Joseph G. Hitner

Joseph G. Hitner (born 1862, date of death unknown) owned an iron works in Philadelphia.

He purchased many United States Navy ships in the early 1900s, converting some of them to merchant ships and scrapping others. He is listed as a member of the firm of Henry A. Hitner's Sons of Philadelphia in 1904, which received ships for scrap.^[1] He was one of five known sons of Henry Adam Hitner, the company's namesake. As early as April 1919, he was president of that company.^[2]

Selected list of ships scrapped at Henry A. Hitner's Sons Company

• USS Santee
• USS Holland
• Yacht Columbia
• USS Wisconsin^[3]
• USS Nevada
• USS Raleigh^[3]
• USS SC-1
• USS SC-26
• USS Miantonomoh
• All three World War I era Truxtun-class destroyers
• Eleven of the thirteen World War I era Bainbridge-class destroyers

References

1. The Federal Reporter, Vol. 138, p. 586
2. "A Message to Industrial Philadelphia". Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia). April 16, 1919.
3. "Just a few of the War Craft that have been Discarded". Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia). July 8, 1922. p. 22.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.