Page 46 - Port of Baltimore Magazine May/June 2011

port view
T he Maryland Steel Company, located at Sparrows
Point, delivered its first ship in 1891. In 1917,
Bethlehem Steel purchased the yard and thus
began the history of one of the greatest American
shipbuilders. The yard was busy between the World Wars
building passenger vessels, tankers and destroyers. The
company town of Sparrows Point developed, and by the start
of World War II, the yard had produced hull number 327.
During its heyday, between 1939 and 1946, the yard employed
20,000 workers and built 116 ships. After the war, the yard continued
STORY BY KATHY BERGREN SMITH
building ships, tankers and barges. Business slowed in the 1970s
as the large U.S. yards struggled to compete with their Asian
counterparts, where technology and cheaper labor drove prices.
While it was a shadow of its former self, Bethlehem Steel
Sparrows Point continued building ships and barges until 1992,
when hull number 4671, a container barge, was delivered to Hale
Transportation, which is still in the trade. When this photo was taken
in 1982, the yard had just commissioned one of four jack-up rigs for
Griffin-Alexander. Here it is being towed out of the graving dock.
Today, the yard is under new ownership, purchased at auction.
COURTESY OF A. R. JORDAN
[46] The Port of Baltimore ■ May/June 2011 To subscribe or renew, visitwww.marylandports.com