The company went on to serve 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.

After the death of his wife and two children from yellow fever, he sailed around Cape Horn to San Francisco in 1849 to participate in the California Gold Rush.

In 1856, he established the Joshua Hendy Iron Works in San Francisco to supply equipment to Gold Rush placer miners.

[6] 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 and Grand Coulee dams.

During this period it also produced equipment as diverse as crawler tractors, freight car wheel pullers, parts for internal combustion engines and standards for street lamps.

[2][10] 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[2][9] and the main engines of all Tacoma-class frigates (2 per ship) built on the West Coast, 18 by Consolidated Steel in Wilmington and 12 by Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond plus 15 more built by Great Lakes shipyards and 7 in Rhode Island.

In the postwar period, the plant continued to produce military equipment including missile launching and control systems for nuclear-powered submarines, and antiaircraft guns.

[11] As a legacy, the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction in Disney World features Joshua Hendy mining equipment in its queue.