William H. Webb
New York NY
Most recent update: March 29, 2012.
Isaac Webb and John Allen opened the Webb & Allen shipyard in 1825 on the site of the former Henry Eckford shipyard along Lewis Street between Fifth and Seventh Streets in Manhattan. Upon Isaac Webb's death in 1840, his son William investigated the accounts of the shipyard and found it to be bankrupt. Webb bought out John Allen, who was retiring, and the yard became known simply as 'William H. Webb'. Between 1840 and 1869, the yard built 135 vessels, at a time when ship construction was evolving from wood and sail to iron and steam. Some of the fastest clipper ships of the day were designed and built by Webb, as well as some of the most advanced steamships. William H. Webb was a notable naval architect and shipbuilder, but he is even better known as the founder, in 1889, of The Webb Academy and Home for Shipbuilders, known as the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture. To this day, Webb Institute offers a fully-accredited engineering program in naval architecture which is tuition-free as a result of his philanthropy. Thanks to Steve Pagan for researching the information presented here, much of which comes from William H. Webb, Shipbuilder by Edwin L. Dunbaugh and William duBarry Thomas, published by Webb Institute in 1989.
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O/N | Name | Customer | Type | GT | LOA | Built | Notes | ||
Built by Webb & Allen | |||||||||
Crawford | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1830 | sold 1835 | ||||
Dexter | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1830 | sold 1841 | ||||
Richard Rush | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1831 | sold 1851 | ||||
Wolcott | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1831 | sold 1836 | ||||
Ingham | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1832 | sold 1836 as Independence, Independencia | ||||
McLane | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1832 | sold 1840 | ||||
Washington | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1832 | sold 1837 | ||||
Jefferson | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1833 | wrecked 1857 | ||||
Taney | U.S. Revenue Service | cutter | 112 | 1834 | sold 1858 | ||||
Natchez | NO-La-NY Line | packet | 523 | 1831 | |||||
Saratoga | NO Old Line | packet | 542 | 1832 | |||||
Alabamian | E. D. Hurlbut & Co. | packet | 400 | 1833 | |||||
Dream | yacht | 1833 | |||||||
Columbus | Black Ball Line | packet | 663 | 1834 | |||||
St. James | Red Swallowtail Line | packet | 641 | 1835 | |||||
Oxford | Black Ball Line | packet | 752 | 1836 | |||||
Burgundy | Havre Old Line | packet | 762 | 1836 | |||||
Louis Philippe | Havre Old Line | packet | 794 | 1837 | |||||
Ville de Lyon | Havre Old Line | packet | 791 | 1837 | |||||
Cambridge | Black Ball Line | packet | 798 | 1837 | |||||
Duchesse d'Orleans | Havre Old Line | packet | 798 | 1838 | |||||
New York | Black Ball Line | packet | 862 | 1839 | |||||
Iowa | Havre Old Line | packet | 874 | 1839 | |||||
Built by William H. Webb | |||||||||
1 | Malek Adhel | Peter Harmony & Company | brig | 114 | 1840 | ||||
2 | James Edward | James G. Ward | ship | 433 | 1840 | ||||
3 | Agnes | Frederick A. Wiseman | ship | 429 | 1841 | ||||
4 | Helena | N. L. & G. Griswold | pre-clipper | 597 | 1841 | lost on voyage from China to Havana 1856 | |||
5 | Liberty | James W. Phillips | packet | 689 | 1842 | ||||
6 | Wallabout | J. A. Cross | steam ferry | 189 | 1842 | converted to a barge 1858 | |||
7 | New York | J. A. Cross | steam ferry | 189 | 1842 | to St. Patrick's Cathedral 1850, abandoned 1854 | |||
8 | Pronta | sloop | 36 | 1842 | |||||
9 | Viva | sloop | 36 | 1842 | |||||
10 | Ligera | schooner | 46 | 1842 | |||||
11 | Montezuma | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 924 | 1843 | stranded off Jones Beach 1854 | |||
12 | Cohota | N. L. & G. Griswold | pre-clipper | 691 | 1843 | sold to British owners 1860 | |||
13 | Yorkshire | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 996 | 1844 | lost on voyage from New York 1862 | |||
14 | Vigilant | U.S. Revenue Service | revenue cutter | 50 | 1843 | lost in hurricane at Key West FL 1844 | |||
15 | Zurich | Fox & Livingston | packet | 817 | 1844 | stranded on Hainsboro Sands 1879 | |||
