Dialogue & Company was a shipbuilding firm

Shipyard

Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...

 located in Camden, New Jersey

Camden, New Jersey

The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...

. It was founded by John H. Dialogue

John H. Dialogue

John H. Dialogue was an industrialist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1828 to Adam and Sallie Dialogue. The family was of French-German ancestry. His father, Adam, was also an entrepreneur and inventor, and established himself as manufacturer of riveted fire hose. Dialogue grew up in...

 who was born in 1828.

National Iron Armor and Shipbuilding Company

In 1858 Dialogue moved to Kaighn’s Point in Camden

Camden, New Jersey

The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...

 and in 1862, with several partners, founded the National Iron Armor and Shipbuilding Company, which opened a year later. The first boat to be built at the shipyard was the screw-driven Lookout of 25 tons.

River Iron Works, Dialogue & Wood proprietors

In 1870 the shipyard was renamed River Iron Works, Dialogue & Wood, proprietors. The first boat to be built at this facility was the 48 ton screw-driven Frank G. Fowler. On the death of Mr. Wood, Mr. Dialogue took over control of the business.

Growth of the shipyard

By the late 1800s, the shipyard grew to 34 acres (137,593.2 m²) with 2000 feet (609.6 m) of waterfront, employing up to 800 workers. The shipyard produced numerous tugboat

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

s for the civilian market as well as for the U.S. Navy. In 1871 the shipyard was building iron vessels ordered by the Revenue Marine department

United States Revenue Cutter Service

The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1790 as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Throughout its entire existence the Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the United States Department of the Treasury...

, such as the United States Steamship Colfax. In 1876 she participated in the restoration of the USS Constitution

USS Constitution

USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...

. In 1878 she commenced building compound engine tugboats. And, during the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

, the shipyard completed and launched the United States Navy gunboat Princeton, which was sent to the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 and was decommissioned in 1919.

Forced out of business

John H. Dialogue died in 1898, and his son, John H. Dialogue, Jr., took over the business and ran it until just prior to World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

when he was forced out of business.