Articles
Read about our history, from the origins of our shipyard to our shibuilding programs.
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The Origin of “Bath Built is Best Built”
Question: What is the source and attribution of the phrase “Bath-built is best-built”? Response: “You can’t get there from here” is a phrase familiar to all who have confronted the…
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Post War America
The Postwar Years
As WWII ended, BIW faced a familiar situation, as a sudden surplus of military and commercial ships led to an inevitable plunge in shipbuilding orders. Although construction of many wartime…
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Great Depression and WW II, Post War America
Boiler Shop History
Designed to support the assembly/erection of steam boilers for U.S. Navy WWII destroyers, the Boiler Ship was used for more than 50 years.
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Modern Era
Modernizing Our Shipyard
Under General Dynamics’ ownership, BIW teamed up with the City of Bath and the State of Maine to support a long-term capital investment plan which included the Land Level Transfer…
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The DDG 51 Program and Today’s Shipyard
In 1991, BIW celebrated the delivery and commissioning of USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), BIW Hull 450, the first of the Aegis destroyers. As shipbuilders took pride in delivery of…
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Great Depression and WW II, Modern Era, Post War America
Career of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58)
The future USS Samuel B. Roberts, BIW Hull 394, was launched on Dec. 8, 1984. At the time of her launch the frigate was probably most notable as BIW’s second-to-last…
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Great Depression and WW II
Career of the USS O’Bannon (DD-450)
USS O’Bannon, BIW Hull 191, was BIW’s second Fletcher-class destroyer, launched on Feb. 19, 1942, along with her sister ship Nicholas, Hull 190. The new destroyer was delivered in Boston…
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Great Depression and WW II
USS Buchanan (DD 131) in WWII
USS Buchanan, BIW Hull 78, launched on Jan. 2, 1919 and delivered 18 days later, was one of 11 Wickes and Clemson class “flush deck” destroyers built at BIW during…
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Modern Era – 1975
USS Belknap Collision
In November of 1975 Belknap was involved in a collision with the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy while the ships were maneuvering at night in the Mediterranean Sea. The damage…
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Great Depression and WW II
The South Portland Shipyards
From 1940 to 1945 BIW played an unexpected role in the construction of two emergency shipyards in South Portland. The project began in 1940, when the British government sought to…
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Great Depression and WW II
The Racing Sloop Ranger
The racing sloop Ranger, Hull 172, stands out among the list of trawlers and destroyers built at BIW in the late 1930’s. Ranger was built to defend the America’s Cup,…
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The Portland Ship Repair Facility
In the early 1980s, BIW was busy with the FFG program and a substantial ship overhaul business, and looking forward to the Aegis cruiser program. It was clear the cruisers…
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Notable Sea Trials of the Past
More than a century ago there was keen interest in a ship’s speed, and strong competition to build the fastest vessel – even if only a fraction of a knot…
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Modern Era, Post War America
Modernization and Commercial Shipbuilding
In the late 1960s, the Navy adopted a new approach for the DX Program, a large class of destroyers meant to replace aging WWII-era ships in the fleet. Rather than…
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Into the Guided Missile Era and the 1960’s
BIW’s first ships of this era were the Dewey and Preble, hulls 333 and 334, ordered in late 1956. Members of the 10-ship Farragut class, these large destroyers were officially…
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Post War America
Into the 1950s – Modernizing the Shipyard and Supporting the Fleet
After building a variety of experimental ships in the immediate post-WWII years, BIW won several contracts for larger groups of ships in the early 1950s. In an era of tight…
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From Frigates to Cruisers to Destroyers
As the FFG program wound down, the Navy was preparing for construction of the next large surface combatants, the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers. The Ticonderogas were a version of the…
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Great Depression and WW II
BIW Ships During the Pearl Harbor Attack
Bath Iron Works built several of the ships that played a role in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941: three Clemson-class destroyers USS Preble (DD-345), USS…
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Great Depression and WW II, Industrialization, Modern Era, Post War America, Progressive Era, WW1 and Roaring 20s
BIW and the Hyde Windlass Company
In the 1880s the Bath Iron Foundry, owned by General Thomas Hyde and located on Water Street in downtown Bath, was a well-established builder of deck machinery, such as windlasses,…
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A Brief History of the Hardings Plant
As the prospect of war grew closer in 1940, BIW embarked on an ambitious shipyard expansion. The shipyard clearly needed more space, so a 15-acre site in East Brunswick, formerly…
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A Return to U.S. Navy Shipbuilding with the FFG Program
In 1971 the Navy, under the direction of Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, began serious exploration of smaller, less expensive ship designs. It was apparent that the current…
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Modern Era – 1993
DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant
When DiMillo’s floating restaurant in Portland was in danger of going under – literally – in 1993 they looked to BIW to shore up the decrepit hull. The restaurant had…
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1975
First Computer arrive at BIW in 1975
The first computers arrived at BIW in late 1975. They were dumb computer terminals (remote terminals attached to a server), which were used by the Lofting group for design work…