Thomas C. Gillmer
Encyclopedia
Thomas C. Gillmer was a naval architect and the author of books about modern and historical naval architecture
. He was born in Warren, Ohio
on July 17, 1911. At his family's summer cottage near Lake Erie
in Ohio
, he learned to sail a 14-foot sloop
by himself. He graduated from Warren High School, then attended the U.S. Naval Academy.
After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1935, he served aboard the light cruiser
s USS Raleigh (CL-7)
and USS Savannah (CL-42)
in the Pacific and Mediterranean.
In 1941, he joined the Marine Engineering
Department at the Naval Academy. During World War II, he served as an instructor of Ship Construction and Damage Control
at the U.S. Naval Academy. 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, Inc. in Annapolis. His designs included modern yacht
s 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 USS 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. He was married for 62 years to the former Anna Derge. After her death in 1999, he married Ruth Newsome, who was his wife until he died on December 16, 2009.
Source of table data:
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
. He was born in Warren, Ohio
Warren, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,832 people, 19,288 households and 12,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,912.4 people per square mile . There were 21,279 housing units at an average density of 1,322.9 per square mile...
on July 17, 1911. At his family's summer cottage near Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, he learned to sail a 14-foot sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
by himself. He graduated from Warren High School, then attended the U.S. Naval Academy.
After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1935, he served aboard the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s USS Raleigh (CL-7)
USS Raleigh (CL-7)
USS Raleigh was an Omaha-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named for the city of Raleigh, North Carolina....
and USS Savannah (CL-42)
USS Savannah (CL-42)
USS Savannah was a light cruiser of the Brooklyn-class. She was laid down on 31 May 1934 by the New York Shipbuilding Association in Camden, New Jersey; launched on 8 May 1937; sponsored by Miss Jayne Maye Bowden, the niece of Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr., of Georgia; and commissioned in the...
in the Pacific and Mediterranean.
In 1941, he joined the Marine Engineering
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
Department at the Naval Academy. During World War II, he served as an instructor of Ship Construction and Damage Control
Damage control
Damage control is a term used in the Merchant Marine, maritime industry and navies for the emergency control of situations that may hazard the sinking of a ship...
at the U.S. Naval Academy. 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
Ocean engineering
Ocean engineering is an ambiguously defined term that may refer to:*Oceanographic engineering, also called marine electronics engineering, concerned with the design of electronic devices for use in the marine environment, such as the remote sensing systems used by oceanographers*Offshore...
Department.) During the 1950s, Professor Gillmer established the Ship Hydromechanics
Hydromechanics
The history of fluid mechanics, the study of how fluids move and the forces on them, dates back to the Ancient Greeks.-Archimedes:The fundamental principles of hydrostatics were given by Archimedes in his work On Floating Bodies, around 250 BC. In it, Archimedes develops the law of buoyancy, also...
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, Inc. in Annapolis. His designs included modern yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
s and replicas of historic sailing ships. He worked with artist Melbourne Smith on the design of the Pride of Baltimore
Pride of Baltimore
The Pride of Baltimore was an authentic reproduction of a 19th-century Baltimore clipper topsail schooner commissioned by citizens of Baltimore, Maryland. It was lost at sea with four of its twelve crew on May 14, 1986...
in 1976, the Pride of Baltimore II in 1986, and the Kalmar Nyckel
Kalmar Nyckel
The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and...
in 1997. The Navy hired Gillmer to evaluate the condition of the USS Constitution
USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...
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. He was married for 62 years to the former Anna Derge. After her death in 1999, he married Ruth Newsome, who was his wife until he died on December 16, 2009.
Books
- Fundamentals of Naval Construction and Damage Control, with Jamie Adair, U.S. Naval Institute Press (1949 and 1951)
- Fundamentals of construction and stability of naval ships, United States Naval InstituteUnited States Naval InstituteThe United States Naval Institute , based at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is a private, non-profit, professional military association that seeks to offer independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national defense issues...
(1956, revised 1959) - Working watercraft: a survey of the surviving local boats of America and Europe, International Marine Pub. Co. (1972), ISBN 0877420254
- Modern Ship Design, Second Edition, U.S. Naval Institute Press (1970, revised 1975)
- Cruising designs from the board of Thomas C. Gillmer, Seven Seas Press (1975)
- Introduction to Naval Architecture, with Bruce Johnson, Naval Institute Press (1982), ISBN 0870213180
- Chesapeake Bay Sloops, Chesapeake Bay Maritime MuseumChesapeake Bay Maritime MuseumThe Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is located in St. Michaels, Maryland, United States and is home to a collection of Chesapeake Bay artifacts, exhibitions, and vessels. This interactive museum was founded in 1965 on Navy Point, once a site of seafood packing houses, docks, and work boats...
(1982) - Sailing With Pride, with Greg Pease (Photographer) and Barbara Bozzuto (co-author) (1990)
- Pride of Baltimore: The Story of the Baltimore Clippers, 1800-1990, International Marine Publishing (1992), ISBN 0877423091
- Old Ironsides: the rise, decline, and resurrection of the USS Constitution, International Marine (1993), ISBN 0877423466
- History of Working Watercraft of the Western World, the McGraw-Hill Companies (1994), ISBN 007023616X
- Old Ironsides, International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press (1997), ISBN 0070245649
Video
- Maritime archaeology and ship preservation, U.S. Naval Academy (1998), with Dana M. Wegman, Patrick Otton, Robert O. Dulin, William H. Garzke, Peter K. Hus, and Timothy J Runyan
Historic Sailing Ship Replicas
| Vessel Design | Year Designed | Overall length | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pride of Baltimore Pride of Baltimore The Pride of Baltimore was an authentic reproduction of a 19th-century Baltimore clipper topsail schooner commissioned by citizens of Baltimore, Maryland. It was lost at sea with four of its twelve crew on May 14, 1986... |
1976 | 90 feet | Topsail Schooner Schooner A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts.... |
| Lady Maryland | 1979 | 104 feet | Pungy Schooner Pungy The Pungy is a type of schooner developed in and peculiar to the Chesapeake Bay region. The name is believed to derive from the Pungoteague region of Accomack County, Virginia, where the design was developed in the 1840s and 50s.... |
| Pride of Baltimore II | 1986 | 157 feet | Topsail Schooner |
| Kalmar Nyckel Kalmar Nyckel The Kalmar Nyckel was a Dutch-built armed merchant ship famed for carrying Finnish and Swedish settlers to North America in 1638 to establish the colony of New Sweden. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.-History:The Kalmar Nyckel was constructed in about 1625 and... |
1997 | 93 feet | Pinnace |
Sailboats
| Vessel Design | Year Designed |
|---|---|
| Blue Moon 23 | 1943 |
| Blue Water 24 | 1961 |
| Allied Seawind Ketch | 1962 |
| Allied Seawind Sloop | 1962 |
| Privateer 26 | 1966 |
| Privateer 35 | 1968 |
| Aries 32 | 1972 |
| Seawind Mk 32 Sloop | 1975 |
| Seawind Mk 32 Ketch | 1975 |
| Roughwater 33 | 1975 |
| Southern Cross 31 | 1977 |
| Southern Cross 28 | 1978 |
| Southern Cross 35 | 1978 |
| Passage 24 | 1979 |
| Southern Cross 39 | 1981 |
| Weatherly 32 | 1983 |
Source of table data:
External links
- www.KalmarNyckel.org Kalmar Nyckel website
- www.Pride2.org Pride of Baltimore website