John Willis Griffiths (October 6, 1809 – March 30, 1882) was an American
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
{{Commons category, Architecture occupations
Design occupations
Architecture, Occupations ...
who was influential in his design of
clipper ships
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century Merchant ship, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had ...
and his books on ship design and construction. He also designed steamships and war vessels and patented many inventions.
Maritime historian William H. Thiesen wrote, "Of all the nineteenth-century American shipbuilders, John W. Griffiths did more than any other builder to champion American shipbuilding methods. An experimenter, an advocate for formal ship-design education, and a working intellectual, Griffiths proved to be most remarkable of America’s nineteenth-century shipbuilders.”
Ship designer
In 1845 Griffiths was employed for the shipbuilding firm of
Smith & Dimon in lower Manhattan and designed the
clipper ship
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century Merchant ship, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had ...
''
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
''. Historian Dr. Larrie Ferreiro considered the ''
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
'' “the first of a line of ‘extreme’ clippers, with a fine, raked bow, high deadrise, and hollow waterlines.”
The ship was known for fast passages but reportedly went “missing with all hands” in 1848.
Griffiths’ second
clipper ship
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century Merchant ship, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had ...
, ''
Sea Witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
'', was referred to by
Smithsonian curator
Howard Irving Chapelle as his “masterpiece.”
It was launched on December 8, 1846, and “described as the most beautiful ship of her time.” Maritime historian Melbourne Smith wrote in 1980, “Ships of twice her tonnage were built specifically to beat her but her passages home from China have not been equalled under sail to this day.”
In 1847 Griffiths built the clipper, ''
Memnon
In Greek mythology, Memnon (; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων means 'resolute') was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. During the Trojan War, he brought an army t ...
'', for
Warren Delano
Warren Lyford DeLano (June 21, 1972 – November 3, 2009) was an advocate for the increased adoption of open source practices in the sciences, and especially drug discovery, where advances which save time and resources can also potentially save liv ...
, a prominent merchant in the China trade. His fourth and last clipper, ''Universe'', was built by Smith and Dimon in 1850.
[Chapelle, pp. 276–277.]
In March 1849 the ''
Sea Witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
'' set a record when it sailed from
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
to New York in 74 days 14 hours.
It was noted on October 25, 2013, that no single-hulled sailing vessel ever broke the record.
Griffiths wrote in 1855, “It will be entirely proper to add, that the model of the ''Sea Witch'' had more influence upon the subsequent configuration of fast vessels, than any other ship ever built in the United States.”
The ''
Sea Witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
'' was wrecked on the coast of
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in 1856 while carrying 500 Chinese workers.
Griffiths had received considerable praise for his
clipper
A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...
designs. Smith & Dimon stated, “We have no hesitation recommending him as a ‘Marine and Naval Architect’ of the first order. A gentleman who has reached an eminence in the line of his profession rarely attained, and whose skills in this branch of Mechanism we believe to be unsurpassed.” Fellow ship designer
Donald McKay
Donald McKay (September 4, 1810 – September 20, 1880) was a Canadian-born American designer and builder of sailing ships, famed for his record-setting clippers.
Early life
He was born in Jordan Falls, Shelburne County, on Nova Scotia's ...
wrote Griffiths, “You are a master of your profession, have no Superior in it – a Scientific and practical Ship Builder – & an illustrious Citizen . . .”
After Griffiths left Smith & Dimon, his interest shifted from sailing vessels to steamships. He designed the
sloop-of-war
In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...
''
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language:
* Pawnee people
* Pawnee language
Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States:
* Pawnee, Illinois
* Pawnee, Kansas
* Pawnee, Missouri
* Pawnee City, Nebraska
* ...
'' for the US Navy and the radical shallow-draft merchant steamer ''Ocean Bird''.
Griffiths presented a model of one of his steamships to
Tsar Nicholas I of Russia
, house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp
, father = Paul I of Russia
, mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire
, death_date = ...
and, as a token of satisfaction, the
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
presented him with a diamond ring.
Earlier in his career, Griffiths had cut frames for the Russian steam frigate ''
Kamchatka
The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and wes ...
''.
Writer and editor
In 1850 Griffiths began his career as an author and editor. His first book
''Treatise on Marine and Naval Architecture'' was initially published in twelve monthly installments, from January to December 1850. Dr. Larrie Ferreiro wrote, "It was the first American book to extensively treat both the practical and theoretical aspects of ship design and construction . . . " The book was successful and received good reviews in popular magazines such as ''
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
''. Griffiths wrote two other books
''The Shipbuilder’s Manual and Nautical Referee'' 1853) an
''The Progressive Ship Builder''1875).
Griffiths went into partnership with shipbuilder William Wallace Bates to publish a monthly magazine
''The Monthly Nautical Magazine and Quarterly Review'' Their first issue was published in October 1854 with the stated goal of “cultivating marine architecture in the United States.”
