Johnston Brothers Ferrysburg

Johnston Boiler Company, Ferrysburg MI

In 1864, John Watt Johnston, a direct descendant of the legendary James Watt, purchased the defunct Turnbull Boiler Company, on Pine Street in Ferrysburg, and restarted it as Johnston Boiler Company, where it continues in business today. In 1898, they expanded into shipbuilding, but returned to a concentration on boilers in 1916. The shipyard was next door to the main plant, where the North's Cove marina is now: see it from the air on Google here. The names and numbers of the various scows and other barges built by Johnston are very confused: if anyone can add to or correct the table below, please email info@navalmarinearchive.com.

Most recent update: 17 August 2018.

Hull #	O.N.	Original Name	Original Owner	Vessel Type	GT	Ft.	Built	Disposition
	127309	C. J. Bos	William Verduin	Tug	34	59	1898	I. J. Lyons 1942, deleted 1976
	127422	Columbia	Sullivan Dredging	Tug	92	80	1900	Scrapped 1960
	111311	Rowira	Ranney Fish Co.	Fish Tug	35	56	1900	Scrapped 1950
5	117013	Sea Bird	T. B. Perkins	Yacht	21	58	1900	Active
6
7
8		Elizabeth Hyde	Chas. Hyde
9	163701	No. 35	M. Sullivan	Dump Scow	420	125	1900
10	96548	H. Ewig	H. Ewig & Son	Fish Tug	62	70	1901	Col. N. L. Howard 1918, Helen H. Upham 1923, Dispatch 1943, scrapped 1973
11	96562	Henry J. Dornbos	Verduin Bros.	Fish Tug	44	63	1901	Urger 1920, now museum in Waterford NY
12			Buffalo Dredging	Dipper Dredge		116
?	na	Lightship (LV 75)	US Light House Service	Lightship	427	75	1902	Sold 1939, later St. Clair, abandoned 1977
13 ?	163022	Dredge No. 7		Dredge Scow	826		1901
14 ?	163004	Scow No. 14		Scow	427		1902
15 ?	163005	Scow No. 15		Scow	427		1902
16	81846	William H. Kinch	Frank L. Bapst	Tug	58	68	1902	Scrapped 1951
17	3968	Bonita	Graham & Morton	Tug	58	63	1903	Chicago Harbor No. 4 1914, Eddie B. 1960, Seneca Queen 1969, Ludington 1970, Seneca Queen 1996, now Ronald J Dahlke
18	na	General Ludlow	US Army Corps of Engineers	Dredge	213	140	1904	Sold 1921, Pointe Hennepin 1969, scrapped 1969
19	162321	No. 11	M. Sullivan	Dump Scow	420	125	1904
20	na	Lightship (LV 77)	US Light House Service	Lightship	578	75	1906	Sold 1940
21	201789	Tessler	Charles Tessler	Fish Tug	57	80	1905	Burnt 1949, Upper Mississippi River
22	202285	Frank Perry	Perry Lumber	Tug	496	128	1905	Sipsey 1914, to CoE 1942 as Robert H. Rolfe, sold 1946 as Bisso, scrapped 1975
23	203098	Chase S. Osborne	Perry Lumber	Tug	492	128	1906	To USN 1918 as SP-1121, later YT 41, sold 1921, Guardian 1922, scrapped 1961
24			M. Sullivan	Scow		125	1907
25	203472	J. P. Manning	LS & MI Southern RR	Tug	58	68	1906	B. E. West 1927, abandoned 1980
26	203555	Robert E. Johnston	Walsema & Van Toll	Tug	22	44	1906	Abandoned 1974
27	204016	Charles E. Williams	Buffalo Dredging	Tug	106	87	1907	Paul W. Dickinson 1935, scrapped 1958
28	204485	C. F. Bielman, Jr.	Charles F. Bielman	Mail Boat	33	75	1907	Dove 1939, deleted 1962
29			M. Sullivan	Drill Scow		106	1907
?	163452	Destroyer		Scow	356		1907
?	163205	No. 18		Scow	394		1907
?	164000	No. 16		Scow	451		1908
30		No. 36	Buffalo Dredging	Dump Scow		137	1908
