Page 18. MAINE COASTAL NEWS June 2018 Boat And Ship Yard News - 1945 It is now the fi nal year of the war and


the out-come is pretty well determined. Just how long it would take to conclude was yet to be written in stone, but some of the mea- sures put in place to insure that the war eff ort had what it needed were no being relaxed. Still the majority of boats being written up in the “Atlantic Fisherman” were draggers and they were quickly evolving with new designs and equipment. We even see that there are a few more new lobster boats going down the ways. In January it was announced that the


leading fi shing ports in the U. S. were San Pedro, CA; followed by San Francisco, CA; then Gloucester, MA; Boston, MA; Beaufort, NC; Fernandina, FL; San Diego, CA; New Bedford, MA and Reedville, VA. I make mention of this as in early documents from the 1900s do not mention New Bedford as a fi shing port. I believe many think that New Bedford was always a leading fi shing port, but it seems that it did not become one until the mid-1900s. The fi rst fi shing boat listed in Atlantic


Fisherman for 1945 was the 96-foot steel dragger ROSALIE D. MORSE. She was a design collaboration between John G. Alden and Eldridge-McInnis and built by Somer- set Shipyards, Inc. of Fall River, MA and owned by Fairbanks-Morse (F-M)& Co., who were to use her as a fl oating laboratory for the development of marine machinery. The main engine is an experimental fi ve cylinder 315 hp diesel with a 3 kW tail shaft generator. She is fi tted with all sorts of re- cording equipment so they can document the engine’s performance. There is a separate 10-hp F-M diesel engine, which drives a 6 kW generator and air compressor. On the after bulkhead was Gould 110-volt glass-jar batteries, which had just been developed and were being tested. Once this engine is fully documented F-M has another new engine ready to go in. For accommodation there are berths for 12 in the forecastle, which is also the location of the galley. The fi sh hold has a capacity of 215,000 pounds; 6,500 gallons of fuel; 1,400 gallons of water; and 35 tons of ice.


Some remember the Wheeler Shipyard


in Brooklyn, New York for the yachts they built. However early in the winter of 1945 they launched the 60-foot ketch rigged drag- ger MOLLY & JANE for Capt. Leon H. Eas- terbrooks and George Silva of Edgartown, MA. She was designed by Eldridge-McInnis and was built by a new method of construc- tion where she was cambered and ceiled and the permanent bulkheads installed before


the planking was put on. They also used two-ply laminated and glued steam bent frames, which is much stronger than the usual one piece steam-bent frames. She is powered with a 171-hp Buda diesel with a 2:1 Twin Disc reduction gear, 3-inch bronze shaft and a 42 x 34 Columbian propeller. The forecastle is fi tted with fi ve berths and Shipmate coal burning range. There is also a berth in the pilothouse. For navigation equipment she has a 7 inch Kelvin-White compass and Bludworth direction fi nder. At Waldoboro Shipyard they launched


the 103-foot dragger EDITH & LILLIAN into the Medomak River on 28 Novem- ber. She was christened by Mrs. Edith C. Marques and is owned by Capt. Frank Rose of Gloucester. The model was designed by Frank Day and Scott Carter and was the larg- est vessel launched at the yard at this time. She has a 23 foot beam, 13 foot draft with a slightly raked stem, round stern and a lot of freeboard. Her keel is 14 x 28 inches with a 6 inch shoe, 22 x 22 stern post, frames are double 6 inch oak on 20 inch centers, with 3 inch oak planking, 6 to 8 inch deck beams, hackmatack knees and 3 x 4 inch fi r decking. The bulkheads are built Navy Style, double diagonally planked with two inch tongue and groove hard pine, with tar paper and thick paint between the layers. She has 16 pens in the fi sh hold that has a capacity of 200,000 pounds. The forecastle is 30 feet in length and has 10 bunks, lockers, walk-in icebox galley range, and two water tanks. She is powered with a 400 hp Atlas diesel with a 7 inch shaft, and a 72 x 46 Columbian propeller. Her speed was expected to be 10 knots.


Some of the fi shing boats in the early


to mid-1900s were converted yachts. The 60 foot schooner BUCCANEER was sold by the Fred Dion yard in Salem, MA to Green Island Packing Co. of Rockland and was converted to carrying fi sh be removing her interior and 13 tons of ballast and then adding a fi sh hold. On 16 December the red fi sh drag-


ger PHYLLIS & MARY was launched at the yard of N. W. Montgomery & Son in Gloucester owned by Capt. Anthony F. Bertolino and his father, Angelo Bertolino. She was designed by the builders and has a length of 75 feet, beam, 18 feet 6 inches and draft 7 feet. She has a fi sh capacity of 120,000 pounds and for accommodations has 10 bunks in the forecastle and two in the pilothouse. She is powered with a 180-hp Cummins with a 2:1 Capitol gear. The yard has another 75-foot dragger underway for


Saving Tug SATURN


Capt. Vito Lograsso of Gloucester. Also on 16 December Willis J. Reid


& Son of Winthrop, MA launched 87-foot dragger HAZEL B. for Bendon Fishing Co. of Chelsea. She is powered with a 320-hp F-M diesel. In the February issue of “Atlantic Fish-


erman” there was an article on boat building. It explained that the number of vessels under 100 feet in length was above the pre-war numbers, but those over 100 feet were not. However the productive capacity was now equal to pre-war levels. The article also ex- plained that for the fi rst time many people had to eat fi sh for the fi rst time and liked it and thus there was now a great demand. Due to advancements in processing, packaging and lessening times in shipping the product a much bigger market was expected. With this expected demand more vessels above 100 feet were expected to be built and there was even talk of factory ships. On the other end of the spectrum there has been a big increase in building boats between 25 and 50 feet. One reason for the demand is that many of those men who took jobs in shipyards have been laid off and while working were able to save enough capital to buy a boat. Launched in the middle of January was


the 57 foot dragger DORA-PETER from the Newbert & Wallace yard in Thomaston for Capt. Ira Tupper of Vinalhaven. She is a new design by Roy Wallace and has a length of 57 feet, beam 16 feet and depth 8 feet. She has a capacity of 45,000 pounds and for accommodations she sleeps four in the fore- castle. For power she has a 60-hp Lathrop diesel with a 2:1 Joe’s reduction gear, a 2½ inch Monel shaft, with a 42 x 30 Columbian wheel. Her speed is estimated to be about 9 knots.


Bristol Yacht Building Co. in South


Bristol launched the 79-foot dragger SOLVEIG J. for Capt. Rasmus Jacobsen of New Bedford on 9 January. She was de- signed by Albert E. Condon and is similar to PELICAN, which was built at the yard several months before. She has a capacity of 120,000 pounds. Her engine is 200-hp Superior diesel. Southwest Boat of Southwest Harbor


has a 65-foot dragger under construction for Capt. Lew Wallace, Robert Anderson and Norman Stinson of Rockland. She is going to be powered with a 170-hp Buda diesel. In mid-winter the government an-


nounced that there was a shortage of build- ing materials and trained personnel and that they would limit the construction of new boats to those lost, but would not replace those because the owner sold or the vessel became obsolete. Back in October W. A. Robinson Ship-


We need you to be a Member!


SATURN is an 117-foot railroad tug built as the BERN for the Reading Railroad in 1907.


She is one of the last railroad tugs and is


being saved for future generations to enjoy. For more information: (207) 223-8846 or to join the Friends of SATURN, send a check for $25 or more to P.O. Box 710, Winterport, ME 04496. On Facebook: Saturn-Historic railroad tugboat restoration project


yard in Ipswich launched the 111-foot drag- ger ESTRELA (meaning star in Portuguese) for Capt. Joaquim Gaspar. She was designed by Eldredge-McInnis in conjunction with Capt. Gaspar and Herbert Johnson of the Shipyard. She has a 23 foot beam, a 12 foot draft and a 285 tonnage. She was built en- tirely of oak with the exception of her pine decks. The fi sh hold is just over 25 feet in length and has a capacity of 270,000 tons in six pens. The engine is a 600-hp Atlas diesel, which is the largest engine in any Glouces- ter fi shing vessel. For accommodations the captain’s cabin as a berth, shower and head. The forecastle is 32 feet long and has eight full sized berths and two smaller ones in the peak. Her cost was over $200,000. At Reed Brothers on the east side of


