For the NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 flight director, see Christopher C. Kraft, Jr.

Chris-Craft, Inc. is a privately held American manufacturer of civilian powerboat

Powerboat

A powerboat is another name for a motorboat. Powerboat may also refer to:* Powerboating* F1 Powerboat World Championship* Offshore powerboat racing...

s based in Sarasota, Florida

Sarasota, Florida

Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...

. The original company, Chris-Craft Boats

Chris-Craft Boats

Chris-Craft Boats, formerly Smith and Sons Boat Company, is a defunct manufacturer of wooden boats. It was sold in 1960 to NAFI which would take the Chris-Craft name.-History:...

 was founded in the late 19th century by Christopher Columbus Smith and became famous for its mahogany

Mahogany

The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....

 hulled powerboats of the 1920s through the 1950s.

Original Company

See main article: Chris-Craft Boats

Chris-Craft Boats

Chris-Craft Boats, formerly Smith and Sons Boat Company, is a defunct manufacturer of wooden boats. It was sold in 1960 to NAFI which would take the Chris-Craft name.-History:...

Smith built his first wooden boat in 1874 when he was 13 years old. He soon began to build more boats and joined his brother Henry in 1881 to begin producing boats full time. In 1910, the brothers joined with other partners to form the Smith Ryan Boat & Engine Company. The company name was changed to Chris-Craft in 1924. The Detroit area company became well known for their sleek racing boats in the 1910s and 1920s. The company continued to be independent until it was acquired by Shields & Company and National Automotive Fibers in 1960. They renamed the company Chris-Craft Industries

Chris-Craft Industries

Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly-held American corporation traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. It later took on the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris-Craft Boats...

, Incorporated.

Licensed out

see Main article Chris-Craft Industries

Chris-Craft Industries

Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly-held American corporation traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. It later took on the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris-Craft Boats...

Chris-Craft Industries sold its boat division to Murray Industries in 1981, but retained the Chris-Craft trademark and licensed it to Murray. Chris-Craft Industries was acquired by News Corporation in 2000 for its television subsidiaries.

New Chris-Craft

Outboard Marine Corporation acquired Chris-Craft Boats in 1989. OMC went into bankruptcy in 2000 and was purchased by Genmar. Genmar sold the Chris-Craft division to Stellican, Ltd., then Stellican purchased the Chris-Craft trademark from News Corporation

News Corporation

News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...

, thus reuniting the two parts of the company to form Chris-Craft, Inc..