William Henry Webb (June 19, 1816 – October 30, 1899) was a 19th-century New York City shipbuilder and philanthropist, who has been called America's first true naval architect.
Early life
William Henry Webb was born in New York on June 19, 1816. His father Isaac trained at the shipyard of New York shipbuilder Henry Eckford before opening his own shipyard, Isaac Webb & Co., near Corlears Hook in about 1818, later relocating to Stanton Street. Isaac eventually took on a partner and the firm was renamed Webb & Allen.
William was educated privately and at Columbia College Grammar School, demonstrating a natural aptitude for mathematics. He built his first boat, a small skiff, at the age of twelve, and in spite of his parents' wishes to the contrary, secured an apprenticeship at his father's shipyard at the age of fifteen. At twenty, he was awarded a subcontract for the New York-Liverpool packet ship Oxford, his first commercial contract.
Career
After completing his six-year apprenticeship, William decided to further his education by travelling to Scotland in 1840 to visit the famous shipyards of the Clyde. During this journey, however, his father Isaac died suddenly at the age of 46, and 23-year-old William returned home to assume management of the shipyard.
Upon examining the accounts, William discovered that his father's business was technically insolvent, and thus one of his first duties was to settle his father's debts. Having done so, he set about reinvigorating the business.
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.
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.
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. 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. The Comet was represented by a half-model. The lines and sail plan are in the William H. Webb's Plans Of Wooden Ships.
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.