Daniel D. Strohmeier, vice-president of shipbuilding for Bethlehem Steel Corporation, has announced that William H. Collins has been appointed general manager of the corporation's Boston ship repair yard to succeed Lawrence J. Mclnnis who has retired.
Mr. Collins, who has been with Bethlehem since 1941, except for a four-year period when he served with the U.S. Navy during World War II, has been assistant manager of the Boston yard since November 1965.
In announcing Mr. Mclnnis' retirement, Mr. Strohmeier lauded him for "39 years of loyal and efficient service."
A graduate of Brown University, class of '41, Mr. Collins began his career as a shipfitter at the Bethlehem Boston yard. In 1949 he was transferred to the then Quincy, Mass. yard of the corporation as assistant to the general superintendent, and in 1950 he was appointed a salesman in the ship-repair sales department in New York City. He returned to Quincy in 1952 as assistant to manager, and early in 1955 was appointed superintendent of sales for special products.
In October 1957 he was assigned to special duties as a member of the general manager's staff on the yard's nuclear-power project, which preceded construction by the Quincy yard of the nuclear-powered missile-cruiser USS Long Beach, the world's first atomic surface warship, and the frigate USS Bainbridge, the world's first nuclear vessel of that class.
Mr. Collins was transferred to the Boston yard in 1964 as assistant to manager, and late in 1965 was named assistant manager.
He is a member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the Maritime Association of Boston, the International Trade Center of Boston and the Emergency Planning Committee of the Port of Boston.