Joshua Hendy Iron Works
Encyclopedia
The Joshua Hendy Iron Works was an American
engineering
company that existed from the 1850s to the late 1940s. It was at one time a world leader in mining technology and its equipment was used to build the Panama Canal
, amongst other major projects. The company went on to service many different markets during the course of its existence, but is perhaps best remembered today for its contribution to the American shipbuilding industry during World War II
.
in the United States
, where he grew to adulthood. Joshua eventually married and set himself up as a blacksmith in Houston, Texas
, but with the death of his wife and young family from yellow fever
, he sailed round Cape Horn
to San Francisco in 1849 to seek his fortune in the California Gold Rush
.
Hendy established himself in his new location by building California's first redwood lumber mill, the Benicia Sawmill (the region where he built the sawmill is now known as the Hendy Woods State Park
in his honor). In 1856, he established the Joshua Hendy Iron Works in San Francisco to supply equipment to Gold Rush placer miners
. The Hendy plant soon began to supply equipment of all kinds to the mining industry.
and ball mill
s and other equipment to countries as far away as Russia
, the Dutch East Indies
, the Philippines
, China
and Japan
.
Many of the engineering innovations developed by Hendy became mining industry standards, still employed as late as at least the 1970s, such as the hydraulic giant monitor, the hurdy gurdy, the tangential water wheel, the Hendy ore concentrator, the Challenge ore feeder, and the Hendy hydraulic gravel elevator. Hendy giant hydraulic crushers were used to dig the Panama Canal
.
After Joshua Hendy died in 1891, management of the company was taken over by his nephews Samuel and John. In 1906 a fire devastated the original San Francisco factory, and the company was re-established in Sunnyvale, California
after the local government there enticed the company with an offer of free land.
During World War I
, the Hendy plant gained its first experience building marine
engines by supplying 11 triple expansion steam engines for cargo ships built by a local Californian company, Western Pipe & Steel, on behalf of the U.S. Shipping Board. Each engine weighed about 137 tons and stood 24½ feet high. Although these were the first marine engines built by Hendy, they proved to be highly reliable with most of them providing many years of operational service. Essentially the same engine design with minor improvements would later be used by the company for its mass production of US Liberty ship
engines in World War II
.
, described as perhaps the largest such alteration of urban terrain in history.
With the onset of the Great Depression
however, and hampered by indifferent management, the Hendy Iron Works - like many other heavy equipment manufacturers of the era - fell on hard times. The company adapted by finding new markets, for example by contracting for the building of giant gates and valves for the hydroelectric
schemes of the Hoover
, Boulder and Grand Coulee dam
s. During this period it also produced equipment as diverse as crawler tractor
s, freight car wheel pullers, parts for internal combustion engine
s and standards for
street lamps. Some of the ornate street lamps built by the company can still be seen in San Francisco's Chinatown
district today.
By the late 1930s the company was in financial difficulties and had shrunk to a shadow of its former self, employing only 60 workers. The company was in the process of being taken over by the Bank of California
in 1940 when businessman Charles E. Moore
, with the financial support of the Six Companies
, took a controlling interest. Moore soon managed to contract with the US Navy for the building of some torpedo tube mounts, and shortly thereafter he secured a contract for the building of twelve triple expansion marine steam engine
s.
By 1942, with the US government's wartime Emergency Shipbuilding Program
getting underway, it became clear that a large number of new marine engines would be needed to power the new ships. Since there was a shortfall in capacity to produce modern steam turbine
s, it was realized that most of the new Liberty ship
s would have to be fitted with older and slower reciprocating
steam engines instead. Admiral Vickery
contacted Moore to ask if he could double the original order of 12 engines, to which Moore is reported to have responded that it would be as easy to tool up for a hundred as for a dozen. The company was then contracted to build 118 triple expansion steam engines for the Liberty ships.
