Grafton Boat Works ~ Shipbuilding History

Grafton Boat Works

Grafton IL

Most recent update: May 20, 2014.

Grafton Boat Works was started in 1892 by George, Frank and Will Rippley as the Rippley Hardware Company. In 1910 they changed the name to the Rippley Boat Company and in World War I produced more than a thousand lifeboats. In 1921, it was sold to Samuel Edwards and R. F. Purdy and the name was changed to the Mid-West Boat and Barge Company, but this did not last long and in 1923 it was sold again, to Everett Fry, who renamed it Grafton Boat Works. Apart from building towboats and other vessels for the commercial market, this yard also produced, in the late 50s and early 60s, the SteelKing line of sturdy recreational boats, and in the late 60s and early 70s, almost 100 riverine-warfare craft for service in Vietnam. The company closed in 1978. The yard was at 400 Front Street, at the foot of Cherry Street, where the Loading Dock is now. See the site from the air on Google here.

If you have an addition or correction for this page, please send it in.

	O/N	Name	Customer	Type	GT	Built	Notes
Built by Rippley Boat Company
		Marion	USACE	towboat	84d	1895
		Zeta	USACE	dredge	748d	1898
		Iota	USACE	dredge	800d	1900
	218856	Fannie	Charles Kram	passenger	8	1901
	81783	Wanderer	J. W. Linton	freighter	11	1901
		Henry Flad	USACE	dredge	834d	1901
		B. M. Harrod	USACE	dredge	1,082d	1907
		Des Moines	Okoboji SS Co.	passenger		1908	hull only, shipped by rail to Okoboji and assembled there; scrapped 1929
	205563	Nina 2	J. Preston Lewis	passenger	13	1908
	205843	Angeline II		yacht	13	1908
	207678	Hustler	Greenville Bridge & Ferry Co.	passenger	9	1910
	210223	Nixona	R. G. Stumpe	passenger	10	1910
	215072	Pontiac	Starved Rock Scenic Boat Co.	passenger	10	1910	later William L. Huse
	215073	War Chief	Starved Rock Scenic Boat Co.	passenger	10	1910
		Sioux City	Okoboji SS Co.	passenger		1911	hull only, shipped by rail to Okoboji and assembled there; scrapped 1942
	212073	Kate	John L. Cummins	passenger	11	1911
		Mayon	USACE	dredge	275d	1912
	209866	Uncle Sam	Ayer & Lord	passenger	8	1912
	211368	Irene	George M. A. Fries	passenger	9	1913
	213591	Margery 3	George E. Gurd	towboat	39	1915
	214531	Redwing	Northern Ohio Cooperage	passenger	9	1913
	168209	12 Mile	James S. Wilson	passenger barge	8	1914
	219040	Cheyenne	John A. Smith	ferry	35	1914
		Le Claire	USACE	towboat	243d	1915
		Minneapolis	USACE	towboat	235d	1915
		Muscatine	USACE	towboat	243d	1915
		Nauvoo	USACE	towboat	240d	1915
	216931	Mallard	Herbert Bennett	towboat	16	1915
	217082	Leonard	Quincy Steamboat Co.	towboat	22	1915
	168530	Mary	Emma McCann	ferry	11	1916
				passenger		1918	later The Ark
Built by Mid-West Boat & Barge Company
	167976	Bessie	Charles Kram	passenger barge	8
	168210	Clara	Helen Shellabarger	passenger barge	8	1921
	168681	Dorothy	Herman Pohlman	passenger barge	19	1923
	222748	H. S. Hennen	Mo. Valley Bridge Co	towboat	35	1923
	222881	Addie May	Thebes ferry	ferry	29	1923	later Belle of Prairie du Chien, sank 1996
	223522	King Fisher	Margaret C. Carrigan	freighter	39	1923
Built by Grafton Boat Works
	223829	Grafton ferry	W. H. Shafer	ferry	39	1924
	224455	Lorrene	McGregor Ferry Co.	ferry	32	1925
	224381	Ky-Ill	George Muscovalley	passenger	43	1925
	224592	Ella	Fort Gage-Kaskaskia Ferry Co.	ferry	25	1925
	224780	Rover	E. B. Holliday	passenger	50	1925
	229032	Belle of Chester	Robert M. Groh	passenger	64	1929
	229079	H. P. Treadway	Kansas City Bridge Co.	towboat	74	1929
	229187	Kennett Dillman	Dillman Industries	passenger	152	1929	later Tom Nugent, The Captain, Captain Dave, Captain H, Papa Joe, NLD
	231674	Governor McClurg	Stephen Desbien	passenger	76	1932
	515371	Jaydee	Deere Inc.	recreational	80	1955	later River Explorer
46	282671	Alicia II	Alwal B. Moore	recreational	35	1956	NLD
110	284117	Big Iron	Economy Boat Store	towboat	51	1960	later Denny Angel
	500387	Captain's Lady	George C. Silzer	recreational	41	1962
		Peoria	USACE	towboat		1964
333	953789	Elemar	South Coast Inc		13	1965	NLD
