Crowley Maritime Corporation

Crowley Maritime Corp. regulated United Transportation Co. and controlled the majority of tugboat traffic on the Pacific Coast.

Corporate History

Originally headquartered in Oakland, California, Crowley Maritime Corporation is one of the most diversified marine operations companies in the world. Between 1973 and 1985, after several decades of doing business under as many as 45 different names, Crowley Maritime Corporation consolidated it's various companies under the new corporation. It now provides diversified transportation services in domestic and international markets by means of four operating lines of business: Liner Services; Ship Assist and Escort Services; Oil and Chemical Distribution and Transportation Services; and Energy and Marine Services.

Thomas Crowley began ferrying sailors and supplies in a rowboat on San Francisco Bay in the 1800s. By 1904, he was running 28 foot launches with 8-horsepower engines. The Crowley Launch and Tugboat Company was officially created in 1906. Crowley summed up his mission statement as "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, on Water." He adapted equipment, created services, and bought into existing operations in California and elsewhere.

In 1918, he purchased a quarter interest in San Francisco's Red Stack tugs, owned by the Shipowners and Merchants Towboat Company and continued investing until he held 100 percent of the stock. He also built double deck passenger boats for harbor tours and established a shipyard, Martinolich Shipyard, to repair his own fleet.

Crowley expanded into Puget Sound, shortly after World War I with the Puget Sound Tug and Barge Company. He continued to expand into all major West Coast ports with launches and tugs and entered the common carrier freight services in 1935 with the purchase of Bay Cities Transportation Company and entered the bulk-petroleum transportation in 1939. In the 1940s, Harbor Tug and Barge Company was acquired to expand harbor services in San Francisco Bay, and in 1951, a second Oakland facility, Merrit Shipyards, was purchased to increase repair capabilities.

[Excerpted from Crowley Maritime Corporation A Century of Service 1892-1992 and the Crowley Maritime website.]