Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Corporate History
Scope and Content Note
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Crowley Maritime Corporation records,
Date (inclusive): 1888-1968
Collection Number: BANC MSS 89/49 c
Creator:
Crowley Maritime Corporation
Extent:
Number of containers: 29 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 3 oversize boxes, 4 volumes
Linear feet: 14
Repository: The
Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: Contains business records primarily for the early years of the company's operation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Includes
ledgers, account books, time books, stockholders records, payroll journals, cash books, pilot books and related material for
the Crowley Tugboat and Launch Company, Shipowners and Merchants Tugboat Company, Marinolich Ship Building Company, Harbor
Tug and Barge Company, and other Crowley enterprises.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must
be submitted in writing to the appropriate curator or the Head of Public Services for forwarding. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and the copyright.
Preferred Citation
Crowley Maritime Corporation records. BANC MSS 89/49 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Related Collections
Crowley Maritime Corporation Pictorial Collection, BANC PIC 1990.007--ffALB
Crowley Maritime Corporation: San Francisco Bay tugboats to international transportation fleet: Oral history transcript and
related material, BANC MSS 85/26 c
Material Cataloged Separately
- Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Crowley, Thomas Bannon.
Shipping--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Work boats--California--San Francisco Bay.
Tugboats.
Shipbuilding.
Pilots and pilotage.
Inland water transportation--California.
Coastwise shipping--California.
Genres and Forms of Material
Account books.
Business records.
Index Terms Related to this Collection
Shipowners & Merchants Tugboat Company.
Crowley Launch and Tugboat Company.
Online Archive of California.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Crowley Maritime Corporation Records were given to The Bancroft Library by Thomas B. Crowley on December 16, 1988. Additions
were made on June 21, 2004.
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.]
Scope and Content Note
Crowley Maritime Corporation Records, 1888-1968, contains business records primarily for the early years of the company's
operation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Includes ledgers, account books, time books, stockholders records, payroll journals,
cash books, pilot books, and related material for Crowley Tugboat and Launch Company, Shipowners and Merchants Tugboat Company,
Martinolich Shipbuilding Company, Harbor Tug and Barge Company, and other Crowley enterprises.