Boothbay Harbor there are building a 35 foot fi shing boat for Arnold W. Stimson of Cape Porpoise. On the other side of the harbor at Frank


L. Sample, Jr. they launched the 97-foot dragger JUNOJAES for Capt. Michael


Smith of New Bedford. She was designed by Albert E. Condon and has a beam of 21 feet 7 inches and a draft of 11 feet 9 inches. A lot of steel was used in her construction to give added strength where needed. For accommodations she has nine berths in the forecastle where the galley is also located. The capacity of the fi sh hold is 180,000 pounds. She is powered with a 300-hp Atlas diesel with a 6 inch bronze shaft with a 66 x 46 Columbian propeller. Two 106 foot steel trawlers, designed


by John G. Alden, have been ordered by the O’Hara Brothers Company of Boston from the John H. Mathias Co. shipyard in New Jersey. They will have accommoda- tions for 17 and be powered with a 550-hp super-charged Atlas diesel engine. They are expected to be delivered in July. Morse Boatbuilding of Thomaston


launched the 77 foot scalloper LINUS S. ELDRIDGE on 15 March. She is owned by Linus and William Eldridge of New Bedford and she will be skippered by Capt. Alton Wotton of Fairhaven. She is a Morse model and sleeps 10 in forecastle and two in the pilothouse. She is powered with a 155-hp Atlas diesel. Another order has been received by the


Bristol Yacht Building Co. in South Bristol for a 85 foot dragger for Jens Larson of New Bedford. She will be powered with a 250-hp Enterprise diesel. Yards were not only building new


vessels, but a number of boats were being repowered. The 60-foot sardine carrier EVA GRACE, owned by Stinson Canning of Prospect Harbor received in June a 120-hp F-M. This replaces a 75-hp engine. Three fi shing boats: 26-footer for James


Galen of West Southport; a 26 footer for Edward Babb, West Southport, and a 24 foot for Henry Abbott of Boothbay Harbor, are being built by Jack Curtis of Boothbay Harbor.


Casey Boat Building in Fairhaven, MA,


launched the 90 foot dragger LOUISE for Capt. Elmer Jacobsen of New Bedford. She is one of the fi rst fi shing vessels in New En- gland to have a turbo charged engine, which is 400-hp Enterprise. The supercharger pro- vides 50 percent more power by increasing the more air. When one travels Cape Cod the trees


usually found are scrub pine and not good for building boats. So when you fi nd a boat built at Provincetown out on the tip of Cape Cod it is amazing. Flyer’s Boat Shop in Provincetown completed a 26-foot lobster boat, RUTH ANN, for Frank Aresta, Sr. of Provincetown. It was also stated that it had been 15 years since the last boat was built there.


The well-known Graves; Boatyard in


Marblehead built two boats for two local fi shermen: Capt. William Barber and Capt. Hillard Woodbury, both of Marblehead. These boats have a beam of 9 feet 6 inches and a draft of 3 feet 6 inches. The Woodbury boat is powered with a 93-hp Chrysler and the Barber boat with a 115-hp Chrysler Crown. In mid-spring the Lyman James Ship-


yard in Essex launched the 100-foot CATH- ERINE AMIRAULT for Capt. Bradford Amirault of Dorchester, and will fi sh out of Gloucester. This is a new model with a beam of 23 feet 6 inches and a draft of 12 feet. She has accommodations for 12 in the forecastle, four aft and one in the stateroom. Her fi sh hold capacity is 210,000 pounds. She is powered with a 400-hp Atlas diesel. A 95-foot dragger is under construction


at Frank L. Sample, Jr. Inc. shipyard in Boothbay Harbor for United Fisheries Ves- sels Co. of Gloucester. She will be powered with a 300-hp Atlas diesel. She should be


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