John Frederick Duthie (1876-1945) was born in England and immigrated to the U. S. about 1887 with his parents and siblings. Around 1899 he moved to Seattle with his wife, and the following year he opened a small shipyard, J. F. Duthie & Company, on land leased from the Port of Seattle, located on the Duwamish River's East Waterway, just north of where the SW Spokane Street Bridge is now located. The yard was enlarged during World War I to build cargo ships for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). In 1928, the company left the maritime sector and its name changed to Wallace Bridge Company.

This image was taken while yard workers build Hull 22, a 5,600-ton steel-hulled cargo steamship built for the USSB and launched in May 1919 as the West Hembrie. The ship was later renamed Pacific Oak, then Ingul, and finally Taras Shevchenko before she was scrapped in 1963.

Photographer's number: 719

Caption information source: http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/duthie.htm
Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, May 23, 1919, p. 24