Charleston Shipbuilding & Dry Dock ~ Shipbuilding History

Charleston Shipbuilding & Dry Dock

Charleston SC

Most recent update: July 28, 2018.

This yard started out in 1869 as Samuel J. Pregnall & Bros., known as the Pregnall Shipyard, and was a noted builder of schooners and steamers. It closed in 1912 but was revived the same year as Valk & Murdoch Iron Works, who renamed it Charleston Dry Dock & Machine Company in 1919. In 1934 it was reorganized as Charleston Dry Dock Co. and again in 1936 as Charleston Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Company. The company had problems with their first wartime contract and the Navy took control of the yard in 1942, renaming it yet again, this time to Charleston Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. After the war, the Navy leased the facility to Todd for use as a repair yard, but Todd withdrew in 1949 and it was operated by several different firms until being taken over by Detyens. The yard is now a public space - the Charleston Maritime Center, on Concord Street, between Laurens and Calhoun.

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	O/N	Name	Customer	Type	GT	LOA	Delivered	Notes
Built by the Pregnall Shipyard
	150101	Planter	S. Carolina SB Co.	steamer	384	155	1876	deleted 1913
	120240	F. W. Scheper, Jr.	F. W. Scheper	pilot cutter	38	62	1876
	19482	Our Hampton		schooner	22	47	1877
	120384	Frances Elizabeth		schooner	30	60	1879
	85642	Gadsden		steamer	134	164	1880	built in Gadsden AL
	120427	Farmer	S. Carolina SB Co.	steamer	470	146	1880	deleted 1900
	115829	Granger	S. Carolina SB Co.	steamer	486	153	1882	later Santee 1884, Katie 1901, scrapped 1914
	135603	Eutaw	S. Carolina SB Co.	steamer	547	156	1882	deleted 1913
	126180	Cambria		passenger	109	86	1883
	100367	I Go	S. J. Pregnall	pilot cutter	45	68	1884
	3317	Bristol		schooner	145	97	1885
	76654	John M. Cole	S. Carolina SB Co.	steamer	318	130	1886
	116102	Sophie Amelia K		schooner	47	71	1886
			Pierre Lorillard	barge	80	95	1889	Floating stable
	77003	John Harlin		steamer	80	95	1891	later John E. McAllister
	202045	Marion	Sea Island SB Co.	steamer	206	111	1905	lost by fire 1907
	204706	Islander	Samuel J. Pregnall	passenger	273	111	1907
	91094	Merchant	S. Carolina SB Co.	steamer	405	148
Built by Valk & Murdoch Iron Works
	Federal	Congaree	USACE	dredge		153	1914
	Federal	No. 3	USACE	tank barge	76	65	1915
	Federal	No. 3	USACE	derrick boat		65	1915
	Federal	No. 2	USACE	tank barge	76	47	1915
	Federal		USACE	scow			1917
	Federal		USACE	scow			1917
			Valk & Murdoch	floating dock		440	1919	8,000-ton lift capacity
				tugboat		95	1920
	Federal	Gilmer	USACE	dredge		125	1920
Built by Charleston Dry Dock & Machine Co.
	Federal	Fayetteville	USACE	snag boat		91	1924
	Federal	Georgia	USACE	towboat		153	1925
	Federal	Mixson	USACE	snag boat		134	1925
	Federal	Northeast	USACE	derrick boat		60	1925
	Federal	Montgomery	USACE	snag boat		156	1925
	225269	Daytona Beach No. 1	F. T. Plowman	freighter	54	60	1925
		Daytona Beach No. 2		freighter			1926
				lighter		100	1926
	171762	Hygrade No. 3	Hygrade Oil	tank barge	148	85	1926
		Charleston	Sanford & Brooks	dredge			1926
	225723	Palmetto	Cooper River Ferry Comm.	ferry	252	132	1926
	Federal	Benning	USACE	derrick boat		82	1927
		Jno. M. Milliken		dredge	338d	95	1927	to USACE 1935
	226328	Mars		tugboat	43	58	1927
	Federal	No. 11	USACE	derrick barge		60	1927
				lighter			1927
				dump scow		112	1927
	Federal	D-2	USACE	derrick boat		35	1928
	LV-115	Frying Pan Shoal	U.S.C.G.	lightship	630		1930	later WAL 537, to Southport NC as museum 1967
