West Bay City Shipbuilding Company
# West Bay City Shipbuilding Company

The West Bay City Shipbuilding Company was founded in 1876 at West Bay City, Michigan (now part of Bay City) by Frank W. Wheeler who was a ship captain on the Great Lakes, a shipbuilder and a politician. The yard started life as Wheeler & Crane. In 1880 it was renamed to F. W. Wheeler Company, and in 1889 it was renamed again to Frank W. Wheeler & Company. It was based on the Saginaw River close to Third Street. In 1899 Captain Frank W. Wheeler sold his yard to the American Ship Building Company who renamed the yard West Bay City Shipbuilding Company. The yard closed in 1908 after they built the steamer W.R. Woodford.

## Ships built

| Ship | In service | Out of service | Length | Vessel type | Fate |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Mary Martini | 1877 | December 23, 1885 | 84.5 ft (25.8 m) | Cargo ship | Stranded 13 miles (21 km) east of Grand Marais, Minnesota on Brule Point. There were no deaths December 30, 1885. |
| Luther Westover | 1877 | 1903 | 107 ft (33 m) | Tugboat | Dismantled in 1903. |
| Hanna B | 1879 | 1902 | 95.5 ft (29.1 m) | Barge | Sank near Christian Island, Georgian Bay |
| Charles W. Liken | 1880 | August 13, 1905 | 63 ft (19 m) | Tugboat | Burned to a total loss in Bay City, Michigan. |
| Lycoming | 1880 | October 22, 1910 | 251 ft (77 m) | Cargo ship | Burned to the waterline off Rondeau, Ontario, Lake Erie October 22, 1910. |
| Conemaugh | 1880 | November 21, 1906 | 251 ft (77 m) | Cargo ship | Stranded on Point Pelee on Lake Erie. There were no deaths November 21, 1906. |
| Maud S | 1881 | May 1, 1890 | 54.42 ft (16.59 m) | Tugboat | Endorsed to inland waters. |
| Saginaw Valley | 1881 | 1926 | 161 ft (49 m) | Lake freighter | Sunk in Port Dalhousie, Ontario for a rifle range and later broken up. |
| Fred McBrier | 1881 | October 3, 1890 | 161 ft (49 m) | Lake freighter | Sank in a collision with the steamer Progress in the Straits of Mackinac October 3, 1890. |
| Galatea | 1882 | October 20, 1905 | 180 ft (55 m) | Schooner | Stranded in Grand Marais, Michigan with the schooner Nirvana. There were no deaths October 20, 1905. |
| Osceola | 1882 | December 7, 1906 | 183.42 ft (55.91 m) | Lake freighter | Stranded on Michipicoten Island on Lake Superior December 7, 1906. |
| Sarah Smith | 1883 | August 18, 1908 | 75 ft (23 m) | Tugboat | Caught fire off Minnesota Point and burned to a total loss August 18, 1908. |
| Etruria | 1902 | June 18, 1905 | 434 ft (132 m) | Lake freighter | Sank on Lake Huron following a collision with Amasa Stone June 18, 1905. |
| Bransford | 1902 | 1974 | 434 ft (132 m) | Lake freighter | Converted to a crane ship in 1943. Scrapped in Bilbao, Spain in 1974. |
| Daniel J. Morrell | 1906 | November 29, 1966 | 603 ft (184 m) | Lake freighter | Broke up and sunk during a storm. 28 of 29 crew died November 29, 1966. |
| John Sherwin | 1906 | June 1970 | 534 ft (163 m) | Lake freighter | Scuttled as a temporary breakwater at Nanticoke, Ontario in 1970, then sold to German shipbreakers in 1974. |
