From practical to theoretical shipbuilding: The rationalization of an American craft, 1820--1920

The American shipbuilding industry provides a useful example for studying the interplay between technology (here defined as tools, technical knowledge, and design and construction methods) and culture. Throughout the nineteenth century, Americans approached the problems of shipbuilding in a distinctively American way. Growth in the size of ships and shipyards demanded greater efficiency and organization, but cultural factors dictated the manner in which the American shipbuilding community met these requirements. The American style of "practical" shipbuilding relied on the use of handtools and hand-made ship models, and the master shipbuilder oversaw both design and construction and used aesthetics as a basis for design. American shipbuilders adapted these practical methods as their industry experienced such changes as mechanization and the introduction of iron shipbuilding material. Social institutions that supported this system of tools, methods, and knowledge included apprenticeship and dynastic family networks tied to the trade.;The American ability to adapt practical design and construction methods to large-scale ship production began to decline by the 1880s. Perceiving British warships as superior to its own, the United States Navy set out to adopt British theoretical ship design methods. The Navy wished only to build better warships, but the transfer of British practices exposed civilian shipbuilders to greater use of drafting and research, and the establishment of naval architecture schools and shipbuilding associations. By the early twentieth century, American shipbuilders forged ahead of the British in construction and production methods by adopting technology from other industries and improvising new ways to make U.S. shipyards state-of-the-art facilities. By the end of World War I the Americans had not only rationalized the process of designing ships, but their construction as well.