Background
In 1843 his son William Henry Webb bought out his father"s old partner John Allen and subsequently renamed the business William H. Webb.
In 1843 his son William Henry Webb bought out his father"s old partner John Allen and subsequently renamed the business William H. Webb.
Later this shipyard was renamed & Allen due to Isaac took a partner. In September 1810, Henry Eckford took on 16-year-old Isaac as an apprentice at his shipyard in New New York In the following years, Eckford would take on many other apprentices who would become important naval architects and shipbuilders, including Jacob Bell, William Bennett, David Brown, Andrew Craft, John Dimon, John Englis, Thomas Megson, Stephen Smith, and Sidney Wright.
After completing his training he opened his own shipyard, Isaac & Company, near Corlears Hook in about 1818, later relocating to Stanton Street.
Isaac eventually took on a partner and the firm was renamed & Allen. lieutenant looks like two other apprentices Jacob Bell and David Brown founded Brown & Bell shipyard in New York and built the famous sidewheel steamer United States Ship Jacob Bell.
William Henry, son of Isaac, was born in New York on June 19, 1816. William was educated privately and at Columbia College Grammar School, demonstrating a natural aptitude for mathematics.
At twenty, he was awarded a subcontract for the New York-Liverpool packet ship Oxford, his first commercial contract.
After completing his six-year apprenticeship, William decided to further his education by traveling to Scotland in 1840 to visit the famous shipyards of the Clyde. However during this journey 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.
William Henry was a "born mathematician" in an era when shipbuilding was considered as much an art as a science. He brought new levels of professionalism to the craft by combining the art of design with the discipline of careful mathematical calculation.
Foreign this reason, William has been described as America"s first true naval architect. William was content to start small, however.
Foreign the first couple of years at the helm, the & 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.