| Industry |
|
|---|---|
| Founded | January 1937 |
| Founder | Chris Nelson |
| Defunct | 1947 |
| Fate | Sold |
| Successor | John Trumpy & Sons |
| Headquarters | Annapolis, Maryland, |
Area served | US Navy and Annapolis |
| Products | PT Boats, sub chasers, yachts |
| Services | Boat building and repair |
Annapolis Yacht Yard was founded in 1937 by Nelson-Reid, Inc, naval architects and yacht brokers in New York City. Annapolis Yacht Yard was across the Severn River from the Annapolis Naval Academy.
Annapolis Yacht Yard was a major builder of sub chasers and PT boats during World War II. In 1947, after the death of Chris Nelson, Annapolis Yacht Yard sold to John Trumpy & Sons. [1] The site today is called the Yacht Yard. [2] Patrol torpedo boat PT-728 built by Annapolis Yacht Yard is a rare surviving PT boats at the Liberty Aviation Museum. [3] On 1 April 1941, Annapolis Yacht Yard and Chris Nelson, its president, was give its first contract to build two 110-foot submarine chasers. BPT are Motor Torpedo Boat built for Great Britain, renamed HM MTB boats, a Vosper & Company design. [4] [5] In 1962, Annapolis yard was destroyed in a fire, in 1974 John Trumpy & Sons closed. [6] Nelson, graduated from MIT in 1918 with a degree in naval architecture. Nelson designed the yachts that Reid and Almen sold to wealthy New York businessmen during the 1920s and 1930s. Annapolis Yacht Yard first customer was James Roosevelt, son of President Franklin Roosevelt, he had his yacht the Sewauna overhauled in the boatyard in July 1937. Nelson most popular model designed was the American Cruiser, a 60-foot twin diesel motor yacht. [7]
Annapolis Yacht Yard built for World War II:
Chance Boatyard (Annapolis Yacht Yard in 1937) | |
 Main building | |
   | |
| Location | 222 Severn Ave., Annapolis, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°58′22″N76°28′54″W / 38.97278°N 76.48167°W |
| Built | 1913 |
| Architect | Harold M. Simmons |
| NRHP reference No. | 99000421 [8] |
| Added to NRHP | April 14, 1999 |
The site of Annapolis Yacht Yard was the Chance Boatyard when Chris Nelson acquired the Chance Boatyard for the Annapolis Yacht Yard. The site has become a U.S. National Register of Historic Places. [9]
Media related to Chance Boatyard at Wikimedia Commons
USS Dolphin (SF-10/SC-3/SS-169), a submarine and one of the "V-boats", was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for that aquatic mammal. She also bore the name V-7 and the classifications SF-10 and SC-3 prior to her commissioning. She was launched on 6 March 1932 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. E.D. Toland, and commissioned on 1 June 1932.
USS Cachalot (SC-4/SS-170) was a United States Navy submarine and the lead ship of her class, known as the "V-boats" and named for the sperm whale. Her keel was laid down by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 19 October 1933 as V-8 (SC-4) sponsored by Miss K. D. Kempff, and commissioned on 1 December 1933 with Lieutenant Commander Merril Comstock in command. Cachalot was the first submarine to have the Torpedo Data Computer, Arma Corporation's Mark 1, installed.
USS Plunger (SS-2) was one of the earliest submarines of the United States Navy. She was the lead boat of her class and was later renamed A-1 when she was designated an A-type submarine. She is not to be confused with the experimental submarine Plunger which was evaluated by the U.S. Navy from 1898 to 1900, but not accepted or commissioned.
USS Absegami (SP-371) was a motorboat acquired on a free lease by the United States Navy during World War I. She was outfitted as an armed patrol craft and assigned to patrol the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Cape May, New Jersey on the Delaware Bay. When the Navy found her excess to their needs, she was returned to her former owner.
USS G-2 (SS-27) was a G-class submarine of the United States Navy. While the four G-boats were nominally all of a class, they differed enough in significant details that they are sometimes considered to be four unique boats, each in a class by herself. A Simon Lake design, G-2 was named Tuna when her keel was laid down on 20 October 1909 by Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tuna, a large, vigorous, spiny-finned fish highly esteemed for sport and food. She was renamed G-2 on 17 November 1911, launched on 10 January 1912 sponsored by Ms. Marjorie F. Miller, towed to the New York Navy Yard after the termination of the Lake contract on 7 November 1913 where she was completed, and placed in reduced commission on 1 December 1913.
Chance Boatyard is a group of historic buildings at Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It used to be a boat-building and repair complex. Most of the buildings were built between 1913 and 1942 to support the boat-building and repair activity of Chance Marine Construction Corporation and its successors, Annapolis Yacht Yard and John Trumpy & Sons.
USS SC-521 was a SC-497-class submarine chaser that served in the United States Navy during World War II. She was laid down on 5 May 1941 by the Annapolis Yacht Yard, Inc. in Annapolis, Maryland and launched on 1 February 1942. She was commissioned on 15 April 1942. She foundered on 10 July 1945 off Santa Cruz, Solomon Islands.
John H. Mathis & Company was a shipbuilding company founded around 1900, based at Cooper Point in Camden, New Jersey, U.S., on the Delaware River. At their shipyard at Point and Erie Streets, the company built luxury yachts and also commercial ships. During World War II a variety of Naval vessels were built. The Mathis shipyard closed in 1961.
The SC-1 class was a large class of submarine chasers built during World War I for the United States Navy. They were ordered in very large numbers in order to combat attacks by German U-boats, with 442 boats built from 1917 to 1919.
Harbor Boat Building Company was a shipbuilding company on Terminal Island in San Pedro, California. To support the World War II demand for ships General Engineering built: minesweepers, torpedo boats, submarine chasers, and air-sea rescue boats. In 1919 Romolo Rados founded Harbor Boat Building. After the war he renamed the company Harco Shipyard and built and sold a standard design motor boat. In 1959 he sold the company to LTV. The shipyard was closed and the company was sold again in 1971 to Omega-Alpha, Inc. The last ship built was in 1965 for the US Navy. The shipyard was located at 263 Wharf St, San Pedro.
South Coast Shipyard was a shipbuilding company in Newport, California. To support the World War II demand for ships South Coast Shipyard built: minesweepers, Torpedo Boats, Submarine chasers, & Air-sea rescue boats. South Coast Shipyard was opened in 1938 by Walton Hubbard. After World War II the shipyard continued to build ships for the US Navy till 1955. The shipyard was located at 2300 Newport Boulevard, Newport, California. The shipyard closed in 1963.
Wilmington Boat Works, Inc. or WILBO was a shipbuilding company in Wilmington, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Victory Shipbuilding built: Tugboats, crash rescue boats and sub chasers. Wilmington Boat Works opened in 1920 building Fishing boat and yachts, by Hugh Angelman, Willard Buchanan and Tom Smith. After the Korean War the shipyard closed in 1958. The shipyard was located at 400 Yacht Street, Wilmington, the site of the current USC boatyard.
Kneass Boat Works was a shipbuilding company in San Francisco, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships, Kneass Boat Works built: US Navy Sub chasers, US Army barges and tugboats. Kneass Boat Works was started by California native George Washington Kneass (1859–1923) in 1868, at 22 Mission Street, San Francisco. George Kneass started as an apprentice to boat builder Martin Vice. The two became partners operating a shipyard at Pier 70 at 671 Illinois Street, San Francisco. Business was good and in 1898 Kneass opened a second shipyard at 718 3rd Street, San Francisco. At its peak, Kneass employed 50 workers. George Kneass died in 1923 and his two sons, George Jr. and Webster, took over the shipyard. Kneass built small boats, launches, rowboats, barges, lifeboats), sailboats, and a few wooden cruisers. For World War 2, in 1941 the company built a small emergency shipyard. The shipyard closed in 1970, but the site is now the art studio of Ruth Kneass; she kept the boatyard name for her studio.
Splinter fleet or Splinter navy was a nickname given to the United States wooden boats used in World War II. The boats served in many different roles during the war. These boats were built in small boatyards on the West coast and East coast, Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. They could be built quickly, in just 60 to 120 days. Most of the boats were built by boatyards that already had the tools and knowledge from building yachts, sailboats and motor boats. Many were built by craftsmen in family-owned small businesses. Under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program and War Shipping Administration contracts went out to over fifty boatyards across the country. The boats were built for the US Navy, the United States Army Air Forces, United States Coast Guard, and US Army. Some of the wooden boats went to Allied nations on the Lend-Lease program.
