Research Catalog

Title

John Lenthall : the life of a naval constructor / Stephen Chapin Kinnaman.

Author

Kinnaman, Stephen Chapin

Publication

Wilmington, Delaware : Vernon Press, [2022]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxx, 555 pages : illustrations (some color); 24 cm.

Summary

"Many stirring words have been written about the heroic deeds of the officers and the men of the U.S Navy before, during and after the Civil War. But very little has been published about the naval constructors who built the warships that made their exploits possible. Of all of the Navy's constructors of this era, none had more impact than John Lenthall. A native of Washington D.C and the son of an ambitious English artisan, John Lenthall designed the early steamer Susquehanna and the large Merrimack class steam frigates, also working on the construction of Princeton, the world's first war steamer designed with a screw propeller. His stellar rise through the ranks of U.S. naval constructors soon led to his appointment as the chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, the highest-ranking naval architect. Bred to the intricacies of Washington's bureaucracy, John Lenthall was a survivor and continued on as bureau chief throughout the unrelenting turmoil of the Civil War. It was only during the first years of the notorious Secretary Robeson's reign that Lenthall was finally moved aside. By then, he had served for over seventeen years, a recording that has never been equaled. "John Lenthall: The Life of a Naval Constructor" is thoroughly documented with previously untapped primary archival source material, offering historical insights, gripping narratives and illustrations that have never appeared before in print. It presents the results of ground-breaking original research on a subject that has never been fully explored. Kinnaman's treatment of Lenthall and the legacy of his fellow constructors brings to life a previously untold chronicle of American ingenuity and achievement"--

Series Statement

Series in American history

Uniform Title

Series in American history

Subject

• Lenthall, John, 1807-1882
• Naval architects > United States > Biography
• Naval architects
• United States

Genre/Form

Biographies.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN

• 1648894186
• 9781648894183
• 9781648893483
• 1648893481

OCLC

• on1308795098
• SCSB-14319941

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library