Before his retirement in 1972, William L. Crothers worked as a draftsman in the design division of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. He is also the author of books on the construction of American clipper ships American packets and freighters of the 1850s.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionAmerican-Built Packets and Freighters of the 1850sAlphabetical List of VesselsChronological List of VesselsOne. Preparation for ConstructionTwo. Woods Used in Ship ConstructionThree. General Characteristics of Packet and Freighter HullsFour. FasteningsFive. ScarphsSix. Representative Midship SectionsSeven. Keel AssemblyEight. Stem and Sternpost AssembliesNine. Square Frames and FloorsTen. Keelson and Deadwood AssembliesEleven. Half Frames, Cant Frames, and Bow and Stern TimberingTwelve. Stiffening the Hull; Hold CeilingThirteen. Hooks and PointersFourteen. StanchionsFifteen. Beams and KneesSixteen. Mast Steps and Mast TrussesSeventeen. Clamps, Waterways, Binding Strakes, and Tween Decks CeilingEighteen. Planksheer, Bulwarks and RailsNineteen. Forecastle and Poop Decks, Hatch Coamings, Bitts, and Deck PlankingTwenty. Salting, Exterior Hull Planking, Head of Ship, and Moulded EdgesTwenty-One. Cargo Ports, Scuppers, Channels, Rudder, and Side LightsTwenty-Two. Metal SheathingTwenty-Three. Colors of the ShipsTwenty-Four. Hull OrnamentationTwenty-Five. Figureheads and BilletheadsTwenty-Six. Weather Deck ArrangementsTwenty-Seven. The Ship’s OutfitTwenty-Eight. Ships’ InteriorsTwenty-Nine. Masting ArrangementsThirty. RiggingThirty-One. Flags and SignalsThirty-Two. The Wake of the ShipsConclusionAppendix: Contract for Ingalls and Shephard, Sullivan, Maine, to Build a Hermaphrodite Brig, 1855GlossaryReferencesIndex

“an absolutely essential book”—Nautical Research Journal; “a brilliant analysis of how American wood-built packets and freighters were constructed in the 1850s and their subsequent development. Crothers has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of American maritime history...definitive”—The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord.