William Badger (May 26, 1752 – February 22, 1830) was a master

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

operating in

Kittery Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

who built more than 100 vessels.

Life and career

The eldest of six children, he was born to William Badger and Anstisa Emerson Badger at what is now Newfields,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

.William Badger Papers -- The Portsmouth Athenæum
/ref> Trained by master shipbuilder Colonel James K. Hackett at

John Langdon John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

's shipyard on Rising Castle Island (or Langdon's Island) in Kittery, he helped build the USS ''Ranger''. In 1782, he worked with Hackett to complete the USS ''America''. About 1788, Badger established a shipbuilding business with David Colcord and Stilmon Tarleton on the

Squamscott River The Squamscott River is a tidal river in Rockingham County, southeastern New Hampshire, in the United States. It rises at Exeter, fed by the Exeter River. The Squamscott runs north between Newfields and Stratham to Great Bay, a tidal estuar ...

at Newfields, but returned to work with Hackett from 1794 until 1799 as a master

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

on the USS ''Crescent'' and USS ''Congress''. In 1797, Badger acquired 3 acres (1.3 hectares) on Rising Castle Island from his wife's family. He built a house and began shipbuilding on what would thereafter be called

Badger's Island Badger's Island is located in the Piscataqua River at Kittery, Maine, directly opposite Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It carries U.S. Route 1 between the states, connecting to the Kittery mainland by the Badger's Island Bridge, and to New Hampshire b ...

. In 1800, Commodore Isaac Hull, commander of the new

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuo ...

down the

Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...

on Fernald's Island, contracted William Badger and his nephew Samuel Badger to build a 74-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

. Dissatisfied with the latter shipwright, however, Hull fired both Badgers in November. A dozen years then passed at the federal shipyard without the completion of a single vessel. Hull rehired William Badger in 1813, and the USS ''Washington'', first ship produced at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, launched in 1814. Meanwhile, upriver at his own shipyard, Badger was constructing approximately two ships a year, including

naval vessel A naval ship is a military ship (or sometimes boat, depending on classification) used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose. Generally, naval ships are damage resilient and armed with w ...

merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...

s and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s, while also repairing others. He entered

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

, owning the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

''Fanny'' between 1816-1822, and half-owning at least 17 other vessels, most of which he had built. Between 1801-1850, shipbuilding was the principal industry in the Piscataqua region, where shipbuilders altogether made about 9 vessels per year, each averaging 200 tons. But William Badger, generally called Master Badger, achieved the greatest renown. He died in 1830 after a long illness, and was buried on the island which bears his name. The USS ''William Badger'', a

whaling ship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

acquired by the U.S. Navy during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, was named after him, an honor reserved for his 100th vessel built in 1829. The Ship ''America'' and John Paul Jones
/ref>

References

External links

Kittery Historical & Naval Museum

Grave of William Badger
on Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Badger, William 1752 births 1830 deaths People from Newfields, New Hampshire American shipbuilders American shipwrights People from Kittery, Maine People of colonial New Hampshire Colonial American merchants

Life and career

See also

References

External links