One year later it was renamed ''The US Nautical Magazine and Naval Journal''. Griffiths wrote numerous essays on maritime topics, including why wood was preferable to iron as a shipbuilding material. Wrote Dr. Ferreiro, “Griffiths was also a popularizer of new developments in hull design and resistance calculations . . . “ The magazine kept shipbuilders informed about the latest developments in the industry.
Griffiths believed that “the press
sthe only legitimate means by which nautical mechanism may be raised from its low position as a compound of crude notions, to the altitude of a science.”
Griffiths’ son Oliver took over as editor in 1856. The magazine published its last issue in March 1858 and folded a short time later.
In 1861 a Dutch shipbuilding handbook was published based on Griffiths’ designs and writings.
Chapelle wrote, “Strongly opinionated, and contentious, he
riffithswas nevertheless an important contributor to the development of American naval architecture.”
Melbourne Smith wrote, “John Willis Griffiths was considered a genius as a naval architect, although perhaps somewhat eccentric in his zeal to improve American naval architecture.”
Later years and legacy
In July 1858 the Navy appointed Griffiths as temporary naval constructor at the Philadelphia naval shipyard. In October 1862
Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
Gideon Welles
Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 – February 11, 1878), nicknamed "Father Neptune", was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, a cabinet post he was awarded after supporting Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election. Although opposed ...
appointed Griffiths as superintendent of gun boats under
Samuel Moore Pook
Samuel Moore Pook (August 15, 1804 – December 2, 1878) was a Boston-based American naval architect and father of Samuel Hartt Pook, the noted clipper ship naval architect. In 1861, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, Pook designed t ...
. It is unclear how long Griffiths remained a naval constructor during and after the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
.
![John Willis Griffiths Oil Portrait](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/John_Willis_Griffiths_Oil_Portrait.jpg)
In his later years Griffiths struggled financially, and his ship designs were not considered as successful. Griffiths’ career was devoted to building wooden ships, but they became obsolete with the advent of iron. He co-owned the Union Ship-Timber Manufacturing Company with his son Oliver and patented a wood-bending machine in 1866.
Thiesen wrote, “the timber-bending machine never became popular…because wooden-ship construction had become less profitable by the time Griffiths perfected the machine, and the cost of the apparatus proved too high for most wood shipbuilders.”
[Thiesen (2006), p. 69] In 1875 Griffiths created and patented the Universal Wood-Bending Machine for boats, carriages, and other vehicles.
He earned a prize at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...
in 1876 although carriage-maker Samuel R. Bailey always claimed that Griffiths had copied his invention.
Griffiths died of
anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
in Brooklyn, New York, on March 30, 1882, and was interred at the Linden Hill United Methodist Cemetery in Queens, New York.
Historian
William Brown Meloney dedicated his 1916 boo
''The Heritage of Tyre''“to the memory of John Willis Griffiths, whose genius revolutionized the science of merchant shipbuilding and naval architecture and enthroned the United States as Mistress of the Seas.”
Marion H. Virnelson, Griffiths’ granddaughter, donated his belongings to the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in 1937.
Griffiths' obituary did not appear in any major New York City newspapers, and his grave in Queens had been unmarked for 134 years.
A headstone was unveiled on July 23, 2016, under the sponsorship of the
National Maritime Historical Society The National Maritime Historical Society (NMHS) is a non-profit organization in America devoted to historical ship preservation and maritime education.
The society's mission is to educate Americans—and especially its youth—about maritime accomp ...
.
Meloney had written back in 1916, "Ocean conqueror by sail and by steam, he sleeps as he died, unhonored and unsung --- forgotten by a heedless people . . . "
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...
was built in
Panama City, Florida
Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn Ha ...
, and named in his honor.
[
]
Notes
Many sources erroneously state that John Willis Griffiths died on April 29, 1882. However, his death certificate indicates that he died on March 30, 1882; the certificate (#3832) was issued by the Department of Health of the City of Brooklyn. Cemetery records from Linden Hill United Methodist Cemetery in Queens, New York, also indicate that Griffiths died before the month of April. Both the death certificate and the cemetery records are cited by Dr. Larrie Ferreiro in his article, "A Biographical Sketch of John Willis Griffiths from Primary and Biographical Sources".
The ''
Sea Witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
'' set a record by sailing from Hong Kong to New York in 74 days 14 hours.
As of October 25, 2013, the record has yet to be broken by any single-hulled sailing vessel.
In May 2003, the
trimaran
A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...
(multi-hulled vessel) ''Great American II'' sailed from Hong Kong to Sandy Hook in fewer than 73 days.
References
External links
Honoring A Life - John Willis Griffiths (mini-documentary) John W. Griffiths and the construction of the ''Rainbow'' and the ''Sea Witch'' John W. Griffiths and the construction of the gunboat ''Pawnee''"> John W. Griffiths and the construction of the gunboat ''Pawnee''Patents for forming stem and dead wood of shipsPatent for wood-bending machine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, John W.
1809 births
1882 deaths
American naval architects
Engineers from New York (state)