31	205585	Herbert	G. Mollhagen & Co.	Tug	55	68	1908	H. Ewig 1918, Roy R. Love 1939, Charlevoix 1968, Roy R. Love 1992
32	206346	Francis B. Hackett	Hackett Towing	Salvage Tug	194	96	1909	To USN 1917 as SP-1161, later YT 36, Shenandoah 1920, Choptank 1923, sold 1947, Gloria St. Philip 1969, Choptank 1979, Admiral 1989, scrapped 2006
33	205777	Forelle	F. W. Tamms Bros.	Fish Tug	46	54	1908	Foundered on Lake Michigan 1923
34	206238	Castanet	Ranney Fisheries	Fish Tug	46	69	1909	Donald Wells 1930, abandoned 1931
35	206658	Mackinac	Arnold Transit	Ferry	350	138	1909	Woonsocket 1926, training ship 1968, Claude 'Sonny' Simmons 1969, scrapped 1994
36	206692	James Edwards	Great Lakes Dredge	Tug	82	81	1906	Terry E. Buchanan 1952
37	207111	A. Fisher	Fisher's Sons	Fish Tug	58	68	1909	Oscar F. Mayer 1912, scrapped 1951
38			Central Dredging	Tug				Not built
39	na	Shearwater	US Bureau of Fisheries	Tug	95	85	1909	To USCG 1940, sold 1944, later Cindy K. 1961
40	207427	John E. Meyer	Barnett & Record	Tug	133		1910
41		Composite	Edwards Bros	Tug		70
42			Bucyrus Co.	S.A. Dredge		105
43			Bucyrus Co.	India Dredge		95
44	208243	Harvey	Schneiderwind & Sons	Fish Tug	81	70	1910	Deleted 1951
45	208478	Andrew H. Green	Great Lakes Dredge	Tug	115	86	1911	Scrapped 1957
46	164439	No. 37	Buffalo Dredging	Dump Scow		156	1910
47			Great Lakes Dredge	Dump Scow		137	1911
48	209789	William J. McCarthy	Great Lakes Dredge	Tug	98	82	1912	Central 1924, Capt. Frank Becker 1957, Vixen 1968, Alice St. Philip 1972, scrapped 1977
49		Natoma No. 10	Natoma Const'n.	Dredge		150	1911
50	252397	Oscar I	New Aetna Cement	Tug	16	44	1911	Later Oscar
51		Natoma No. 8	Natoma Const'n.	Dredge		150	1911
52		David Campbell	City of Portland OR	Fire Boat		125	1912
53		Natoma No. 7	Natoma Const'n.	Dredge		135	1912
54			Bucyrus Co.	Dredge		110	1912
55			Bucyrus Co.	S. A. Dredge		110	1912
56	176251	Handy Andy	New Aetna Cement	Scow	51	54	1913	Abandoned 1977
57			Lake Winnipeg Shipping	Tug		112	1913
58	274070	Oscar II	New Aetna Cement	Dredge	50	58	1913	G.L. 110 1960, scrapped 1978
59			New Aetna Cement	Hopper Scow		58	1913
60			New Aetna Cement	Hopper Scow		58	1913
61			Yuba Construction	Placer Dredge		131	1914
62			Yuba Construction	Placer Dredge		131	1914
63	212278	Ottawa	GR, H & C RR	Ferry	75	57	1914
64	212487	American	American Construction	Tug	88	72	1914	Fred W. Upham 1922, Lila Haden 1942, N. R. Coppedge 1961, scrapped 1977
65	212588	Philip T. Dodge	International Paper	Tug	68	70	1914	Eugene F. Moran 1919, Schenectedy 1920, Dauntless No. 5 1924, Cathleen E. Moran 1955, Mary D. 1964, Clayton P. Kehoe 1968, Dori 1971, Robert A. Bott
66	213529	J. C. Stewart	Stewart Co.	Tug	113	71	1915	To Corps of Engineers 1924 as Col. M.J. McDonough, sold 1946 as J.C. Stewart, scrapped 1965
67		Natoma No. 4	Natoma Const'n.	Placer Dredge		112	1915
68		Yuba No. 15	Yuba Construction	Dredge		165	1915
69	592612		US Army Corps of Engineers	Dump Scow	388	126	1916	Now Scow 21
70	na		US Army Corps of Engineers	Dump Scow		126	1916

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