	LV-116	Fenwick Island Shoal	U.S.C.G.	lightship	630		1930	later WAL 538, to Baltimore MD as museum 1971
	LV-117	Nantucket Shoals	U.S.C.G.	lightship	630		1930	rammed by Olympic and sunk 1934
	229378	Carolinian	M. L. Clark	tanker	226	114	1930
	Federal	Liston	USACE	survey boat	308	105	1930
	Federal	Booster Plant	USACE	Booster barge		100	1930
	Federal		USACE	barge			1930
				lighter		85	1930
	Federal	No. 31-3	USACE	tank barge		80	1931
	230980	Island Girl	Seaboard Air Line	ferry	58	59	1931
	233636	Anomaly	Walter B. Pitkin	yacht	27	43	1932
	231561	Barbara Ruxton	Ruxton Transportation	tanker	88	62	1932	later Clearflame
	232011	Wiley L. Moore	Pure Oil Corp.	tugboat	164	85	1932
	233015	Ruxton No. 2	Ruxton Transportation	tanker	106	61	1934
			Krajewski-Pesant Mfg. Co.	River Steamer			1934	Shipped to Venezuela
	233639	M. A. Powers	M. A. Powers Corp.	tanker	494	141	1934	later Dispatch
Built by Charleston Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co.
				lighter		60	1936	built for stock
			Krajewski-Pesant Mfg. Co.	tugboat		65	1937	Shipped to Venezuela
2250	236979	Kittiwake	Portland Trawling	trawler	355		Jan 1938	to USN 1940 as Curlew (AM-69), sold 1946 as Raagan, multiple owners, Clipper Express
2300	237113	Bittern	Portland Trawling	trawler	355		Mar 1938	to USN 1940 as Catbird (AM-68), sold 1947 as Salhus, Punta Palma 1952, scrapped 1966
	Federal	Col. Bertram T. Clayton	USAQMC	tugboat	1,623		May 1940	later chemical carrier Abocol 1966, wrecked in Colombia 1973
5500	239491	Julius H. Barnes	Erie & St. Lawrence Co.	freighter	1,623		May 1940	later chemical carrier Abocol 1966, wrecked in Colombia 1973
6000		W.Va.P.&P.Co. No. 3	W. Va. Pulp & Paper Co.	barge		105	May 1940
6000		W.Va.P.&P.Co. No. 4	W. Va. Pulp & Paper Co.	barge		105	May 1940
6500	240943	Flying A	Tidewater Associated Oil	tanker	1,729		Aug 1941	to USN 1942 as Kaloli (AOG-13), returned 1946 as Flying A, scrapped 1976
Built by Charleston Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.
1	ATF-67	Apache	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		12 Dec 1942	to Taiwan 1974 as Ta Wan (ATF 551)
2	ATF-68	Catawba/Arapaho	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		20 Jan 1943	to Argentina 1961 as Comandante General Zapiola (A-2), wrecked 1976
3	ATF-69	Chippewa	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		14 Feb 1943	decommissioned 1947, sold 1961, reefed 1990
4	ATF-70	Choctaw	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		21 Apr 1943	to Colombia 1961 as Pedro de Heredia (RM 72), reefed 2007
5	ATF-71	Hopi	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		31 Mar 1943	struck 1963, sunk as target 1986
6	ATF-72	Kiowa	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		7 Jun 1943	to Dom. Rep. 1970 as Macorix 1972 (RM 21), returned 1986, scrapped 1994
7	ATF-81	Bannock	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		28 Jun 1943	to Italy 1979 as Bannock, CP 451, to be a museum
8	ATF-82	Carib	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		24 Jul 1943	to Colombia 1979 as Sebastian de Belalcazar (RM 73), reefed 2004
9	ATF-96	Abnaki	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		15 Nov 1943	to Mexico 1978 as Yaqui (A-18), Ehecatl (A-53), Yaqui (ARE 2)
10	ATF-97	Alsea	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		13 Dec 1943	sold 1976 as Ikosiena, scrapped 1996
11	ATF-98	Arikara	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		5 Jan 1944	to Chile 1971 as Seargento Aldea (A-63), sunk as target 1992
