W. Albert Hickman
Encyclopedia
William Albert Hickman was a Canadian designer and manufacturer of innovative fast boats. He is best known as the inventor of the Hickman Sea Sled
.
Born in Dorchester, New Brunswick
, Hickman grew up in Pictou, Nova Scotia
, as part of a wealthy shipbuilding family. He earned a degree in marine engineering from Harvard University
in 1899. He was later a Commissioner of New Brunswick, a lecturer for the Government, a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute and a successful novelist.
He was highly intelligent but, openly, did not suffer fools gladly and was forever irritating his contemporaries in the marine business. This probably contributed to the low coverage of his ideas in the boating press.
A 1940's promotional brochure which was in other respects conventional sales material included this banner heading which revealed the man: "Truth is like unto a star, appearing somewhat small, but bright and secure".
Hickman sea sled
The Hickman Sea Sled is an inverted vee planing hull invented by Albert Hickman. The Sea Sled is a direct forefather of the modern high speed catamaran or tunnel hull....
.
Born in Dorchester, New Brunswick
Dorchester, New Brunswick
Dorchester is a Canadian village and shire town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.It is located on the eastern side of the mouth of the lush Memramcook River valley near the river's discharge point into Shepody Bay...
, Hickman grew up in Pictou, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, as part of a wealthy shipbuilding family. He earned a degree in marine engineering from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1899. He was later a Commissioner of New Brunswick, a lecturer for the Government, a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute and a successful novelist.
He was highly intelligent but, openly, did not suffer fools gladly and was forever irritating his contemporaries in the marine business. This probably contributed to the low coverage of his ideas in the boating press.
A 1940's promotional brochure which was in other respects conventional sales material included this banner heading which revealed the man: "Truth is like unto a star, appearing somewhat small, but bright and secure".
Hickman sea sled
He was the inventor of the inverted vee planing hull known as the Hickman sea sledHickman sea sled
The Hickman Sea Sled is an inverted vee planing hull invented by Albert Hickman. The Sea Sled is a direct forefather of the modern high speed catamaran or tunnel hull....
A new type of vessel, which promises to revolutionize water craft and which takes the same place on the water that the automobile does on land - Scientific AmericanScientific AmericanScientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
26 September 1914
Along with the Sea Sled, a direct forefather of the modern high speed catamaranCatamaranA catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
, or tunnel hull, he is credited with producing the first surface propellers, working out that they produced lift and patenting ideas for lifting strakes, sponsons, anti-trip chines and prop-riding craft. These are all well known and widely used principles today.
Selected works
Like the story-telling narrator of An Unofficial Love-Story, who admits at the beginning of his fiction, "I was but an onlooker on the far outside," Albert Hickman became a kind of literary bystander, observing literature from a distance and Canadian literature, in particular, from an American vantage point. But his fiction continues to stand, albeit in a small corner in need of more light.
- 1900 – Handbook of New Brunswick
- 1903 – The Canadian West and Northwest
- 1903 – The Sacrifice of the Shannon 2003 ISBN 978-0887805424
- 1909 – An Unofficial Love Story
- 1914 – Canadian Nights
External links
- Miss Lakeside - Genius Comes Home to Roost, a 1925 Hickman Sea Sled]
- The sea sledge