Wilmington Boat Works, Inc. or WILBO was a shipbuilding company in Wilmington, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Victory Shipbuilding built: Tugboats, crash rescue boats and sub chasers. Wilmington Boat Works opened in 1920 building Fishing boat and yachts, by Hugh Angelman, Willard Buchanan and Tom Smith. After the Korean War the shipyard closed in 1958. The shipyard was located at 400 Yacht Street, Wilmington, the site of the current USC boatyard.shipbuildinghistory.com Wilmington Boat Works, Inc.
Tugboats Wilmington Boat Works built tugboats for the US Army in 1943 and 1944. The small tugs had a length of , a depth of , a beam of , a , and a . They were wooden-hulled and diesel-powered. After the war they were sold for commercial use.ugboatinformation.com Victory Shipbuilding Tug, DUNCAN FOSS The tugs were numbered TP 126 to TP 131, TP for "Tug/Passenger".HISTORICAL EVALUATION OF THE TUGBOAT CHALLENGER(JUN-01257),JUNEAU,ALASKA
Submarine chaser Wilmington Boat Works Company built two submarine chasers for the United States Navy that were of the design with a displacement of 94 tons, a length of , a beam of , a draft of , and a top speed of . They had a crew of 28. Power was provided by two General Motors, Electro-Motive Division, 16-184A diesel engines, and two propellers. They were armed with one Bofors 40 mm gun, two Browning M2 .50 cal. machine gun, two depth charge projector "Y guns", and two depth charge tracks. Some of the submarine chasers were lent to Allies of the United States as part of the Lend-Lease program.NavSource Submarine Chaser, SC-723
The submarine chasers were converted to PGM-1-class motor gunboats six months after completion in 1943.
Crash boats For the US Army built 85 foot Crash boats Ship ID Name Built Notes 251870 P 518 Jun-44 Later renamed Flying Shark 256911 P 519 Jun-44 Later renamed Viking, Alaskan Song 252576 P 520 Jul-44 Later renamed Brigand P 521 Jul-44 252762 P 522 Aug-44 Later renamed Vanities, Thunder Cloud, Dry Martini 255689 P 523 Aug-44 Later renamed Thunderbird 252985 P 524 Sep-44 Later renamed Thunderer P 525 Sep-44
Agile-class minesweeper
Wilmington Boat Works in 1954 built s for the United States Navy with a displacement of 853 tons full, a length of , a beam of , a draft of . They were powered by four Packard ID1700 diesel engines, with and two controllable pitch propellers. The ships had a top speed of . The ship crew was 7 officers and 70 enlisted men. They were armed with one Bofors 40 mm gun and two .50 cal (12.7 mm) twin machine gun. Notable ships include and .NavSource minesweeper classFAS - MSO-422 classGlobalSecurity - MSO-422 class
Notable boats The Sobre Las Olas, a yacht built in 1929 was used by the US Navy in 1941 as YP-131. In 1945 it was sold to J. Paul Getty. Getty sold the boat in 1932. She has a beam of and a draft of . Sobre Las Olas was the setting of the 1957 movie Pal Joey with Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth. The vessel was also used in the 2012 movie Liz & Dick with Lindsay Lohan playing Elizabeth Taylor.helog.com Sobre Las Olas Chubasco is a sailboat built in 1939, that won the 2016 Show Awards for Best of Show at the Marina in Newport.newportbeachwoodenboatfestival.com, Chubasco, WINNER – 2016 Show Awards Best of Show – Rodheim Perpetual Award
Notable incident a wooden luxury yacht built in 1931 was found wrecked off Vanua Levu and 25 passengers and crew mysteriously disappeared in October 1955. Life rafts were missing, but no one was found. She was repaired and sold.
See also California during World War II Maritime history of California
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