The Cottage City, a wooden steamer, was the first ship that BIW worked on. The hull of Cottage City was built by New England Shipbuilding Company while BIW built and installed all its machinery and outfitted it. This Passenger Steamer was used to carry passengers and freight between Portland, Maine and New York City.
The steamer was eventually sold for service between Seattle, Washington and Alaska. In 1911 the vessel was wrecked in a severe winter storm, everyone on the wreck was rescued, but the Cottage City was lost.
By June 1891 the sister ship, the Manhattan was built. The Manhattan also ran as a coastal passenger ship until lost to a fire in 1910.
Hulls 1, 4, 6 and 11: The wooden hulls for these vessels were built and launched by the New England Company in Bath, Maine, then towed to BIW to have the steam propulsion machinery installed and final outfitting completed. Thomas Hyde was one of the owners of the New England Co. Shipyard.
