Bath Iron Works from NAS Brunswick photo gallery

Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine. Since its foundation in 1884 by Thomas W. Hyde, Bath Iron Works has built private, commercial and military vessels. Its largest customer has historically been the United States Navy, for which the shipyard has built and sometimes designed battleships, frigates, cruisers and destroyers including the Arleigh Burke class, which is among the most advanced surface warships in the world. BIW was purchased in 1995 by General Dynamics and has been the among the largest employers in Maine, with the possible exception of the Hannaford Brothers Supermarket Chain. aerial view of Bath Iron Works shipyard; http://www. ... aerial view of Bath Iron Works shipyard; http://www. ... Naval Air Station Brunswick is United States Navy airfield in Brunswick, Maine—the only one in New England. ... Small shipyard in Klaksvík (Faroe Islands), reparing fishing vessels Dockyards and shipyards are places which repair and build ships. ... The course of the Kennebec River The Kennebec River is a river, 150 mi (240 km) long, in the state of Maine in the northeastern United States. ... View uphill towards City Hall in Bath Bath is a city located in Sagadahoc County, Maine. ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Diagrams of first and third rate warships, England, 1728 Cyclopaedia. ... The United States Navy (also known as USN or the U.S. Navy) is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations. ... The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa. ... For the bird, see Frigatebird. ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser (really an uprated guided missile destroyer), launched in 1992. ... USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ... The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers, one of the destroyer classes of the United States Navy, is built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2005 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world[1]. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation. ... Official language(s) None (English de facto; French is also an administrative language) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... Hannaford is an American supermarket chain. ...

In World War II, the toughness of warships launched by Maine workers gave rise to the saying "Bath-built is best-built." ^[1] Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

History

Bath Iron Works was incorporated in 1884 by General Thomas W. Hyde, a native of Bath who served under General Philip Sheridan in the American Civil War. After the war, Hyde had acquired a local shop involved in the manufacture of windlasses and other iron hardware used on the decks of the many wooden ships built in Bath's many shipyards. Hyde expanded the business by improving existing practices, entering new markets, and sometimes by acquiring other existing businesses in town. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

By 1882, Hyde Windlass was expanding with an eye to entering the new and growing business of iron shipbuilding, and on February 28, 1890 the recently-incorporated Bath Iron Works won its first contract for complete vessels, two iron gunboats for the U.S. Navy. The Machias, one of these 190-foot gunboats, was the first ship actually launched by the company; during World War I, the gunboat's commanding officer was Chester Nimitz. Chester William Nimitz (February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was the Commander in Chief of Pacific Forces for the United States and Allied forces during World War II. He was the United States leading authority on submarines, as well as Chief of the Navys Bureau of Navigation in 1939. ...

In 1892 the yard won a contract for a 2,500-ton steel passenger steamer, the City of Lowell, the company's first commercial contract for a steel vessel. In the 1890s the company would also build several yachts for wealthy sailors.

In 1899, General Hyde, suffering from Bright's Disease, which would kill him later that year, resigned from management of the shipyard, leaving his sons Edward and John in charge.

That year the shipyard began construction of the Georgia, the only battleship to be built in Bath. The ship dominated the yard for five years until its launching in 1904, at times the only ship under construction; it offered numerous challenges in its scale, particularly for the yard attempting to cope with the weight of armor and weapons involved. In sea trials, the Georgia averaged 19.26 knots for four hours, making her the fastest ship in her class and (at the time) the fastest battleship in the Navy.

The company continued to place heavy reliance on Navy contracts through the First World War, with the Navy providing 86% of the value of new contracts between 1905 and 1917. However, the yard also produced fishing trawlers, freighters, and yachts throughout the first half of the century. In 1981, the shipyard contracted with Falcon Transport for two tankers which are, to date, the last commercial vessels built by BIW.

At peak production during World War II (1943-1944), the shipyard was launching a new destroyer every 17 days.

Ships built

• Virginia class battleship
  • USS Georgia, launched in 1904
• Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate
  • USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58), launched in 1984 and repaired after being punctured by a mine in 1988
  • USS Simpson (FFG-56), launched August 31, 1984. Holds the honor of being one of only two commissioned ships in the US Navy to sink an enemy vessel using shipboard weaponry, the other being the USS Constitution
• Arleigh Burke class destroyer
  • USS Bainbridge, launched in 2005
  • USS Gridley, launched in 2006

The Virginia class battleship was designed to be the first truly seagoing US battleships. ... The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa. ... The first USS Georgia (BB-15) was a United States Navy Virginia-class battleship. ... The list of ship launches in 1904 includes a chronological list of all ships launched in 1904. ... The USS McInerney (FFG 8), an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate. ... For the bird, see Frigatebird. ... USS (FFG-58) is one of the final ships in the United States Navys Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided missile frigates. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... USS Simpson (FFG-56) is an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate of the United States Navy, named for Rear Admiral Rodger W. Simpson. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... USS Constitution, known as Old Ironsides, is a wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy. ... The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers, one of the destroyer classes of the United States Navy, is built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. ... USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ... The fifth USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) is the 46th of 62 planned Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in the United States Navy. ... The list of ship launches in 2005 includes a chronological list of all ships launched in 2005. ... The fourth USS Gridley (DDG-101) will be the fifty-first Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. ... The list of ship launches in 2006 includes a chronological list of all ships launched in 2006. ...

External links

• Bath Iron Works website
• USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) under repair at BIW's Portland dry dock
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 43.908020° -69.813058°
  • Street map from Google Maps or MapQuest
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, or WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

Further reading

• Eskew, Garnett Laidlaw (1958). Cradle of Ships. New York: Putnam. ASIN B0007E5VY4.  (First general history of BIW.)
• Peniston, Bradley (2006). No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-661-5.  (Describes the construction of a Perry-class guided missile frigate, the training of its precommissioning crew at BIW, and the complex repair job that returned it to duty.)
• Sanders, Michael S. (1999). The Yard: Building a Destroyer at the Bath Iron Works. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-019246-1.  (Describes the construction of USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) at BIW.)
• Snow, Ralph L. (1987). Bath Iron Works: The First Hundred Years. Bath, Maine: Maine Maritime Museum. ISBN 0-9619449-0-0.  (The definitive work on BIW from 1884-1987.)
• Toppan, Andrew (2002). Bath Iron Works (Images of America: Maine). South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-1059-9.  (Historic and contemporary photos of BIW.)