David Bell ~ Shipbuilding History

David Bell

Buffalo NY

Most recent update: October 15, 2016.

David Bell, an immigrant from Scotland, was an engine builder first and a shipbuilder second. He started in business in 1845, as Bell & McNish, becoming Bell's Steam Engine Works. In 1858 he started building ships under his own name and in 1862 built the Merchant, the first coal-powered, propeller-driven, iron-hulled ship to be built on the Great Lakes. The company's plant was on the east side of the Evans Ship Canal (which was where the north-south stretch of Erie Street is now), roughly where the western side of the Marine Drive Apartments complex is today. See the site from the air on Google here.

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O/N	Name	Customer	Type	GT	LOA	Built	Notes
4991	City of Buffalo		freighter	149		1859	barge 1871, no record after 1893
19684	Philo S. Bemis		tugboat	29		1859	abandoned 1879
16332	Merchant	Anchor Line	freighter	721		1862	wrecked 1875
10664	Glen Iris		freighter	119		1863	later Mary O'Riorden, abandoned 1951
6147	Dexter		tugboat	36		1866	abandoned 1911
	Metropolitan	City of New York	police boat	149		1867	abandoned 1867
18092	Nellie Cotton		tugboat	37		1867	abandoned 1929
20142	Philadelphia	Erie & Western Transportation	freighter	1,463		1868	collision and sank 1893
1734	Ariadne		tugboat	34		1868
100042	Ivanhoe		sidewheeler	282		1869	burned 1899
	Douglas		tugboat			1870
90701	Mary Bell		yacht	34		1870	no record after 1907
	Albert Gallatin	U.S.R.C.S.	cutter	250		1871	later Gallatin, sank 1892
202921	Alexander Hamilton	U.S.R.C.S.	cutter	250		1871	later Hamilton, sold 1906 as Pilot, Keechi
8882	Eliza Williams		tugboat	37		1872
125149	Cayuga		tugboat	27		1872	later S.S. Mac 1941, abandoned 1963
205203	George S. Boutwell	U.S.R.C.S.	cutter	151		1873	later Boutwell, sold 1907 as E. T. Chamberlin
90792	M. D. Carrington		tugboat	64		1875	scrapped 1949
145074	Titania		yacht	73		1875	collision 1908
110275	Rosaline		yacht	28		1876	later Volanta
	G. W. Gardner		yacht			1876
	Esperanza		yacht			1876
105784	Arundell	Cole & Holt	freighter	306		1878	burned 1911, rebuilt as barge 1916, cargo ship Brewster 1920, in collision and sank 1922
	Flora		yacht			1879
	Vanderbilt		yacht			1879
	Angelique		yacht	27		1880
106025	A. W. Colton	M. T. Huntley	tugboat	92		1881	abandoned 1945
100302	Ina		yacht	14		1881	later Service 1919, abandoned 1929
25243	Uarda	Dow and Wesson	yacht	16		1881	abandoned 1921
110536	Robert H. Cooke		tugboat	157		1882
207088	Sand Beach	US Army USACE	tugboat	10		1885	later Lorene 1909, foundered 1945
145439	Theseus		yacht	54		1886
	Seneca Chief		yacht			1887
81211	Waller		yacht	56		1887
200702	City of Buffalo	City of Buffalo	fire tugboat	133		1887	George R. Potter 1903, sold 1932, Liberty 1940, deleted in 1980s
150462	Phil Sheridan		tugboat	35		1888	scrapped 1923
	Florence Rice			19		1889
116305	Spalpeen		tugboat	29		1889
161014	Keystone		tugboat	95		1891	abandoned 1033
150524	Pilgrim		freighter	261		1891	burned 1937
150536	Paddy Miles		tugboat	33		1891
	Neversink		yacht			1892
200703	John M. Hutchinson	John M. Hutchinson	fire tugboat	90		1893	later Drag 1934, scrapped 1951
252202	Calumet	U.S.R.C.S.	tugboat	170		1894	later Tioga 1934, WYT-74 1942, sold 1947 as John F. Drews, William J. Dugan 1967, Spany Pane
	William McKinley		yacht			1894
161077	Katharine T. Wilbur		tugboat	54		1895	later Cortland 1903, to US Army 1916, sold 1919, Courageous 1973, deleted 1977
	Primrose		yacht			1895
	Sandusky		yacht			1896
107227	Alert	George Moon	fish tugboat	102		1896	later Douglas M (Canada) 1917, Black Hawk 1980
96399	Harvey D. Goulder	L. P. & J. A. Smith	tugboat	156		1896	later A.T.S. Tug No. 7 1920, Frederick T. Kellers 1922, no record after 1960
81738	W. J. Warwick	Joseph B. Blake	tugboat	21		1901	later Susanne S
117072	Shaun Rhue		tugboat	79		1901
127678	Capt. Hemens		passenger	34		1902	later A. B. Sutherland (Canada O.N. 130330), scrapped 1957