W. F. Stone & Son ~ Shipbuilding History

W. F. Stone & Son

Oakland CA

Most recent update: July 21, 2014.

William I. Stone, from Dartmouth, England, established a boatyard in the Hunter's Point area of San Francisco in 1853, where he specialized in building commercial schooners and tugboats as well as racing and recreational yachts. He was in business until 1892, when his son, Frank, took over, moving the company to Beach Street in Tiburon, to a site that is now occupied by Sam's Anchor Cafe. Then, in 1899, Frank moved the operation again, to Harbor View, in San Francisco. In 1911, he was evicted from this location and moved to a site at the foot of Diesel Way, in Oakland, adjacent to the Union Diesel Engine Company. Frank's son, Lester, joined the business at this time and the name was changed to W. F. Stone & Son. Then, in 1923, Frank Stone died and Lester Stone became the sole proprietor. Following the entry of the United States into World War II and the subsequent expansion of Union Diesel, however, W. F. Stone & Son got evicted yet again and moved across the estuary to Alameda, to a location on Blanding Avenue. Lester Stone retired in 1970 and the yard was sold to John Whitset, but continued to do business as and be known as the Stone Boat Yard. It declared bankruptcy in 1986 and was sold again, to Bill and Grace Bodle, then again in 2000 to David Olson. It closed for good in 2004. See the final site from the air on Google here.