As the war progressed and the emergency shipbuilding program continued to expand, so the orders for new engines also grew. Moore responded by streamlining production at the Joshua Hendy plant. He introduced more advanced assembly line
techniques, standardizing on more production parts and enabling less skilled workers to accomplish tasks formerly carried out by skilled machinist
s. By 1943, the company had reduced the time required to manufacture a marine steam engine from 4,500 hours to 1,800 hours. The number of workers employed by the company also grew dramatically, reaching a peak of 11,500 during the war.
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By the end of the war, the Joshua Hendy Iron Works had supplied the engines for 754 of America's 2,751 Liberty ships, or about 28% of the total - more than that of any other plant in the country. In addition, the company in the late stages of the war produced 53 steam turbines and reduction gears for the more modern Victory ship
s. The company also supplied other military equipment during the war, such as turbine generators and antiaircraft gun turret
s.
Corporation. In the postwar period, the plant continued to produce military equipment including missile
launching and control systems for nuclear powered submarines, and antiaircraft guns. It also produced pressure hulls for undersea vehicles, nuclear power plant
equipment, 216000 hp wind tunnel
compressor
s, large diameter radio telescope
s, diesel engine
s and electrical equipment.
In 1996, Westinghouse sold the plant to Northrop Grumman
, which renamed it Northrop Grumman Marine Systems.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
company that existed from the 1850s to the late 1940s. It was at one time a world leader in mining technology and its equipment was used to build the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, amongst other major projects. The company went on to service many different markets during the course of its existence, but is perhaps best remembered today for its contribution to the American shipbuilding industry during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Beginnings
The company took its name from its founder Joshua Hendy. Born in Cornwall, England in 1822, Hendy at the age of thirteen migrated together with two brothers to South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he grew to adulthood. Joshua eventually married and set himself up as a blacksmith in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, but with the death of his wife and young family from yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
, he sailed round Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
to San Francisco in 1849 to seek his fortune in the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
.
Hendy established himself in his new location by building California's first redwood lumber mill, the Benicia Sawmill (the region where he built the sawmill is now known as the Hendy Woods State Park
Hendy Woods State Park
Hendy Woods State Park is a state park located in Mendocino County, California. The park contains two groves of old growth Coast Redwood: Big Hendy and Little Hendy . The Navarro River runs through the length of the park....
in his honor). In 1856, he established the Joshua Hendy Iron Works in San Francisco to supply equipment to Gold Rush placer miners
Placer mining
Placer mining is the mining of alluvial deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment....
. The Hendy plant soon began to supply equipment of all kinds to the mining industry.
Mining industry leader
By the 1890s, the Joshua Hendy Iron Works had become a technology leader in the mining industry, supplying equipment to mining companies all over the world including ore carts, ore crushers, stampStamp mill
A stamp mill is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operation....
and ball mill
Ball mill
A ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind materials into extremely fine powder for use in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, and ceramics.-Description:...
s and other equipment to countries as far away as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Many of the engineering innovations developed by Hendy became mining industry standards, still employed as late as at least the 1970s, such as the hydraulic giant monitor, the hurdy gurdy, the tangential water wheel, the Hendy ore concentrator, the Challenge ore feeder, and the Hendy hydraulic gravel elevator. Hendy giant hydraulic crushers were used to dig the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
.
After Joshua Hendy died in 1891, management of the company was taken over by his nephews Samuel and John. In 1906 a fire devastated the original San Francisco factory, and the company was re-established in Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
after the local government there enticed the company with an offer of free land.
World War One
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...
, the Hendy plant gained its first experience building marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
engines by supplying 11 triple expansion steam engines for cargo ships built by a local Californian company, Western Pipe & Steel, on behalf of the U.S. Shipping Board. Each engine weighed about 137 tons and stood 24½ feet high. Although these were the first marine engines built by Hendy, they proved to be highly reliable with most of them providing many years of operational service. Essentially the same engine design with minor improvements would later be used by the company for its mass production of US Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
engines in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Between the wars
In the early 1920s, Hendy's hydraulic mining equipment was used in the regrading of SeattleRegrading in Seattle
The topography of central Seattle was radically altered by a series of regrades in the city's 1st century of urban settlement, in what might have been the largest such alteration of urban terrain at the time....
