Reliable Welding Works ~ Shipbuilding History

Reliable Welding Works

Olympia WA

Most recent update: August 31, 2021.

Reliable Welding Works was started some time in the 1920s or 30s by A. W. Lewis. It was specifically designed to build steel vessels up to 200 feet, so any wooden vessels credited to Reliable were almost certainly built by one of the several wooden boatbuilders in the Olympia area: similarly, there is some confusion as to who built several steel barges listed as built in the area. In 1970, RWW changed its name to Reliable Steel Fabrication, reflecting a change in its markets. It was sold in 1998 and later closed. The site, at 1218 West Bay Drive Northwest, remains vacant. See it 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	Tons	LOA	Built	Notes
	173665	Roberta Rockway	Olympia Oil	tank barge	179	100	1937	later W.T.&B. Co. No. 60, Manson 42
	173719	Pierson Petroleum	G. D. Pierson	tank barge	85	60	1937	to USN 1942 as YO-151, returned post-war, foundered 1950
	239393	Ranger	Ben H. Tingly	tugboat	15	43	1940
	174729	Cornell No. 10	Chas. Cornell	barge	187	110	1941
	175023	Oil No. 1	Alaska Rivers Navigation	freight barge	155	119	1941
	175265	Polaris No. 6		barge	62	85	1942	later Christine Rose
	251952	Jean S		tugboat	94	69	1942	later The Rocket
	271112	Kapalama		tugboat	37	48	1942	later Roamer
1		Boissonault (ST 34)	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1942	fate unknown
2		Carpenter (ST 35)	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1942	foundered 1943
3		Fox (ST 36)	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1942	sold post-war, fate unknown
4		Albert (ST 37)	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1942	sold post-war as Hagen, sold 1949 to Lisbon Harbor as Serra de Sintra, Serra da Lapa 1978, fate unknown
5		Irwin (ST 38)	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1942	fate unknown
6		Keach (ST 39)	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1942	foundered 1944
7		ST-12	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	to China post-war as Kingsbury
8		ST-13	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold 1948 to F.M. Yorke (Canada), sunk 1948
9	253511	ST-14	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold 1947 as Western Cities, foundered 1979
10		ST-164	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold post-war, to Argentina 1948 as either MOP 252-B or MOP 256-B
11		ST-165	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	foundered 1943
12	256829	ST-166	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold 1948 as Gary Foss, Pacific Rocket 1949, Bronco 1972, Swinomish 1974
13		ST-167	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold post-war, to Argentina 1948 as either MOP 252-B or MOP 256-B
14		ST-168	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold post-war, fate unknown
15		ST-169	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold 1947 as Isabella Stewart (Canada), Fraser Crown 1959, Pacific Buoy 1982, sold 2003, fate unknown
16		ST-170	US Army	tugboat	100d	74	1943	sold 1947 as George McGregor (Canada), lost 1949
17		ST-734	US Army	tugboat	148d	86	1944	fate unknown
18		ST-735	US Army	tugboat	148d	86	1945	to Greece post-war as Theseus, fate unknown
19		ST-736	US Army	tugboat	148d	86	1945	fate unknown
20		ST-737	US Army	tugboat	148d	86	1945	fate unknown
21		ST-738	US Army	tugboat	148d	86	1945	fate unknown
22		ST-739	US Army	tugboat	148d	86	1945	fate unknown
	247040	Ruby VIII	General Construction	tugboat	40	52	1944	later Joshua T, Coot, Ruby VIII
	176014	BBL No. 50		freight barge	1,029	260	1944	later M.T. No. 20 (too big to have been built by Reliable?)
	176064	BBL No. 51		freight barge	1,029	260	1944	later M.T. No. 21 (too big to have been built by Reliable?)
	176201	D.L. Co. C	Drummond Lighterage	freight barge	841	216	1945	later PGE No. 3 (Canada ON 194186), Seaspan 901, Allied Barge
	176350	Ordel No. 9	Ordel Oil	tank barge	142	83	1945	sold for recreational use, NLD
	247526	Harstine II	Mason County	ferry	49	63	1945	retired 1969
	249014	Sun Dial	Fred V. Brown	trawler	536	118	1945	hull only, completed by Pacific Coast BB
27	250021	F E Lovejoy	Puget Sound Freight Lines	freighter	472	170	1946	later Laney S, Denali, Pacific Producer
	250145	Erlyndee	A. W. Lewis	yacht	41	46	1946	built for the owner of the shipyard
	251620	Kolo	Young Brothers	tugboat	42	61	1947	NLD
	263133	Brynn Foss	Foss Towing	tugboat	96	68	1952	later Bengal Tiger, deleted 2016
		Bayberry (WLI-65400)	USCG	buoy tender	70d	65	1954
		Elderberry (WLI-65401)	USCG	buoy tender	70d	65	1954
	273348	Rufus	Foss Towing	tugboat	13	42	1957	later Denise H
36	529534	Cedar King	Dunlap Towing	tugboat	19	37	1970