12	ATF-99	Chetco	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		29 May 1944	completed as Penguin (ASR-12), sold 1973 as Percheron, Dona Rosa Maria
13	ATF-100	Chowanoc	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		21 Feb 1944	to Ecuador 1960 as Chimborazo (R-105)
14	ATF-101	Cocopa	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		25 Mar 1944	to Mexico 1978 as Seri (A-19), Tonatiuh (A-54) 1993, Seri (ARE-03) 2001
15	ATF-102	Hidatsa	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		25 Apr 1944	to Colombia 1979 as Rodrigo de Bastiedas (RM 74)
16	ATF-103	Hitchiti	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		27 May 1944	to Mexico 1978 as Cora (A-20) later Chac (A-55), Cora (ARE-4)
17	ATF-104	Jicarilla	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		26 Jun 1944	to Colombia 1979 as Bahia Solano (RM 75), struck 1987
18	ATF-105	Moctobi	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		25 Jul 1944	sold 1997, Tiger, scrapped 2012
19	ATF-148	Achomawi	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		11 Nov 1944	to Taiwan 1991 as Ta Tu (ATF 554)
20	ATF-149	Atakapa	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		1 Dec 1944	sunk as target 2000
21	ATF-150	Avoyel	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		8 Jan 1945	to USCG as WATF 150, WMEC-150, sold 1970
22	ATF-151	Chawasha	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		6 Feb 1945	decommissioned 1946, sunk as target 1978
23	ATF-152	Cahuilla	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		10 Mar 1945	to Argentina 1961 as Comandante General Irigoyen (A-1)
24	ATF-153	Chilula	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		5 Apr 1945	to USCG as WATF 153, WMEC-153, sunk as target 1997
25	ATF-154	Chimariko	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		28 Apr 1945	decommissioned 1946, used as a training hulk, sunk as target 1978
26	ATF-155	Cusabo	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		19 May 1945	to Ecuador 1960 as Los Rios (R-1), Cayambe (R-51), decommissioned 2000
27	ATF-156	Luiseno	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		16 Jun 1945	to Argentina 1975 as Francisco de Gurruchaga (A-3)
28	ATF-157	Nipmuc	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		8 Jul 1945	to Venezuela 1978 as Antonio Picardi (RA-22), lost 1982
29	ATF-158	Mosopelia	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		28 Jul 1945	sunk as target 1999
30	ATF-159	Paiute	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		27 Aug 1945	to NDRF 1997, dismantled 2003
31	ATF-160	Papago	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		3 Oct 1945	to NDRF 1997, dismantled 2003
32	ATF-161	Salinan	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		9 Nov 1945	to Venezuela 1978 as Contralmirante Miguel Rodriguez (RA-23), struck 2005
33	ATF-162	Shakori	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		20 Dec 1945	to Taiwan 1991 as Ta Fai (ATF 563)
34	ATF-163	Utina	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		30 Jan 1946	to Venezuela 1978 as Felipe Larrazabael (RA-21), struck 1990
35	ATF-164	Yurok	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		28 May 1946	completed as Bluebird (ASR-19), to Turkey 1950 as Kurtaran (A-584), sunk as target 2001
36	ATF-165	Yustaga	US Navy	tugboat	1,240		19 Jul 1946	completed as Skylark (ASR-20), to Brazil 1973 as Gastao Moutinho (K-10), struck 1996
	YFD-15	YFD-15	US Navy	floating dock		354	1943	6000-ton lift
				freighter	346g		1944	later Ana Patricia, Caribbean Express, wrecked 1981
				freighter	459g		1945	converted 1957 to tanker Sincap Primero