Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Betaque (H.A.) Papers
MS-0475
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & University Archives
Title: H. A. Betaque Papers
Creator:
Betaque, H. A. (Harry Andrew Betaque)
Identifier/Call Number: MS-0475
Physical Description:
3.66 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1918-1922
Date (bulk): 1918-1920
Language of Material:
English
.
The
H.A. Betaque Papers document Betaque's career as a resident representative for the United State Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation between
1918 and 1922, with particular emphasis the construction of the
SS San Pasqual and the
SS Cuyamaca in San Diego, California. Highlights include panoramic photographs of the San Diego Harbor and ship yard, as well as construction
photographs of the
SS San Pasqual and the
SS Cuyamaca. The collection includes correspondence, reports, costs analyses, engineering formulas, Emergency Fleet directives, photographs
and photograph albums. The collection is divided into two series:
Personal Papers (1918-1921) and
Photographs (1918-1920).
The
Personal Papers (1918-1922) document Betaque's professional activities with the Emergency Fleet Corporation in Brunswick, GA and San Diego,
as well as his personal financial interests, including stocks and oil interests between 1918 and 1921. The series includes
correspondence, directives, memorandums, cost analyses, reports, formulas, news clippings, and blueprints. The reports, formulas,
blue prints and cost analyses primarily document Betaque's work on the
Atlantus, the
SS San Pasqual and the
SS Cuyamaca. Reports on the
Faith and the
Palo Alto are also included. Of particular interest are letters from both Betaque and his colleagues referencing a depressed economy,
lack of work, and a growing interest in oil. This series is filed alphabetically and primarily dates from 1918 to 1920.
The
Photographs (1918-1920) mostly provide visual documentation for the construction and launching of the
SS San Pasqual and the
SS Cuyamaca, although there are a few photographs of the
Palo Alto and the
Atlantus. The majority of photographs date from 1919 to 1920. Filed alphabetically by folder title, this series includes two photograph
albums and many loose photographs, which appear to have been disassembled from albums. Most of the
San Pasqual and
Cuyamaca photographs have a number and a brief description on the lower right corner of the image. It is unclear what individual or
corporation created these numbers. The photographs are arranged numerically within folders. Highlights include the two photograph
albums, which include images of construction workers, panoramic shots of the San Diego Yard, and the launching ceremonies
of the
SS San Pasqual and the
SS Cuyamaca in San Diego.
I. Personal Papers
II. Photographs
This collections is open for research.
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Purchased.
San Diego Chamber of Commerce Records
Records of San Diegans, Inc.
Identification of item, folder title, box number, H.A. Betaque Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, San Diego
State University Library.
Harry Andrew Betaque worked as an inspector and later as a resident representative for the United States Shipping Board Emergency
Fleet Corporation from 1918 to 1921. The US Shipping Board sought to expand the United States' merchant marines during and
after the First World War. Because of steel and lumber shortages during the First World War, the government turned to concrete
as an affordable alternative. Thus, the Emergency Fleet Corporation created its Concrete Ship Section and began building concrete
ships. The
Faith, built in 1917, was the first concrete ship built in the US.
Having worked as a civil engineer in Washington State, and as the Head of Hull Construction, Betaque appears to have begun
work with the Emergency Fleet Corporation in 1918 when he was appointed the resident inspector for the construction of the
Atlantus, a concrete ship built by the Liberty Shipbuilding Company in Brunswick, GA.
After the completion of the
Atlantus, the Emergency Fleet Corporation transferred Betaque to San Diego as the Resident Representative to oversee the Pacific Marine
Construction Company's construction of two sister ships, the
SS San Pasqual and the
SS Cuyamaca. Although the San Diego Yard had been commissioned to build a total of eight concrete ships, the US Shipping Board ceased
concrete construction in 1921 because of a surplus of steel ships freed for use at the conclusion of World War I. The
San Pasqual and
Cuyamaca were the only two concrete ships built in San Diego. That same year, the US Shipping Board transferred the ship yard to the
Navy, creating today's Naval Yard. Betaque left San Diego and pursued oil interests in Louisiana.
Betaque had a wife, Cora, and two sons, Harry and Norman.
2011-004
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs
Personal Papers
Concrete ships--United States
Shipbuilding--California--San Diego
Merchant ships--United States
United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation