Consolidated Steel Corporation

Formed on 18 December 1928,[1] the company built ships during World War II in two main locations: Wilmington, California, and Orange, Texas.

The government-owned shipyard facilities were eventually bought by Consolidated Western Steel for $1,001,000 in the Summer of 1949, but not to be used for shipbuilding beyond the obligations imposed as part of the deal, to maintain this capability for some time.

[18] List of contracts:[19][20] Ships built:[21] Bethlehem San Pedro and California Shipbuilding were located nearby on Terminal Island.

[113][114] On 26 June 1927 Union Iron Works formally opened the first unit of a new multi-million dollar plant on their 25-acre tract at Stauson and Garfield avenues (33°58′56″N 118°08′32″W / 33.98220°N 118.14218°W / 33.98220; -118.14218).

[146] The Union, Baker and Llewellyn Iron Works were competitors prior to consolidation in the markets of steel fabrication and erection in the Los Angeles area.

[147] In August 1930 plans were being implemented to erect the typical shops of a steel plant on the tract at Slauson and Eastern.

[148] During World War II 761[149] Landing craft mechanized were constructed to completion in the plant and their motors and hull integrity tested on site in a large water tank.

Including 26 to 36-inch welded pipe, structural steel for industrial and commercial buildings, bridges and railcar frames; cement kilns; penstocks; storage tanks (gas, oil, water, chemicals).

Initial contracts from the U.S. Navy for conversion, repair and construction of small craft,[156] which was completed in August 1947 after which Philippine Consolidated carried on with similar work in Manila and Cavite.

[165] Also during that time the Orange plant was fabricating the large 34 feet, 10 inches diameter pipe sections for the Baytown Tunnel that crossed the Houston ship channel.

[166] September 1949, Consolidated is applying for a certificate to operate in Pennsylvania to assist in the construction of a new welded pipe mill in McKeesport.

[172] 20 December 1956, Alden G. Roach, the pilot and the co-pilot died in the crash of a company Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar near Tyrone, Pennsylvania.

[175] In March 1957 a design study for a heavy water reactor pressure vessel was released, prepared on behalf of the Atomic Energy Commission.

[185] The January 1949 issue of U.S. Steel News stated a capacity of 3.5 miles of pipe per day at the Maywood plant.

The Basalt Rock Company at Napa (Bay area) also turned Kaiser plates into pipe for that project.

[194] Ditching started June 29, 1949 for the 80-mile section between Llanda (near Hollister) and Milpitas, which was to be used as an underground storage reservoir until completion of the whole line, to be ready for the 1949/1950 winter season.

[195][196] The pipe segments were produced in South San Francisco and joined in pairs or if conditions permitted in groups of three at a depot near Santa Clara.

Stockpiling began for the ensuing completion of the pipe, which started from the Arizona border at Topock, heading west.

August 1952, fabrication of parts of a 953-mile 24-inch crude oil pipeline from Wink, Texas to Norwalk, California to begin in a few months.

[200] Consolidated was contracted for 20 miles of 30-inch pipe for an expansion of the California portion of the Texas Pipeline (natural gas) in November 1952, the project expected to be finished in March 1953.

A much larger facility was erected in 1886 and in June of that year the business was incorporated as the Baker Iron Works with capital stock of $75,000.

According to one authority, in 1889 Baker produced the first locomotive built in Los Angeles, designed by Milo's son Fred, vice president of the firm.

It is claimed that in the early 1890s, Street Railway Journal reportedly ranked Baker "among the principal car builders on the Pacific Coast."

[citation needed] According to an article in the 1 January 1890 issue of the Los Angeles Times, the Baker Works then occupied some 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) and provided employment to 75 men.

The article said they manufacture street-cars and did other railroad work to order and claimed to make the best gang plows and road and field rollers that could be obtained anywhere.

In six months, for a total price of $58,000, Baker put in nine miles (14 km) of street mains, sixty fire hydrants and gates valves, one reservoir 10×78×78 feet (3.0×23.8×23.8 m), build one fire-proof power house, two sixty-horsepower (45 kW) boilers and brick stock, two 10 by 16 by 10+1⁄2 by 10 feet (3.0 m × 4.9 m × 3.2 m × 3.0 m) compound condensing engines of 2,060,000 US gallons (7,800 m3) capacity every 24 hours, All this complete and functioning: truly a "turn-key" operation.

[203] Over the next 30 years they did the steel work and/or elevators for—among many others— Los Angeles' first skyscraper, the twelve-storey Union Trust Building, the Public Service Building, the Queen of Angels Hospital, the YWCA Hotel, the United Artists-California Petroleum Building, the University of California at Westwood, The Masonic Temple at Glendale, the Los Angeles-First National Bank at Glendale, the Los Angeles-First National Bank at Hollywood and the University of Redlands at Redlands.

The keels for the first three ships hastily laid down in the yard in July 1917 were fabricated in the Baker Iron Works shops.