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	O/N	Name	Customer	Type	Tons	LOA	Built	Notes
Built by Stone & Swann in Tiburon (1853-1899)
		Edna		sloop
		La Paloma		schooner
		Sappho		yacht
		May		sloop
		Speedwell		sloop			1896	later Felicity
		Presto		sloop		33	1898	lost off Half Moon Bay 1941
Built by Stone & Van Bergen in San Francisco (1900-1911) - 46 boats
	111283	Richmond	Atchison Topeka	tugboat	135	100	1900	sold to Crowley 1926
	117003	Santa Barbara	Hanify & Co	freighter	695	183	1900	scuttled 1943
	127522	Chilkat		freighter	172	115	1901
	81761	W. H. Marston	Marston & Godfrey	schooner	1,169		1901	lost in hurricane off New Orleans
	117115	Santa Monica	Hanify & Co	freighter	497	166	1902	to USN 1942 as YP-528, YDG-4, wrecked in New California 1943, sold 1945
		Soquel	Hanify & Co	schooner			1902
	117196	Salem		schooner	767		1902
	155444	Oakland	Hogan Lumber	schooner	418	150	1902
	200554	Elizabeth	E. T. Kruse	freighter	363	142	1903	foundered 90nm NW Tres Marias Is 1946
	216933	Lady Ada		yacht	28	58	1903
	200229	Sausalito		schooner	367		1903
	150985	Pedro Costa	Western Cal. Fish Co.	Bay Freighter	51	72	1903
		Commodore		Bay Freighter
	204696	Eagle		Bay Freighter	52	75	1907
		Gov. M. B. M.		Bay Freighter
	201545	Arabs		Bay Freighter	155	109	1904
		Vixen		sloop			1904
	202077	Anvil	John J. Sesnon Co	freighter	363	116	1905	deleted 1941
	214204	Yankee	David Abecassis	schooner	20	43	1906
		Pronto		sloop			1907
	216934	Martha	J. R. Hanify	schooner	30		1907	later owned by James Cagney, Edgar Kaiser
		Fulton G		sloop			1908
	205805	Carlos	J. Homer Fritch Inc	freighter	865	198	1908	breakwater off Point San Pablo 1939
	205164	Crowley No. 6	Crowley L & T	tugboat	15	50	1908
	205176	Crowley No. 7	Crowley L & T	tugboat	15	50	1908
		Eanijen Rakijen	Williams, Dimond	Trading Schooner	197	95	1908
	215912	Neptun	Williams, Dimond	Trading Schooner	197	110	1909	later Minnow, Tagua 1921, wrecked off Tahanea 1961
		Soquel		schooner			1910
	209052	Moana	Soc. Com. de l'Oceanie	Trading Schooner	200		1911	burned off Anaa Island 1953
	215997	Atlas	Williams, Diamond	Trading Schooner	209	110	1911
	206708	Crowley No. 14	Crowley L & T	tugboat	15	50	1911	later Sudan
		Crowley No. 15	Crowley L & T	tugboat		50	1911
		Crowley No. 16	Crowley L & T	tugboat		65	1911
Built by W. F. Stone & Son at Kennedy and Bocimer Streets in Oakland (1912-1941) - 88 boats
	210340	Lark	Hunt, Hatch & Co.	tanker	72	80	1912
	211466	Golden State	Union Fish Co	schooner	354	140	1913	sold in Costa Rica 1943
		Clarinda	John W. Pew	schooner yacht		54	1914	later Viking IV
	226345	Hermes	Williams, Diamond	schooner	209	95	1914	to USN 1917, to Hawaii 1919, sold 1926 as Lanikai, to USN 1941, to RAN-1942 as Lanikai, sunk by typhoon in Subic Bay 1947
	211807	Standard No. 1	Standard Oil	tugboat	108	90	1913
		Daniel Co. No. 1	Daniel Contracting	rock barge			1914
		Daniel Co. No. 2	Daniel Contracting	rock barge			1914
		Daniel Co. No. 3	Daniel Contracting	rock barge			1914
	212257	Pirate	Union Fish Co	cannery tender	55	65	1914
		Pronto II		sloop			1914
	212960	Crowley No. 17	Crowley L & T	passenger	38	60	1915	converted to tug 1947
	212961	Crowley No. 18	Crowley L & T	passenger	38	60	1915	converted to tug 1947
		Crowley No. 19	Crowley L & T	tugboat		60	1915
	212304	Crowley No. 20	Crowley L & T	tugboat	28	60	1915	later Auk
	212962	Crowley No. 23	Crowley L & T	passenger	38	60	1915	converted to tug 1947
	212963	Crowley No. 24	Crowley L & T	passenger	38	60	1915	converted to tug 1947
	213030	Paladini Bros	Paladini Bros	trawler	60	75	1915	later Crowley No. 9, Ajax
		Alex. Volta		Bay Freighter
		Polar Bear		Bay Freighter
		Westward	J. R. Hanify	sloop		66	1915	N-class
		Lady Betty		sloop			1915	6-meter No. 1
		Bob		sloop		38	1916	R-class
	214004	Frank B	Frank B. Peterson Co	cannery tender	60	75	1916
574		Viva	Charles Adams	yawl		45	1916
		U. S. Grant		tugboat				later Hercules
	215007	Ryder Hanify	J. R. Hanify Co	steamer	1,363		May 1917	to France as Gabriel 1917, returned 1921, renamed George L. Olson, wrecked Coos Bay 1944
	215234	Robert C. Sudden	Sudden & Christensen	steamer	1,363		June 1917	to France as Hadrumette 1917, returned 1921, Robert C. Sudden, John C. Kirkpatrick, Margaret Berg, Cornelia, West Coast, burned 1946
		Mauno	Burmes-Philip Co.	schooner	253	117	Oct 1917
		Motau	Burmes-Philip Co.	schooner	253	117	Oct 1917
		Murua	Burmes-Philip Co.	schooner	253	117	Dec 1917
	215994	W. C. F. No. 1	Western Cal. Fish Co.	fishing boat	28	56	1918
	217564	Junta	F. E. Booth Co.	fishing boat	32	65	1919
	216128	Leader	Frank B. Peterson Co	cannery tender	42	65	1918
	215935	Palawan		schooner	818	167	1918	bombed and sunk in London in WWII
