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Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc. Records, 1924-1947
| Maine Maritime Museum Manuscript Collection Online Catalog
Title:
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Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc. Records, 1924-1947
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Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc. Records, 1924-1947

Extent:
Predominant Dates: 1942-1947

Organized into two series: I. Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc., II. Cooney, Eckstein & Co., Inc.

Shipbuilding company in Waldoboro, ME, during World War II. Records of shipyard reactivated in 1941 which built four 66' harbor tugs for the U. S. Navy in 1943 and about twenty-five commercial fishing vessels and motor cruisers before going into receivership in 1947. They also did a small amount of repair work. Includes correspondence, ac- counts, some personnel records, contracts, specifications, purchase orders, and evidence of many vessels they bid on but did not build. Also includes one box of records of the New York-based lumber wholesale firm of Cooney, Eckstein & Co., Inc., owned by the same family as the shipyard.

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Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc.

Waldoboro, ME, saw the construction of many vessels along the shores of the Medomak River during the nineteenth century, but by about 1900 wooden sailing vessel construction had been pretty much abandoned. Among the last vessels built were six five-masted schooners* which George L. Welt constructed for William F. Palmer of Boston between 1900 and 1904. Welt's yard was then empty until 1941, when W. Scott Carter purchased it. He began operations as the W. Scott Carter Shipbuilding Co., Inc. and contracted with John Bruno of Boston for the construction of an 81' dragger named Nancy B. Before construction had proceeded too far Carter and some business associates named Cooney secured a Navy contract for the construction of four 66' harbor tugs. On March 1, 1943, the Cooneys took over management of the Carter yard and renamed it Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc. (Carter remained as vice president in charge of construction.) How the Cooneys came to acquire the yard is unknown, since they seem to have been involved with a wholesale lumber business based in New York City. There were other efforts to secure additional government work during the war, but none came to fruition. The yard turned instead to building commercial fishing boats, primarily draggers, on special wartime priority authorized by the government. Waldoboro Shipyard seemed successful in these ventures, although as the war ended they discovered that it was extremely risky to continue building on a fixed price contract. They switched instead to building on a cost plus percentage basis. They even built a few small motor cruisers, including Judy for Carroll T. Cooney, Jr., one of the yard's owners, and some small dories. However, a contract in 1946 for a 71' dragger for George Thompson of Rhode Island ended in disaster for the yard. Thompson purchased a number of expensive extras for his dragger and sent the bills to the yard, even though none was apparently included in the contract. Since he refused to reimburse the yard, the yard was forced to try to pay these unexpected bills and wound up in receivership in 1947. One final motor cruiser was built in 1948 by Alton Prock, whose relationship to the yard is unknown. The yard has remained idle since. No list of the approximately thirty vessels built or of the vessels repaired by the yard has been located. The processor has attempted to construct such a list [see App. A] based on evidence found within the collection. However, there are resultant gaps and questions which users are welcome to try to fill in. From the early part of this century a family named Cooney operated a wholesale lumber business from offices located in New York City. They apparently bought their lumber, particularly yellow pine, in the Southeast and then distributed it to buyers in the Northeast. Records of this operation, including land the family owned in Florida, for the period from about 1924 to 1940 are included at the end of this collection. Since the Cooneys were also involved with running the Waldoboro Shipyard, it is assumed that some of these records were brought to the shipyard office in Maine for some reason not currently known. Other details of the workings of both the shipyard and the lumber business remain unclear. *Fannie Palmer (1), 1900 Baker Palmer, 1901 Paul Palmer, 1902 Dorothy Palmer, 1903 Singleton Palmer, 1904 Harwood Palmer, 1904.
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Account books
Andarte (motor vessel, fishing)
Bath Iron Works
Boats, fishing
Brucenda (motor vessel, fishing)
Bruno, John
Carter, W. Scott
Cooney, Carroll T.
Cooney, Carroll T., Jr.
Cooney, Eckstein & Co., Inc.
Edith and Lillian (motor vessel, fishing)
Eldredge-McInnis, Inc.
Evzone (motor vessel, fishing)
Florida
Judy (motor vessel, yacht)
Labor
Leonard and Nancy (motor vessel, fishing)
Little Nancy (motor vessel, fishing)
Lobster smacks
McInnis, Walter J.
Millett, William H.
Moonglo (motor vessel, fishing)
Moonlight (motor vessel, fishing)
Nancy B. (motor vessel, fishing)
Navan architecture - designs and plans
Rhode Island (motor vessel, fishing)
Shipbuilding - Employees
Shipbuilding - Waldoboro (ME)
Shipbuilding contracts
Thompson, George
Tugboats
United States - History - World War, 1939-1945
United States Navy
Waldoboro (ME)
William H. Winters (motor vessel, fishing)
Yacht designers
Yachts and yachting

