Off-chance repair leads to first iron shipbuilding in USA
Above: The Bangor, first iron steamer in America, built 1843-4 In 1842 the Wilmington outfit Betts, Pusey and Harlan, a builder of railroad cars, was a modest 20 person operation. That was all about to dramatically change, when Samuel Harlan accepted a repair job on the iron cylinder of the wooden steamboat Sun from Captain…