348	671336	Barrie Wood	Arrow Launch Service	passenger	29	1965	later Destiny, Sealth Arrow
	500323	Annie B	Michael Erb	trawler	81	1965	later Kingsway
360	508353	Reddy K	Monongahela Power	towboat	28	1966	later Denise L. G., Hard Hat
377	509675	Intrepid	Baltimore City Police Dept.	towboat	26	1967	NLD
		Kimmswick	USACE	towboat		1967
	1137609	SWL 6906	West Delta Operating	offshore supply	32	1968	later Dolphin II, Kat I, Arkoma
397	523937	Bryce M II	K & G Crane & Marine	towboat	33	1969
400	517882	John Alexa	Joliet Harbor tugboats	towboat	143	1969	later William C
	521499	Piper	Soule Construction	towboat	13	1969	later Jillian Rae
		24UB 6801 to 16	US Navy	LSSC		1969	16 boats
		56CM-6801 to 55	US Navy	LCM		1969	55 boats
Of the 55 LCMs, the following ten are known to have had later lives:
	592649	56CM-6810	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later freighter Saltery Provider
	1053101	56CM-6815	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later Beachcomber
	978652	56CM-6817	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later Ship Care I, Parker I
	621472	56CM-6820	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later fishing vessel Drover, NLD
	1056156	56CM-6833	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later freighter Island Supplier
	1207532	56CM-6839	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later freighter Mudpuppy, NLD
	1249181	56CM-6843	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later tug Multi Mo
	695760	56CM-6849	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later fishing vessel Rocky Neck II
	991313	56CM-6854	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later freighter Sunshine XII, Akuluraq
	1031175	56CM-6855	US Navy	LCM	45	1969	later freighter Wadleigh Transport, NLD
		26UB 7001 to 22	US Navy	LSSC		1971	22 boats
		Person	USACE	towboat		1970	later J. Gene Crump
	1170933	Prairie du Rocher	USACE	towboat	24	1970	sold 2005 as Lady Potasa
		Rock Island	USACE	towboat		1970
		Grand Tower	USACE	towboat		1970	sold
		Beardstown	USACE	towboat		1971
		Sangamon	USACE	towboat		1972
		Stephenson	USACE	towboat		1972
	1124862	Lady Margaret	Scott Carter	research	23	1971
533	1219310	Lil Willie	Peninsular Bay Enterprises		13	1971
536	540209	Elvis H	Mar Kel Marine Industries	towboat	20	1972
538	541243	Howard W. Fitzpatrick	MassPort	fireboat	133	1971	NLD
543	1245497	Laurie Ann	R. B. Lyons, Inc.	towboat	25	1971
548	535931	Andrea M	Evansville Materials	towboat	24	1971
	536876	Three Aces	McKinnon Bridge Co.	towboat	17	1972
	538986	Firefighter	City of Boston	fireboat	125	1972
	543171	Arlene	Bodwell Family LP	towboat	38	1972	later Ugh The tugboat
	544997	Wm. L. Newman	Municipal Power & Light	towboat	21	1972
568	546165	H. C. S. Dixie	Henderson County Sand	towboat	33	1973
573	553218	Roberta J	Evansville Materials	towboat	32	1973
	559332	Joey-Trish	Hennepin Towing	towboat	122	1975
	561873	Lewis A. Enlow	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1974
586	561874	Warren E Bourgeois	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1974	later A. C. Shelton, Nova H. Louis
	562137	Sir William	Canton Marine Towing	towboat	42	1974
	566622	Rusty Barrilleaux	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1975
	567809	Scout I	Door County Cruises	towboat	93	1975	later Kimberly Selvick
	568630	James E. Philpott	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1975
593	570081	Bill Froreich	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1975	later Zeland M. Deloach, Jr.
	575251	D. O. Donham	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1976
	577475	Lenward Stephens	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1976
	582087	Delmar Jaeger	A.C.B.L.	towboat	214	1977
599	572722	Iron Charger	Ohio Barge Line	towboat	245	1976	later Bud Operle, Kenny New, Tiny Sanderson
600	579635	Iron Pacer	Ohio Barge Line	towboat	245	1977	later Ray Gee, NLD
601	586734	Iron Traveler	Ohio Barge Line	towboat	245	1977	later Capt. O. A. Franks
609	580797	Chris K	Kelly's Harbor Service	towboat	43	1977
614	594672	RWFF 1	Radcliff Marine Services	tank barge	565	1978	NLD