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Catalogs
Contracts, Maritime

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English

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Rights: The material described herein is the physical property of the Maine Maritime Museum Library. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors of the various items, or to their legal representatives, or to Maine Martime Museum.
Acquisition Note:
Source: Gift of J. S. McCormick Associates, 1980 G80.32..
This collection was donated to Maine Maritime Museum by a construction firm in West Rockport, ME, which found the materials in a filing cabinet in a building which they were renovating. Whether the building in question was the office or another part of the former Waldoboro Shipyard is not known. G80.32.
This collection was donated to Maine Maritime Museum by a construction firm in West Rockport, ME, which found the materials in a filing cabinet in a building which they were renovating. Whether the building in question was the office or another part of the former Waldoboro Shipyard is not known. G80.32.
Preferred Citation: Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc., MS-2, Research Library, Maine Maritime Library, Bath, Maine
Collection Material Type:
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Institutional Records
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Institutional Records
Scope and Contents: The material in this collection is divided into two series, the records of the Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc., and the records of Cooney, Eckstein & Co., both of which the Cooney family was involved with. The working papers of the shipyard (2 boxes), 1942-1947, include some notes about its organization when the Cooneys took over its management, outgoing and incoming correspondence, balance sheets showing exactly what was spent on contracts and yard expenses, letters from those seeking employment, and unemployment compensation forms which actually show who worked on which contract in 1945. Not all materials exist for all years. Catalogs sent to the shipyard from various marine suppliers make up a large portion of the collection (5 boxes). These have been grouped according to category so it is possible, for example, to consult easily all the catalogs on plumbing. (Appendix C contains an alphabetical list of all the companies represented.) Included in this section are several manuals on paint specifications, rat proofing of new vessels, training, and an Interstate Port Handbook for Indiana and Illinois. The remainder of the material in the first series (3 boxes) is composed of correspondence, contracts and specifications, purchase orders, and bills or receipts for vessels built by the Waldoboro Shipyard. Not all types of records exist for each vessel some have hardly any. Four of the vessels, for which there is a great deal of documentation (more than one box), were harbor tugs built for the U. S. Navy in 1943. The other vessels built by the yard were primarily commercial fishing draggers. Since no list of the yard's vessels is known to exist, the processor has constructed one which may contain errors it is certainly not complete. (See App. A.) There is also material on vessels which the yard was contacted about building but did not. (See App. B.) This includes correspondence, some sketches, cost estimates, and occasional specifications. The second series (1 box and 1 volume) is composed of the records of Cooney, Eckstein & Co., Inc., 1924-1940, which was owned and operated by the same Cooney family which managed the Waldoboro Shipyard. It was a wholesale lumber business which involved the purchase in Florida and Georgia of timber, primarily yellow pine, which was then sold to customers in the Northeast, including the Waldoboro Shipyard itself. There are accounts and correspondence with some of their suppliers which include "Protests," or attempts to recover money due from bounced checks, some general accounts, and many carbon copies of records of payments made. All of the papers are in extremely good condition, although a few are on tissue paper or yellow foolscap (primarily copies) and so have the potential to become fragile. They are also clean. Outline Series I. Waldoboro Shipyard, Inc. A. Organization B. General operation 1. Correspondence a. outgoing b. incoming 2. Accounts a. taxes b. balance sheets c. War Production Loans d. purchase orders e. inventory 3. Personnel a. forms b. occupational classification c. applicants d. Perpetual Work Shift Schedule e. withholding f. unemployment compensation C. Catalogs (divided by category) D. Vessels built E. Vessels not built Series II. Cooney, Eckstein & Co., Inc. A. Florida property B. Lumber business 1. general 2. suppliers 3. accounts