Nilson & Kelez ~ Shipbuilding History

Nilson & Kelez

Seattle WA

Most recent update: October 13, 2020.

Andrew S. Nilson, an immigrant from Norway, started building ships in Seattle in 1882. In 1909, he teamed up with Nicholas M. Kelez, a naval architect from Dubrovnik, and together they operated Nilson & Kelez Shipbuilding Corp., until it closed in 1922, The yard was at the west end of Atlantic Street, where the US Coast Guard station is today. The table below lists those vessels that I have been able to identify, although it is clearly incomplete.

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O/N	Name	Customer	Type	GT	LOA	Delivered	Notes
207529	Comet		freighter	107	94	1910	to USN 1918 as SP-772, post-war Dorothea, to USN 1942 as YAG-31, post-war Delpen, NLD
164545	Pioneer S. & G. No. 10	Pioneer Sand & Gravel	hopper barge	647	140	1911
164671	Pioneer S. & G. No. 11	Pioneer Sand & Gravel	hopper barge	647	140	1911
		Pioneer Sand & Gravel	hopper barge
		Pioneer Sand & Gravel	hopper barge
165171	Alaska	White Pass & Yukon RW	passenger	642	165	1913	to Canada 1927 (ON 116621), laid up 1951, scrapped 1964
165172	Yukon	White Pass & Yukon RW	passenger	642	165	1913	burned 1948
209542	Sumner		halibut schooner	50	61	1913	abandoned 1936
209707	Union Jack	Union Cod Fishing Co.	halibut schooner	57	85	1913	sold 1914 as Delphia (Germany), captured by France 1915, sold to Australian owners
210842	Idaho		halibut schooner	76	78	1913	to BuFish 1919 as Eider, to USN 1942 as YP-198, returned 1945, to USGS-1949, to Marshall I. 1955, sank 19??
210970	Oregon	Columbia River Packers Assn.	halibut schooner	107	80	1913	later St. Mary, Port Hueneme, to Mexico 1948
211859	Yakutat	Pete Bjerke and John Selleret	halibut schooner	60	68	1913
211956	Warrior	Pacific American Fisheries	cannery tender	82	59	1914	grounded and lost 1967
212012	Tyee	Scott Daniel & Moe Bros.	trawler	130	93	1914	later Chukotsk, Dorothy, to USA 1942 as FS-101, to Canada 1956, Shirley Rose, Tyee No. 1
212209	Alma	Juneau Ferry & Nav. Co.	passenger	95	83	1914	to USA 1943 as Q-113, burned 1964
213069	Chickamauga	Pacific Towboat Co.	tugboat	51	59	1914	later Sea Chicken, Chickamauga, scrapped 2014
			dredge			1914	assembled in Mimnk Creek AK
165879	Susitna	Knik-Susitna Co.	barge	30	65	1915	NLD 1915
165880	Knik	Knik-Susitna Co.	barge	30	65	1915	abandoned 1945
213053	Jane	Knik-Susitna Co.	towboat			1915	lost 1915
213935	Breaker	Nelson Lagoon Packing	freighter	257	89	1916	abandoned 1940
215742	State of Oregon	Alaska Pacific Nav. Co.	freighter	1,616	215	1917	completed as Oregon, NLD 1945
216577	State of Alabama	Alaska Pacific Nav. Co.	freighter	2,088	254	1918	completed as Alabama, sold foreign 1919
216847	Bonnafone	USSB	cargo (#465)	2,542	268	1918	scrapped 1924
216919	Forster	USSB	cargo (#466)	2,552	268	1918	scrapped 1924
217231	Octorara	USSB	cargo (#467)	2,531	268	1918	scrapped 1924
217721	Snoqualmie/Adway	USSB	cargo (#468)	2,537	268	1918	scrapped 1924
220731	Cinyras	USSB	cargo (#2140)	2,537	268	1920	cancelled but completed as barge Griffson
225156	We Go	Snow Creek Logging	tugboat	34	57	1922	later Barbara Foss