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Bethlehem Steel Shipyard - Bethlehem Steel History

Bethlehem Steel, based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was, at its peak, the second largest steel producer in the United States. The history of the company shows lots of changes in name and leadership but a steady progression towards success, until it was finally defeated by foreign producers in the early 21st century who could make steel cheaper and faster.

The history of the company begins in 1857 with the establishment of the Saucona Iron Company by Augustus Wolle. After difficulty getting the business off the ground, eventually, the company was fully-organized and moved to south Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where it became The Bethlehem Rolling Mill and Iron Company.

The board of directors of the new Bethlehem Rolling Mill and Iron Company elected Alfred Hunt president of the company on June 14, 1860. In the next three years, the company produced the first blast furnace and the first rolling mill. They soon became ensconced in the railroad business, producing rails at a fairly rapid pace. Bethlehem Steel added a machine shop in 1865 and another blast furnace in 1867.

In 1899, the Bethlehem Rolling Mill and Iron Company changed its name to the Bethlehem Steel Company. In 1904, Charles M. Schwab, who had recently resigned from US Steel, Bethlehem's major rival, and Joseph Wharton, who had founded the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, formed the Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Schwab became the first president and chairman of the board of directors.

After 1904, the Bethlehem Steel Company moved into position as a leader in the American steel industry and installed the revolutionary grey rolling mill and produced the first wide-flange structural shapes made in the United States. These wide-flange structural shapes eased the construction of America's skyscraper and established the Bethlehem Steel Company as the top supplier of steel to the construction industry.

The early 1900s, the Bethlehem Steel Company expanded, opening iron mines in Cuba and shipyards around the United States. The Bethlehem Steel Company acquired the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, located in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1913 and incorporated their shipbuilding division in 1917, dubbed the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Limited, also known as BethShip.

From 1916 to 1945, Eugene Grace was the president of the Bethlehem Steel Company and the chairman of the board from 1945 until he retired in 1957. Throughout Grace's tenure, the Bethlehem Steel Company manufactured the steel for some of the U.S.'s most prominent landmarks, such as:

* New York City's Rockefeller Center

* New York City's Madison Square Garden

* San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge

* Bonneville Dam

* Grand Coulee Dam

* Hoover Dam

* George Washington Bridge

* Chicago's Merchandise Mart

The Bethlehem Steel Company also played a major role in World War I and II as a major supplier for armor plates and ordnance products for the Armed Forces.

During WWII alone, the company's 15 shipyards manufactured 1,121 U.S. Navy Ships, more than any other shipbuilder. At that time, the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation employed 180,000 people in the process of shipbuilding and the Bethlehem Steel Company had a total employment of approximately 300,000. When the war was over, the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation continued to supply structural shapes for construction trades and forged products for power generation, and steel producing companies as well as for defense.

Bethlehem Steel Company's peak occurred in the 50s, when the company was producing approximately 23 million tons of steel each year. Between 1962 and 1964, the Bethlehem Steel Company built their largest plant at Burns Harbor, Indiana, and Arthur B. Homer, president of the company since 1958, was the highest paid business executive in the United States.

In addition, from 1923 to 1991, Bethlehem Steel was one of the leading producers of railroad freight cars and pioneered the use of aluminum for freight car construction.

By the 80s, the Bethlehem Steel Company battled with foreign markets for their share of jobs. Unfortunately, these foreign producers were able to manufacture steel quicker and at a lower price, squeezing Bethlehem out of the running and causing great income losses for the company.

In 1995, Bethlehem Steel shut down the production of steel at their main plant. They stopped making railroad cars in 1993, and by 1997, had ceased making ships as well. In 2001, the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard filed for bankruptcy and the remaining six Bethlehem Steel plants were purchased by the International Steel Group.

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