The Snapshots in Time Collection

Shipyard Launching Way with Gantry Crane and Crowd of Spectators, likely Mare Island Naval Shipyard, c. 1908-1909

Shipyard Launching Way with Gantry Crane and Crowd of Spectators, likely Mare Island Naval Shipyard, c. 1908-1909

This photograph shows the industrial scale of an early twentieth-century American naval shipyard, likely Mare Island in California. A massive gantry crane towers over the launching way, while heavy anchor chains and timber shoring lie ready in the foreground. A crowd gathered along the waterfront suggests this scene may be connected to the shipyard's launching activities documented elsewhere in this collection. Project: 218494