Guide to the Crowley Maritime Corporation Records

Processed by Elizabeth Stephens.
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
© 2004
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Guide to the Crowley Maritime Corporation Records

Collection number: BANC MSS 89/49 c

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

Processed by:
Elizabeth Stephens
Date Completed:
December 2004
Encoded by:
James Lake
© 2004 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

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.

Boxes 1-10; Volume 1

Series 1: Crowley Launch and Tugboat Company, 1894-1965

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged hierarchally and chronologically where appropriate.
Contains ledgers, towing logs, trip logs, and time book.
box 1, folder 1-10

General Ledger 1920-28

box 2, folder 1-4

General Ledger 1929-38

box 2, folder 5-6

General Ledger 1935-41

box 3, folder 1-9

General Ledger 1935-41

box 4, folder 1-7

Accounts Receivable Ledger 1923-28

box 5, folder 1-12

Account Ledger 1929-36

box 6, folder 1-5

Account Ledger 1929-36

box 7, folder 1-4

Accounts Receivable Ledger 1959-66

box 7, folder 5

Depreciation and Payroll Recap 1923-30

box 7, folder 6

Depreciation and Payroll Recap 1926-39

box 8, folder 1-9

Earnings Record Ledger 1945-52

box 9, folder 1-10

Earnings Record Ledger 1953-62

volume Vol. 1

Towing in Book 1894-1910

box 4, folder 8

Towing log 1921

box 10, folder 1

Trip Log 1947-52

box 10, folder 2

Time book 1963-65

Boxes 11-19; Oversize box 1-3; Volumes 2-4

Series 2: Shipowners & Merchants Tugboat Company, 1888-1965

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged hierarchally and chronologically where appropriate.
Contains ledgers and journals for stock transfer, towage accounts, and cash disbursements; orders for towing; boat descriptions; damage log; and trip logs for the Red Stack Pilots.
box 11, folder 1

Stock Transfer Journal Nov. 1, 1888

box 11, folder 2

Palo Alto Stock Ledger 1888-1918

box 11, folder 3

Stock Certificate Book 1907-10

box 11, folder 4

Dividend Book 1912-16

box 11, folder 5-7

Stockholders 1949-64

box 11, folder 8

Union agreement 1963

volume Vol. 3

Towage Accounts 1906

Oversize box 3

Journal 1910-15

box 12, folder 1-8

Account ledger 1912-18

box 13, folder 1-9

Account ledger 1912-18

volume Vol. 4

Towage day book 1917

box 14, folder 1-8

Towage debtor's ledger 1919

box 15, folder 1-7

Towage debtor's ledger 1919

Oversize box 1

Orders for Towing 1890

volume Vol. 2

Expense ledger 1906-08

Oversize box 2

Cash Disbursements Journal 1955-62

box 16, folder 1

Sea Lion, chief engineer's log 1921-22

box 16, folder 2

Red Stack tug fleet, boat descriptions 1918-19

box 16, folder 3

Red Stack Pilots, damage log 1946-58

box 16, folder 4

Trip log for Sea Tows 1946-53

 

Red Stack Pilots

box 16, folder 5

Trip log 1946-47

box 16, folder 6

Trip log 1948

box 17, folder 1-3

Trip logs 1949-51

box 18, folder 1-3

Trip logs 1952-54

box 19, folder 1

Trip log 1955

box 19, folder 2-3

Trip logs 1964-65

Boxes 20-21

Series 3: Martinolich Shipbuilding Company, 1936-1953

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.
Contains cash journal, general ledger, and ship repair ledger.
box 20, folder 1-4

Cash Journal 1936-40

box 21, folder 1-8

General ledger 1947-53

box 21, folder 9-10

Ship repair ledger 1953-58

Boxes 22-23; Box 24, folder 1; Oversize folder 1B

Series 4: Harbor Tug and Barge Company, 1924-1948

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged hierarchally.
Contains general ledger, trip log, and scrapbook pages.
box 22, folder 1-9

General ledger 1934-35

box 23, folder 1-3

General ledger 1934-35

box 24, folder 1

Harbor Tug trip log 1924-27

Oversize folder 1B

Scrapbook pages 1948

Box 24, folders 2-8; Boxes 25-29

Series 5: Related Companies, 1923-1968

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged in rough chronological order.
Contains trip logs, journals, account ledgers, and related material.
box 24, folder 2-3

Bay Pilots, trip logs 1927-41

box 24, folder 4

Oakland Pilots and Tugs/BAR Pilots, trip log 1932

box 24, folder 5

Oakland Pilots and Tugs, trip log 1937-38

box 24, folder 6-8

BAR Pilots, trip logs 1933-41

box 25, folder 1-2

Thomas Crowley cash journal 1923-28

box 25, folder 3-4

UR Company, journal 1927-41

box 26, folder 1-2

Army and Navy Tugs & Pilots, pilot logs 1947-52

box 27, folder 1-9

Texaco Station account ledger 1937-48

box 28, folder  1-4

Texaco Station account ledger 1937-48

box 29, folder 1-5

Twenty Grand Pacific, Inc., general ledger 1967-68

box 29, folder 6

Bay Cities Transportation Co, Instruction Book for Markey Hydraulic windlass 1964

box 29, folder 7

Mississippi Shipbuilding Co./Delta Line, S. S. Delbrasil 1939-40