Standard Shipbuilding ~ Shipbuilding History

Standard Shipbuilding

Shooters Island NY

Most recent update: August 24, 2021.

This yard started life as Townsend & Downey and was a major yacht builder, most notable for building "Meteor" for the Kaiser. In 1917, Downey sold it to a group of Cuban financiers and started a new yard - Downey Shipbuilding - in the Arlington section of Staten Island. The Cubans expanded the Shooters Island yard from 25 to 50 acres, effectively occupying the entire island, which is just off the Richmond Terrace section of Staten Island. At its peak, it had about 4,500 employees. How did they get to work? Was there a pontoon bridge from the mainland? After the war, the island became a ship's graveyard: it has since been cleaned up but the view from the air on Google here still shows a forest of wrecks off the west side of an island that is now totally covered with trees.

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	USSB #	O/N	Name	Customer	Type	Tons	Delivered	Notes
Built by Townsend & Downey
		167974	Sabine			453	1901
		130942	North Beach	NY & College Pt. Ferry Co.	ferry	833	1901	to US Army 1918 as Gen John F. Weston
		93152	Muriel	Charles Smithers	yacht	72	1901
		145887	Thistle	Robert E. Tod	yacht	235	1901
		230326	Bache	US C+GS	research	325	1901	later Kingfisher 1927, abandoned 1940
		136893	Elmina	F. F. Brewster	yacht	72	1901
		117065	Sculpin II	Frank L. Sheppard	yacht	16	1901
		93347	Meteor	H. I. M. Emperor William II	yacht	228	1902
		145924	Tekla		yacht	92	1902
		117145	Shenandoah	Charles Fahnestock	yacht	207	1902
		117111	Santos			216	1902
		136976	Neola	H. M. Pynchon	yacht	39	1902
		200400	Cornell	Cornell Steamboat	tugboat	435	1902	later Istrouma 1916, scrapped 1954
			Resolute		yacht	128	1903
		200334	Atlantic		yacht	303	1903	to USCG 1941 as WIX-271, sold 1948
		201343	Azara		yacht	96	1904
		200789	S.O. Company No. 94	S.O. of New York	tank barge	4,167	1904
		200955	S.O. Company No. 95	S.O. of New York	tank barge	4,167	1904
		WAGL-18	Crocus	USCG	tender	210	26 Jul 2005	sold 1946
Built by Standard Shipbuilding
1		215822	Jupiter/Democracy	USSB	freighter	4,430	Nov 1917	to USN as SP-2215, Point Arena 1937, Irish Plane 1941, wrecked off Cork 1947
2		216220	Scandinavic/Muscatine	USSB	refrigerated freighter	4,444	May 1918	to USN as SP-2226, Floridian 1928, Elizabeth 1938, torpedoed and lost 1942
3		216290	War Unit/Passaic/Ice King	USSB	refrigerated freighter	4,451	June 1918	to USN as SP-3160, Georgian 1928, Hilton 1936, scrapped 1950
4		216607	War Speed/Montclair	USSB	refrigerated freighter	4,773	June 1918	to USN as SP-3497, scrapped 1936
5		216779	Englewood	USSB	freighter	5,138	Aug 1918	scrapped 1935
6		216778	Galesburg	USSB	freighter	5,138	Sep 1918	later Volkhovstroi 1930, scrapped 1960
7		216777	Morristown	USSB	freighter	5,138	Oct 1918	to USN as SP-3580, scrapped 1936
8		217170	War Pride/Hickman	USSB	freighter	5,120	Nov 1918	to USN as SP-3554, scrapped 1932
9		217318	Monmouth	USSB	freighter	5,125	Dec 1918	scrapped 1936
10		217421	Dallas	USSB	freighter	5,125	Jan 1919	later Deneprostroi 1930, scrapped 1965
11		217538	Belvidere	USSB	freighter	5,123	Mar 1919	scrapped 1935
12		217537	Aledo	USSB	freighter	5,123	Apr 1919	later Svirstroi 1929, bombed and lost 1941
13		217539	Shooters Island	USSB	freighter	5,123	May 1919	later Kenzan Maru 1938, torpedoed and lost 1943
14		AM-9	Finch	US Navy	minesweeper	1,950	10 Sep 2018	captured by Japan and scuttled 1942
15		AM-10	Heron	US Navy	minesweeper	1,950	30 Oct 2018	later AVP-2, sold 1946
16	1288	218165	Balsam	USSB	freighter	5,104	June 1919	scrapped 1933
17	1289	218371	East Side	USSB	freighter	4,400	July 1919	scrapped 1933
18	1290	218656	Glen Ridge	USSB	freighter	5,104	Sep 1919	later fish factory ship Aleut 1929, scrapped 1970
19	1291	218835	Bannack	USSB	freighter	5,104	Sep 1919	later Kopperston 1938, scrapped 1948
20	1292	218866	Rockaway Park	USSB	freighter	4,844	Dec 1919	scrapped 1932
21	1293	219202	Palisades	USSB	freighter	4,844	Dec 1919	scrapped 1933
22	1294	219518	Tenafly	USSB	freighter	5,092	Jan 1920	scrapped 1932
23	1295	219724	Kerhonkson	USSB	freighter	5,092	Mar 1920	later Ryuzan Maru 1938, torpedoed and lost 1943
24	1296	219953	Hinckley	USSB	freighter	4,755	Apr 1920	scrapped 1933
25	1297	219958	Chappaqua	USSB	freighter	4,755	June 1920	scrapped 1933
26		233749	Hibueras	Cuyamel Fruit Co.	freighter	1,445	Aug 1920	scrapped 1949
27		233738	Nicarao	Cuyamel Fruit Co.	freighter	1,445	Sep 1920	torpedoed and lost 1942
28		Mexico	San Teodoro	Eagle Oil Transport	tanker	6,100	11 Feb 2021	scrapped 1935
29		Mexico	San Tiburcio	Eagle Oil Transport	tanker	6,100	29 Jan 2021	mined and lost 1940
30		Mexico	San Ubaldo	Eagle Oil Transport	tanker	6,100	5 Mar 2021	scrapped 1955
31		Mexico	San Ugon	Eagle Oil Transport	tanker	6,100	16 Apr 2021	scrapped 1935
32		221833	John Purroy Mitchell	City of New York	fireboat	334	July 1921