Most recent update: November 18, 2021.

Bethlehem Steel's shipyard in San Francisco CA was founded as Union Brass & Iron Works in 1849, by Peter Donahue, one of San Francisco's three Donahue brothers, who were known as the "iron men".  It was sold to Bethlehem Steel in 1906 but continued to use the Union Iron Works name until 1917, after Bethlehem acquired Quincy, Sparrows Point and a number of smaller yards, and standardized the yard names and the hull numbering system.  The San Francisco shipyard was expanded in 1911 by the acquisition of the adjoining Risdon Iron Works, which had built locomotives, and this facility was used in WWI for destroyer construction.  The yard remained in continuous operation throughout the inter-war years and was the only major shipbuilder on the West Coast prior to WWII.  Bethlehem Steel sold the yard to the City in 1982, for a dollar.  It was then leased to Southwest Marine under the name San Francisco Drydock and when Southwest Marine folded, it became a division of BAE Systems.  At the beginning of 2017, it was sold to Puglia Engineering but this deal collapsed almost immediately and this once-great yard is now closed.  See it from the air on Google here.  Union IW was the portion north of 20th Street and Risdon IW was the portion south of 20th Street. 

The Alameda shipyard, formerly United Engineering Works, was added in 1916, at the onset of WWI, to build standard cargo ships for the U.S. Shipping Board.  After WWI, the yard was converted to ship repair, although it reformed as United Engineering Company and built 10 troopships, 21 ATFs and 10 YCs in WWII: it closed in 1956.  It was located at the foot of Webster Street, stretching to the east: the only thing left is the beautiful power house, now an office building.  See the site from the air on Google here.  In the table below, the ships with hull numbers in the Union/Bethlehem series but that were built in Alameda are identified by an A. 

If anyone can add to the table below, please send your info to timcolton@aol.com