West Point Foundry
Cold Spring NY
Most recent update: May 9, 2008.
The West Point Foundry Association was founded in 1817, across the Hudson River from West Point itself. It was one of the earliest iron shipbuilders in the U.S. and is claimed by many to be the first U.S. builder of an iron ship, although some say that this was the appropriately named "United States" and others that it was the revenue cutter "Spencer", built six years later. The foundry closed in 1911 and the site is now in ruins, but is the subject of archeological exploration.
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O/N | Name | Customer | Type | Tons | LOA | Delivered | Notes | |
United States | steamboat | 222 | 1838 | first iron ship built in the U.S. | ||||
Rebecca | steamboat | 60 | 1843 | sold foreign 1844 | ||||
Margaret Kemble | Myers and Myers and Co. | tugboat | 107 | 1844 | abandoned 1857 | |||
Spencer | USCG | revenue cutter | 398 | 1844 | converted to lightship 1848 |