, described as perhaps the largest such alteration of urban terrain in history.
With the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
however, and hampered by indifferent management, the Hendy Iron Works - like many other heavy equipment manufacturers of the era - fell on hard times. The company adapted by finding new markets, for example by contracting for the building of giant gates and valves for the hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
schemes of the Hoover
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President...
, Boulder and Grand Coulee dam
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy...
s. During this period it also produced equipment as diverse as crawler tractor
Tractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
s, freight car wheel pullers, parts for internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
s and standards for
street lamps. Some of the ornate street lamps built by the company can still be seen in San Francisco's Chinatown
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Since its establishment in 1848, it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America...
district today.
World War two
Bank of California
The Bank of California was opened in San Francisco, California, on July 4, 1864, by William Chapman Ralston. It was the first commercial bank in the Western United States, the second-richest bank in the nation, and considered instrumental in developing the American Old West.-History:The ancestor of...
in 1940 when businessman Charles E. Moore
Charles E. Moore
Charles E. Moore was an American industrialist who is best known for his contribution to the maritime shipbuilding industry during World War II.-Early life and career:...
, with the financial support of the Six Companies
Six Companies
Six Companies, Inc. was a joint venture of construction companies that was formed to build the Hoover Dam across the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona....
, took a controlling interest. Moore soon managed to contract with the US Navy for the building of some torpedo tube mounts, and shortly thereafter he secured a contract for the building of twelve triple expansion marine steam engine
Marine steam engine
A marine steam engine is a reciprocating steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. Steam turbines and diesel engines largely replaced reciprocating steam engines in marine applications during the 20th century, so this article describes the more common types of marine steam engine in use...
s.
By 1942, with the US government's wartime Emergency Shipbuilding Program
Emergency Shipbuilding program
The Emergency Shipbuilding Program was a United States government effort to quickly build simple cargo ships to carry troops and materiel to allies and foreign theatres during World War II. Run by the U.S...
getting underway, it became clear that a large number of new marine engines would be needed to power the new ships. Since there was a shortfall in capacity to produce modern steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s, it was realized that most of the new Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
s would have to be fitted with older and slower reciprocating
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
steam engines instead. Admiral Vickery
Howard L. Vickery
Howard Leroy Vickery was a U.S. naval officer and renowned merchant shipbuilder during World War II.-Early life and career:...
contacted Moore to ask if he could double the original order of 12 engines, to which Moore is reported to have responded that it would be as easy to tool up for a hundred as for a dozen. The company was then contracted to build 118 triple expansion steam engines for the Liberty ships.
As the war progressed and the emergency shipbuilding program continued to expand, so the orders for new engines also grew. Moore responded by streamlining production at the Joshua Hendy plant. He introduced more advanced assembly line
Assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...
techniques, standardizing on more production parts and enabling less skilled workers to accomplish tasks formerly carried out by skilled machinist
Machinist
A machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...
s. By 1943, the company had reduced the time required to manufacture a marine steam engine from 4,500 hours to 1,800 hours. The number of workers employed by the company also grew dramatically, reaching a peak of 11,500 during the war.
Victory ship
The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines...
s. The company also supplied other military equipment during the war, such as turbine generators and antiaircraft gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s.
Postwar developments
In 1947, the Joshua Hendy Iron Works was sold to the WestinghouseWestinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
Corporation. In the postwar period, the plant continued to produce military equipment including missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
launching and control systems for nuclear powered submarines, and antiaircraft guns. It also produced pressure hulls for undersea vehicles, nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
equipment, 216000 hp wind tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
compressor
Gas compressor
A gas compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume.Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transport the fluid through a pipe. As gases are compressible, the compressor also reduces the volume of a gas...
s, large diameter radio telescope
Radio telescope
A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
s, diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s and electrical equipment.
In 1996, Westinghouse sold the plant to Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
, which renamed it Northrop Grumman Marine Systems.
External links
- Charles E. Moore website.
- Illustrations of a Joshua Hendy stamp mill, early 1900s - MS Book and Mineral Company website.