Thomas Charles Gillmer

Background

Gillmer, Thomas Charles was born on July 17, 1911 in Warren, Ohio, United States. Son of Derr Oscar and Hazel May (Voit) Gillmer.

Education

Bachelor of Science, United States Naval Academy, 1935;postgraduate, Case Western Reserve University, Johns Hopkins University, 1946. Commissioned ensign United States Navy, 1935, advanced through grades to Lieutenant (junior grade), 1939. Lieutenant commander of The United States Navy Reserve, 1944-1946.

Member of faculty United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland., 1946-1968, professor, director Naval Architecture, 1961-1968.

Chairman naval engineering department, 1963-1968. Private practice naval architecture Annapolis, 1968.

Member panel experts Food and Agriculture Organization (of the United Nations), United Nations, Rome, 1963-1966. Consultant to Navy Department RestorationUSS Constitution, 1991.

Career

At his family"s summer cottage near Lake Erie in Ohio, he learned to sail a 14-foot sloop by himself. After graduating from the United States. Naval Academy in 1935, he served aboard the light cruisers United States Ship Raleigh (CL-7) and United States Ship Savannah (CL-42) in the Pacific and Mediterranean. In 1941, he joined the Marine Engineering Department at the During World World War II, he served as an instructor of Ship Construction and Damage Control at the United States. He resigned his commission with the Navy in 1946 to join the Academy"s faculty as a professor and became chairman of the First Class Committee of the Marine Engineering department.

(Note: The Marine Engineering Department became the Division of Engineering and Weapons in 1970 which contained the Naval Systems Engineering Department Naval Systems later became the current Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Department) During the 1950s, Professor Gillmer established the Ship Hydromechanics Laboratory in Isherwood Hall which consisted of an 85" × 6" × 4" towing tank, an 18" × 22" × 4" intact and damaged stability demonstration tank and a small circulating water channel.

After retiring from the Naval Academy in 1967, Gillmer continued living in Annapolis, where he pursued a career as the architect of sailing vessels and an author on the subject. In 1969, he established the engineering firm Thomas Gillmer, Naval Architect, Incorporated. in Annapolis.

His designs included modern yachts and replicas of historic sailing ships. He worked with artist Melbourne Smith on the design of the Pride of Baltimore in 1976, the Pride of Baltimore II in 1986, and the Kalmar Nyckel in 1997.

The Navy hired Gillmer to evaluate the condition of the United States Ship Constitution prior to the vessel"s restoration in 1997.

The Allied Seawind Ketch, designed by Gillmer in 1962, was the first fiberglass-hulled yacht to circumnavigate the Earth. Gillmer designed and built his own house in Annapolis in 1947, where he lived for more than 60 years. Historic sailing ship replicas Sailboats Source of table data:.

Achievements

• Thomas Charles Gillmer has been listed as a notable naval architect by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Pride of Baltimore: The Story of the Baltimore Clippers

    (Arguably the most beautiful sailing ships of all times, t...)

  • Introduction to Naval Architecture

    (The book covers such topics as ship geometry, properties ...)

  • A History of Working Watercraft of the Western World

    (BRAND NEW!!! Qualifies for FREE SHIPPING! Over 60,000 hap...)

  • Modern Ship Design

    (Book by Gillmer, Thomas C.)

  • Fundamentals of Construction and Stability of Naval Ships
  • A History of Working Watercraft of the Western World 2 Sub edition by Gillmer, Thomas C. (1994) Hardcover
  • A History of Working Watercraft of the Western World by Gillmer, Thomas C. (1994) Hardcover
  • Fundamentals of Naval Construction and Ship Stability. 1953
  • Modern Ship Design. Second Edition

Membership

Member board governors Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, 1981-1991, emeritus, 1995, curatorial chairman, 1989-1991. Member American Association of University Professors, Society Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (award for individual efforts to further body of knowledge 1988), American Society Naval Engineers, Society Nautical Research, PRIDE of Baltimore (operations committee since 1979), Hellenic Institute Nautical Archaeology Athens (Bronze medal 1985), Annapolis Yacht Club, de Voile Club (France), New Providence Club.

Connections

Married Anna May Derge, June 5, 1937. Children: Christina Gesell Gillmer Erdmann, Charles Voit. Married Ruth N. Morgan, 1999.

Father:

Derr Oscar Gillmer

Mother:

Hazel May (Voit) Gillmer

Spouse:

Anna May Derge

Spouse:

Ruth N. Morgan

child:

Christina Gesell Gillmer Erdmann Gillmer

child:

Charles Voit Gillmer