Oswald Engine

The Oswald Engine was a gasoline powered internal combustion marine engine manufactured in San Francisco. They were available in two cylinder and four cylinder models. With a magneto and spark plug ignition. Oswald was a small company on Turk Street, San Francisco then later in South San Francisco, Oswald built engines for a short period of time in the early 1900s. The last known Oswald Engine was found in an engine parts warehouse in South San Francisco. The magneto on this example was made by Robert Bosch and was dated from 1914.

Dealership

The engine venture was apparently short lived, and Mr. Oswald became a dealer for R A Lister and Company and later Lister-Petter diesel power plants, as Diesel engines grew in popularity and the era for gasoline inboards for the west coast fishing fleet in San Francisco and Monterey Bay faded.

Lighting plant

Oswald later produced portable diesel powered lighting plants popular during the Vietnam War and was a distributor and service center for diesel engines serving Northern California, and government contracts with customers including the Coast Guard.

Sources

• Douglas H. Gales, Early Day Gas Engine and Tractor Association, b 8 Jan 1926, d 5 Jun 2001
• National Maritime Museum Library, San Francisco, California
• Oswald Family, San Francisco, California