(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
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William Cramp was an American shipbuilder. He was the founder of the William Cramp Shipbuilding Company.
Background
William Cramp was born on September 22, 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was a descendant of Johannes Krampf of Baden, Germany, who settled near Penn Treaty Park, Philadelphia, in 1703. This original homestead of the Cramp family was located not far from the site of the present shipyard of The William Cramp & Sons’ Ship and Engine Building Company.
Education
Cramp received a good elementary education in the Philadelphia schools. Later he was placed under the instruction of Samuel Grice, the leading American naval architect of the time.
Career
Early in life Cramp had conceived the idea of going into business on his own account, and at the age of twenty-three he established The William Cramp Shipbuilding Company. His plant was located at the foot of Otis St. , now called East Susquehanna Ave. , but this location soon proved to be inadequate, and he moved the plant a short distance down the Delaware River. Here many important sailing and steam vessels were constructed. Under Cramp’s able direction the concern was provided with modern mechanical devices, and came to be considered one of the best equipped of shipyards. This factor, combined with his extraordinary capacity for work, his reputation for honest dealings, and the pride he took in his ships made his concern prosperous even through prolonged periods of business depression.
The shipbuilding industry itself was in the throes of a transition in the design and construction of vessels. Wooden vessels were replaced by iron and in turn iron vessels were replaced by steel. The changes involved the installation of new machinery, a new industrial organization, and a new science of naval architecture and construction. William Cramp was among the first American shipbuilders to foresee the inevitable change, and his aggressiveness and astuteness enabled him to cope with the situation.
By 1872 he had taken into his organization several of his sons, all of whom were taught the art of shipbuilding. In this year he decided to incorporate the concern and to affiliate his sons more closely to its destiny. Accordingly its name was changed to The William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company.
Two foreign countries, Russia and Venezuela, gave him contracts for the construction of war-vessels. The United States Government gave him several contracts for naval vessels of all classes and types. The first of these was completed in 1862, when the U. S. S. New Ironsides was launched, the most powerful cruising ironclad of its time, which participated in more naval engagements during the Civil War than any other vessel of the United States. Cramp remained president of the company which he had founded until his death at Atlantic City in his seventy-third year when he was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles Henry Cramp.