US Navy Small Craft Training Centers(SCTC) were United States Navy training bases used to train sailors in the operation of the many small wooden crafts used in World War II. These crafts were given the nickname Splinter Fleet. There was a shortage of steel and steel shipyards during World War II, so there was a need for a vast wooden fleet of crafts. The Small Craft Training Centers had classrooms and crafts for training. The bases had barrack housing and mess halls. To get the men and crafts out into the field quickly, at many of the bases men trained on new ships. The new ships were at the center for about 4 weeks as part of the vessel's sea trial. Tugboats, Minesweepers, Net laying ships, Crash boats, PT boats and other crafts built near the center were taken to the Small Craft Training Centers for testing. Crafts built at Lynch Shipbuilding in San Diego, California were taken to the Small Craft Training Center at Terminal Island, San Pedro, California for their sea trial. Lynch Shipbuilding built tugboats, and minesweepers. Some of the craft at the Terminal Island school were: USS Density (AM-218), USS Waxsaw (AN-91), and USS Climax (AM-161), USS Wateree (ATF-117), USS Quest (AM-281), USS Snowbell (AN-52). The US Navy also had Small Craft Training Centers in Miami, Florida, Santa Barbara, California, New Orleans, Louisiana and other sites.
Fleet Obsolete is vessel restoration nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in Kingston, New York. Fleet Obsolete rescues and restores rare artifacts and boats from World War II era. Fleet Obsolete owns and is restoring four of the rare PT boats. Fleet Obsolete is housed in the historical Cornell Shops Building on the waterfront of the Hudson River at the mouth of Rondout Creek. Cornell Steamboat Company was founded in 1827 and used the Cornell Building as a machine shop. Fleet Obsolete was founded by Robert Iannucci in 2005. Robert Iannucci purchased five PT boats built during World War II. Robert Iannucci worked on racing teams for classic motorcycless and is now a retired Brooklyn attorney. Iannucci passion for United States Navy boats came from his time as a Sea Scout in Hackensack, New Jersey
Robert Jacob Shipyard founded by Robert Jacob in 1900 on City Island, Bronx, New York. During World War II Robert Jacob Shipyard built PT boats and Tugboat for the United States Navy. During World War I Robert Jacob Shipyard built Submarine chaser boats. When not building war boats, the shipyard built yachts, schooners and sloops. After the war, in 1946, Robert Jacob Shipyard was sold to Consolidated Shipbuilding of Morris Heights. Later Consolidated moved to the City Island shipyard. In 1958, Consolidated closed and sold to Wesley Rodstrom run as a yacht repair yard.
Fisher Boatworks was boatyard in Detroit, Michigan founded in 1937 by William P. Fisher. The Fisher Boatworks site was first the Russell J. Pouliot Boat Works founded in the 1930s. Fisher Boatworks built many Submarine chaser boats for World War II. They are also known for building one of first Prototype PT boats: PT-3 and PT-3. Fisher Boatworks closed after the war in 1945. The boatyard was on Motor Boat Lane, now the Gregory Marina on the Detroit River of the Waterworks Park.
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron One was a World War II United States Navy PT boat squadron based at Naval Base Hawaii's Pearl Harbor PT Boat Base on 7 December 1941 during the Attack on Pearl Harbor. It was commanded by Lieutenant Lt. Comdr. William C. Specht and made up of 12 PT boats. After Pearl Harbor, MTBRon 1 was sent to Midway Atoll and took part in the Battle of Midway. MTBRon 1 was then sent to take part in the Aleutian campaign. MTBRon 1 was commissioned 24 July 1940 and decommissioned 9 February 1945.
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| Lists by county | ||
| Lists by city | ||
| Other lists | ||
| Surviving boats | |
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| Notable boats | |
| Builders | |
| Boats of history | |
| Classes | |
| PT-MTB Squadron | |
| PT training - PT bases |
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| Notable missions | |
| Similar | |
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| Museum - Restoration | |
| Related |
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Preceded by US patrol boats - Followed by PTF boat | |
