May 1923
27			Kelly Axe Mfg. Co.	open barge			31 May 1923
28		J. B. Battle	USACE	towboat	174		31 Dec 1923	later La Verne, sold 1947 as J. L. Beatty (ON 253609), Martha E. Greene 1951, sunk 1970s, raised, scrapped
29			Kelly Axe Mfg. Co.	open barge			31 May 1923
30			Kelly Axe Mfg. Co.	open barge			29 Jun 1923
31		C. B. Harris	USACE	dredge	1,304		18 Aug 1924	sold 1953 as C. B. Harris (ON 266334), Ollie Riedel, Mr. Manson
32	224795	Chris Greene	C. P. & C. Packet Co.	passenger	482		17 May 1924	scrapped 1951
33		Lookout	USACE	towboat	233		1925	George S. Nutt 1927, sold 1937 as Admiral (ON 236325), barge 1953 (ON 264835)
34			USACE	quarter boat			20 Sep 1924
35			USACE	maneuver boat			31 Dec 1924
36			USACE	maneuver boat			31 Dec 1924
37	225161	Geo. T. Price	Kelly Transportation	towboat	236		9 Nov 1925
38	225803	E. D. Kenna	Ohio River Co.	towboat	388		13 Jul 1926
39	175040		Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		13 Jan 1926	A.B.L. 1 1927
40	175041		Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		13 Jan 1926	A.B.L. 2 1927
41			Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		13 Jan 1926	lost in hurricane 1926
42	175042		Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		6 Mar 1926	A.B.L. 4 1927
43			Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		17 Apr 1926	lost in hurricane 1926
44	175043		Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		July 1926	A.B.L. 6 1927
45	175044		Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		31 Jul 1926	A.B.L. 7 1927
46	175045		Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		25 Aug 1926	A.B.L. 8 1927
47	175046		Kelly Axe & Tool Co.	freight barge	464		25 Aug 1926	A.B.L. 9 1927
48	175047			freight barge	464		1926	A.B.L. 10 1927
49	226042	Wild Goose	Charles Ward Eng.	towboat	92		25 Sep 1926
50	175048			freight barge	464		Nov 1926	A.B.L. 11 1927
51	175049		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		21 Oct 1926	A.B.L. 12 1927
52	175050		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		29 Nov 1926	A.B.L. 13 1927
53	175051		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		7 Feb 1927	A.B.L. 14 1927
54	175052		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		11 Mar 1927	A.B.L. 15 1927
55	175053		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		21 Apr 1927	A.B.L. 16 1927
56	175054		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		1 Jun 1927	A.B.L. 17 1927
57	175055		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		1 Jun 1927	A.B.L. 18 1927
58			Inland Waterways Corp.	freight barge	464		14 Jun 1927
59	175056		W. C. Kelly Barge Line	freight barge	464		30 Jul 1927	A.B.L. 20 1927
60	226269	W. A. Shepherd	W. C. Kelly Barge Line	towboat	267		15 Apr 1927
61	226725	Duncan Bruce	W. C. Kelly Barge Line	towboat	357		15 Jul 1927
62		F. H. Hilliard	USACE	survey boat	150		12 Nov 1927	sold 1940 as Hugh C. Blaske (ON 240086), Mississippi
63		Tecumseh	USACE	towboat	199		28 Apr 1928	sold 1950 as Tecumseh (ON 262468), W. C. White 1954, Robin D 1971, Cotton Blossom 1973
64		General Humphreys	USACE	Inspection boat	100		29 Mar 1928	sold 1946 as Sarah R (ON 251239)
65	227558	Criterion	Charles Ward Eng.	towboat	53		1 May 1928	D. W. Wyatt 1963, Criterion 1985
66	227557	Alpha	Alpha Sand Co.	towboat	75		7 Jul 1928
67	227830	Bull Dog	Charles Ward Eng.	towboat	54		16 Jul 1928	Pure Gyrol 19??, D. L. Gilland 1949
68		Captain Eric Bergland	USACE	towboat	47		30 Jul 1928	sold 1947 as Sarah (ON 252842), Jeannette B 1987
69	228188	Dwight F. Davis	Inland Waterways Corp.	towboat	311		25 Apr 1929	Chickasaw 19??
70	227779	Incor	International Cement	towboat	221		19 Aug 1928
71		No. 15	USACE	maneuver boat			27 Sep 1928
72		No. 16	USACE	maneuver boat			27 Sep 1928
73		Captain George	USACE	towboat	61			exploded before delivery, see hull 79
74		Tom Stallings	USACE	snag boat	268		17 Apr 1929
75	228076	Major	Kelley's Creek barge	towboat	59		10 Dec 1928
76	229186	Leo	Charles Ward Eng.	towboat	46		1929	Slade Brown 19??, Southern II 19??
77		No. 2901	USACE	mooring barge			10 May 1929
78		No. 2902	USACE	mooring barge			25 May 1929
79		Captain George	USACE	towboat	61		30 Jun 1929	sold 1968 as Captain George (ON 515342), Kurt R. Luedtke 1973, Captain George 1991
80		Beverly	USACE	tender	79d		20 Aug 1929
81	294724	Unique	Harold M. Ward	yacht	31		20 Aug 1929
82	252861	Stanton	USACE	tugboat	79d		15 Feb 1930	sold 1947 as Wm. R. Farrell
83	230102	Indiana	Mississippi Valley B.L.	towboat	913		21 Sep 1930
84	230103	Louisiana	Mississippi Valley B.L.	towboat	913		19 Dec 1930
85	270212	Fort Scott	USACE	towboat	121		7 Dec 1930	sold as Scott, L.D. No. 419, Robin D Too 1973, P. A. Denny 1975
86	268891	Fort Armstrong	USACE	towboat	107		20 Nov 1930	sold as Kathryn, Tina M. White
87		Gypsy	Charles Edwin Ward	yacht			1 May 1930
88	230635	Henry A. Laughlin	Vesta Coal Co.	towboat	416		27 Apr 1931	T. R. Workman 19??
89	230636	Vesta	Vesta Coal Co.	towboat	416		May 1931	James A. Rankin 1948, Mike Creditor 1952, Orco 1954, J. S. Lewis 1955