		Doris crane	Wrightman & crane	schooner	351	138	1920	burned 240nm N Honolulu 1927
	220456	Mikioi	Young Bros.	tugboat	98	88	1920	first "Miki"-type tug
	221034	Sea Lion	USSB	tugboat	472	150	Jan 1921	completed for Crowley, deleted 1944
	221133	Sea Monarch	USSB	tugboat	472	150	Mar 1921	completed for Crowley, in collision and sank off Bush Point 1925
	221353	Sea Ranger	USSB	tugboat	472	150	May 1921	completed for Crowley, to USN 1942 as Wampatuck (YT-337), deleted 1955
	221392	Sea Scout	USSB	tugboat	472	150	June 1921	completed for Crowley, scrapped 1948
		Alice A		aux. ketch			1921
		Rascal		sloop		42	1921	R-class No. 3
		Corinthian II		sloop			1921	R-class
		Sparrow		cannery tender			1922
	222510	W. C. F. No. 2	Western Cal. Fish Co.	fishing boat	39	59	1922
	223127	Oakland		freighter	225		1923
		Lucky Strike					1924
		Corinthian Star					1924
	224306	Emerald	F. A. Hyde	yawl	16	50	1924	in Marina del Rey
	223738	Sally	Daniel Contracting	tugboat	33	65	1924
	224549	Fram	Naknek Packing	cannery tender	47	70	1925
		Nancy Jane	Jules Bernheim	cruiser		36	1925
		Aloha	Frank B. Drake	aux. ketch		55	1927	rammed and sunk by USCG-1928
		Noname	Hart S. Weaver	aux. ketch		55	1927	later Tavana, Mandalay
	226375	Northern Light	John Borden	schooner	247	140	1927	Research vessel, Boston pilot boat
		Machree					1927
		Marquita					1927
	235345	Migirl	Lester Stone	aux. sloop	17	50	1928	later Water Witch
	227452	Crowley No. 23	Crowley L & T	tugboat	47	74	1928	later yacht Born Again
	227980	W. C. F. No. 3	Western Cal. Fish Co.	fishing boat	46	60	1928
		Puffin		sloop			1928	Bird-class No. 12
		Cuckoo		sloop			1929	Bird-class No. 16
		Robin		sloop			1929	Bird-class No. 18
		Polly	C. R. Rodgers	sloop		30	1929	Bird-class No. 19
		?	Hart S. Weaver	schooner			1929
		Wanderer II	Frank Cox	schooner			1930
1158		Buccaneer	H. E. McCarthy	sloop		30	1931
		Marilen	Lester Stone	ketch		61	1931
		Iris	George F. Grant	sloop		32	1934
	521751	Marilyn J	Marc A. Maluda	yacht	14		1934
		Helaine	C. S. Crittenden	sloop		42	1936
		Kivi	Robert Doolittle	Tahiti Ketch		30	1936
		Westerner	Frank B. Drake	sloop		43	1936
	236341	Senta	K. K. Bechtel	sloop	18	53	1937
		Kirawan		sloop	18		1937
		Sonata	Gordon Strawbridge	sloop		35	1941
Built by W. F. Stone & Son at Blanding Avenue in Alameda (1942-1978) - 41 boats
		YMS-299	US Navy	minesweeper	278		7 Apr 1943	reclassified 1947 as Rhea (AMS-52), sold 1960 as training ship in Port Stanley ON, scrapped 1997
		YMS-300	US Navy	minesweeper	278		3 Jul 1943	struck 1946
		YMS-301	US Navy	minesweeper	278		11 Sep 1943	to the USSR 1945 as T-605, scrapped 1956
		YMS-302	US Navy	minesweeper	278		5 Nov 1943	struck 1948
		PCS-1421	US Navy	subchaser	278		19 Feb 1944	sold 1947
		PCS-1422	US Navy	subchaser	278		24 Apr 1944	sold 1947
		YT-254	US Navy	tugboat	260		24 Aug 1944	later Menatonon, struck 1960
		YT-255	US Navy	tugboat	260		30 Sep 1944	later Kennesaw, struck 1960
	246819	Nancy T	Tarantino et al.	purse seiner		85	1944	later Joseph Balestrieri II, wrecked 1955
	259343	Tasco	Thomas A. Short	yawl		50	1947	later Kialoa
		Ulalume	Bud George	sloop		41	1948
	257641	Alert	K. K. Bechtel	ketch	30	61	1949	NLD
		Flame	Jack Erhorn	racing sloop			1949	Yankee One-Design No. 34
		Venture		racing sloop			1950	Yankee One-Design No. 36
		Tarfon		racing sloop			1950	Yankee One-Design No. 37
		Yankee Clipper	Frank Stone	racing sloop			1950	Yankee One-Design No. 38
		Yankee Doodle	Frank Stone	racing sloop			1950	Yankee One-Design No. 39
		Flotsam	Jack Erhorn	racing sloop			1950	Yankee One-Design No. aa
		Makaala	Young Bros.	tugboat		65
	269615	Tasco II	Thomas A. Short	sloop	14	41	1955	later Mistress
	280309	Vaya	Lester Stone	sloop	15	39	1955
		Morning Star				106	1956	sank in Mexico
	272095	Coral	J. Echerick	sloop	5	25	1956
	545636	Foxen	Leonard A. Brown	sloop	14	40	1957
	280470	Little Packet	Christopher Jenkes	sloop	9	30	1959
	282250	Spartan	Jack Tibbetts	sloop	10	42	1960
		Yohoho	Lloyd Rees	ketch		44	1962	later Zaida
	293253	Rowena	Donald Dalziel	sloop	18	49	1964
			Cal. Maritime	surf boat		26	1965-70	At least four boats
		Scamp	Lester Stone	sloop		33	1967
	528082	Dina Maria		yacht	15		1970
		Spinster	Douglas Meacham	fishing boat		37	1970
		St. Francis V		sloop			1973
		Wailua	Sunney Waileeal	tour boat		65	1973
		Kauai	Sunney Waileeal	tour boat		65	1974
		Kawili		tour boat			1974
124	565565	Natoma	Donald Dalziel	ketch	52	60	1975
125	569182	Rolling Stone	John Whitsett	IOR Racing Sloop	10	36	1975	(Germany)
		Shaft					1976
		Outrageous		sloop			1977
		Charisma		yacht			1978	(Mexico)
Built by the Stone Boat Yard at Blanding Avenue in Alameda (1979-2004)
1	964574	Hummingbird	O. & G. Niemeth	passenger	17	40	1990
2	995479	Stoney	Albion Marine Inc.	tugboat	9	26	1993	later Judy I