Built by Bethlehem Iron Company in 1890 from the plans of Sir Joseph Whitworth & Co. of Manchester, England, this bending press straightened or formed curves in armor plate for battleships. Used by Bethlehem Iron Company and later Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the hydraulic machine applied up to 7,000 tons of force to shape steel. It remained in service for well over 100 years and was eventually used to bend steel for storage tanks and to reshape deformed steel mill equipment such as the railroad cars that carried steel ingots.
