William H. Webb

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William H. Webb bigraphy, stories - American shipbuilder

William H. Webb : biography

19 June 1816 – 30 October 1899

William Henry Webb (19 June 1816 – 30 October 1899) was a 19th-century New York shipbuilder and philanthropist, who has been called America’s first true naval architect.

Webb inherited his father’s shipyard, Webb & Allen, in 1840, renamed it William H. Webb, and turned it into America’s most prolific shipyard, building 133 vessels between 1840 and 1865. Webb designed some of the fastest and most successful sailing packets and clipper ships ever built, and he also built some of the largest and most celebrated steamboats and steamships of his era, including the giant ironclad , in its day the world’s longest wooden-hulled ship.

After the American Civil War, the U.S. shipbuilding industry experienced a prolonged slump, and Webb, having already made a considerable fortune, decided to close his shipyard and turn his energies toward philanthropic goals. He chaired an anti-corruption council, became a founding member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and established the Webb Academy and Home for Shipbuilders, which today is known as the Webb Institute.

Footnotes

William H. Webb shipyard

In later years, Webb would sometimes be asked to what he attributed his reputation and success, to which he would typically reply "attention to detail". Born into an era when shipbuilding was considered as much an art as a science, Webb, a "born mathematician", brought new levels of professionalism to the craft through his combining of the art of design with the discipline of careful mathematical calculation. For this reason, he has been described as America’s first true naval architect.

He was content to start small, however. For the first couple of years at the helm, the Webb & Allen shipyard, now located between Fifth and Seventh Streets on the East River, built a variety of mostly small sailing ships, including ferries, sloops and schooners. William bought out his father’s old partner John Allen in 1843 and subsequently renamed the business William H. Webb.Dunbaugh, Edwin L. and Thomas, William duBarry (1989): William H. Webb, Shipbuilder, Webb Institute, at shipbuildinghistory.com.

Clippers and packets

Webb soon began turning out larger and more ambitious vessels, including several sailing packets and clipper ships, types for which the yard would soon become famous. The 900-ton packets Montezuma and Yorkshire were built in 1843, along with the pre-clipper Cohota.

By 1849, Webb’s shipyard was at the cutting edge of sailing ship design. In that year, he built the packet ships Albert Gallatin and Guy Mannering. At 1435 and 1419 tons respectively, these ships were at time of completion the two largest merchant vessels in the world.Clark, p. 42. Another packet built by Webb was Harvest Queen.

The California gold rush was by then in full swing, bringing with it strong demand for new ships to convey prospectors and supplies to and from the goldfields. Clipper ships were seen as ideal for the trade, and in 1851, Webb built a number of them, including Gazelle, Challenge, Comet, Invincible and Swordfish. Comet and Swordfish, 1,836 and 1,036 tons respectively, were both to set sailing speed records.Clark, p. 153. Freight rates to the goldfields had by this time skyrocketed to such an extent that a ship could pay for its construction with a single voyage. Webb’s clipper designs "employed the most judicious use of timber of all the major shipbuilders." For the Challenge, Webb relied on the hull planking as an integral part of the ship’s structural strength, and increased the width between frames at the bow and stern of the ship, thus using four fewer frames for a 200 ft. hull, saving about 25,000 lbs.

In 1853, Webb built the 1,961-ton clipper Young America, considered by many to be the most beautiful clipper ship ever built, the "acme of perfection" in clipper design., sourced to Dunbaugh and Thomas. In 1856, he built the 2,145 ton packet ship Ocean Monarch, the largest sailing ship ever constructed at a New York shipyard.Clark, p. 64.