Greenport Basin and Construction Company

The Greenport Basin and Construction Company, known by various names throughout its history, but most recently named the Greenport Yacht & Shipbuilding Company, is a shipbuilder in Greenport, Suffolk County, New York. It was established in the 19th century by brothers Pliny C. Brigham and Theodore W. Brigham.[1][2] One local history relates:

Greenport prospered due to the menhaden industry; 64 boats were in service and seven under construction in 1879. By this time, shipbuilding (pleasure craft, cargo vessels, fishing vessels) boomed in Greenport. The Greenport Basin and Construction Company, famous yacht builders, became a large repair and docking facility for menhaden vessels. (Today, the company is known as Greenport Yacht and Shipbuilding.) Menhaden vessels or "bunker boats" were said to have lined the shoreline along Main and Front Streets.[3]

The company built dozens of ships for the United States Navy during World War I and World War II, as well as building yachts for private customers.[2] In 1917 the company became involved in a tax case against the United States, in which it protested the assessment of an "excess profits" tax.[1] The case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the company finally lost the decision in 1923.[1][4] In 1970, the company was acquired by Stephen Clarke, and thereafter turned its attention from ship construction to ship maintenance and repairs, and historic preservation of ships.[1]

Ships built or converted

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Notable ships built by the company include:

Ship Type Year
USS Acme (AMc-61) minesweeper 1941
USS Adamant (AMc-62) minesweeper 1941
USS Advance (AMc-63) minesweeper 1941
USS Aggressor (AMc-64) minesweeper 1941
USS Alarka (YTB-229) tugboat 1944
USS Ardent (SP-680) minesweeper 1902
USS Atlantis (SP-40) motorboat 1911
USS Avalon (1908) patrol vessel 1908
USS Beluga (SP-536) patrol vessel 1911
USS Chingachgook (SP-35) motorboat 1916
USS Condor (AMS-5) minesweeper 1942
USS Fulmar (AMc-46) minesweeper 1941
USS Hatak (YTB-219) tugboat 1944
USS Iona (YTB-220) tugboat 1944
USS Jacamar (AMc-47) tugboat 1941
USS Lark (AMS-23) minesweeper 1943
USS Limpkin (AMc-48) minesweeper 1941
USS Lorikeet (AMc-49) minesweeper 1941
USS Patrol No. 10 (SP-85) motorboat 1917
USS Perfecto (SP-86) motorboat 1917
USS Quest (SP-171) patrol vessel 1916
USS Sea Gull (SP-544) yacht 1902
USS Uncas (SP-689) motorboat 1917
USS Vitesse (SP-1192) patrol vessel 1917
USS Vamanos ketch 1968
USS Whippet (SP-89) motorboat 1917

In addition, the USS Patriot (PYc-47), built in 1930 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in Bristol, Rhode Island, was converted for Navy service as a submarine chaser by Greenport Basin and Construction Company, in 1940.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Kenneth J. Blume, Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Maritime Industry, p. 203, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Greenport Basin, Greenport NY Archived 2013-10-20 at the Wayback Machine," Shipbuildinghistory.com.
  3. ^ Village of Greenport Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, p. II-4, 1996.
  4. ^ Greenport Basin & Constr. Co. v. United States, 260 U.S. 512 (1923).