16 | Montauk | William S. Wetmore | pre-clipper | 505 | 1844 | believed burned by crew after landing slaves in Cuba 1860 | |||
17 | Ramon De Zaldo | brig | 150 | 1844 | |||||
18 | Panama | N. L. & G. Griswold | pre-clipper | 612 | 1844 | wrecked on Memory Rock, Grand Bahama Island 1865 | |||
19 | Havre | Fox & Livingston | packet | 870 | 1845 | believed broken up 1908 | |||
20 | Silas Holmes | William Nelson & Company | packet | 644 | 1845 | ran aground off Dry Tortugas 1859, salvaged but foundered en route to New Orleans | |||
21 | Fidelia | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 895 | 1845 | ||||
22 | Genil | Castellain & Ponvert | sidewheel steamer | 512 | 1846 | burned off Cuba 1846 | |||
23 | Marmion | Taylor & Merrill | packet | 903 | 1846 | foundered off Cape Flattery 1879 | |||
24 | Columbia | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1050 | 1846 | ||||
25 | Williamsburg | Fleming Duncan | steam ferry | 285 | 1846 | dismantled 1867 | |||
26 | Bavaria | William Whitlock, Jr. | packet | 908 | 1846 | ||||
27 | Admiral | Fox & Livingston | packet | 929 | 1846 | ||||
28 | Sir Robert Peel | Grinnell, Minturn & Company | packet | 940 | 1846 | ||||
29 | New York | Fox & Livingston | packet | 991 | 1847 | wrecked near Barnegat 1856 | |||
30 | Isaac Wright | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1129 | 1847 | burned near Liverpool 1858 | |||
31 | United States | C. H. Marshall and others | sidewheel steamer | 1857 | 1847 | damaged by fire in the Thames 1862, sank 1866 | |||
32 | Ivanhoe | Taylor & Merrill | packet | 1156 | 1847 | lost off Montauk 1851 | |||
33 | Yorktown | Grinnell, Minturn & Company | packet | 1150 | 1847 | condemned after heavy weather damage in the Azores 1868 | |||
34 | London | Grinnell, Minturn & Company | packet | 1145 | 1848 | ||||
35 | Caleb Grimshaw | Samuel Thompson & Nephew | packet | 988 | 1848 | burned at sea near the Azores 1849 | |||
36 | Ajax | Several New York firms | sidewheel towboat | 332 | 1848 | stranded off Cape Cod, October 1858 | |||
37 | California | Pacific Mail Steamship Co. | sidewheel steamer | 1057 | 1848 | first steamship to enter the Golden Gate, wrecked off Peru 1894 | |||
38 | Panama | Pacific Mail Steamship Co. | sidewheel steamer | 1139 | 1848 | to Mexico 1868, armed and renamed Juarez | |||
39 | Cherokee | NY & Savannah S.N. Co | sidewheel steamer | 1244 | 1848 | damaged by fire 1863, scrapped 1868 | |||
40 | Tennessee | NY & Savannah S.N. Co | sidewheel steamer | 1275 | 1949 | wrecked off Golden Gate 1853 | |||
41 | Samuel M. Fox | Fox & Livingston | schooner | 257 | 1849 | ||||
42 | Goliah | Several New York firms | sidewheel towboat | 333 | 1849 | dismantled and burned 1899 | |||
43 | Guy Mannering | Taylor & Merrill | packet | 1418 | 1849 | wrecked off Iona 1866 | |||
44 | Gallia | Henry Robinson | packet | 1190 | 1849 | ||||
45 | James Drake | Spofford, Tileson & Company | packet | 482 | 1849 | later Goa | |||
46 | Albert Gallatin | Grinnell, Minturn & Company | packet | 1435 | 1849 | lost rudder and abandoned near Cape Horn 1875 | |||
47 | catharine | Schuchardt & Gebhard | ship | 610 | 1849 | ||||
48 | Manhattan | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1299 | 1850 | departed Liverpool for New York, March 14, 1863, never heard from again | |||
49 | Isaac Webb | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1359 | 1850 | broke up in a gale, October 1880 | |||
50 | Vanguard | James W. Phillips | packet | 1196 | 1850 | driven ashore in a gale at Matane, Quebec, October 13 1877 | |||
51 | Florida | NY & Savannah S.N. Co | sidewheel steamer | 1261 | 1851 | later sold to USN and used for blockade service | |||
52 | Alabama | NY & Savannah S.N. Co | sidewheel steamer | 1261 | 1851 | later sold to USN and used for blockade service | |||
53 | Celestial | Bucklin & crane | extreme clipper | 860 | 1850 | sold to Spanish owners 1858 | |||
54 | Joseph Walker | Samuel Thompson & Nephew | packet | 1325 | 1850 | burned and sank at pier in New York, December 27 1853 | |||
55 | Union | Spofford, Tileson & Company | sidewheel steamer | 1200 | 1851 | later sold to Austrian owners, renamed America, scrapped 1875 | |||
56 | Golden Gate | Pacific Mail Steamship Co. | sidewheel steamer | 2067 | 1851 | burned near Manzanillo, Mexico, July 24 1862, with loss of 175 | |||
57 | Samuel M. Fox | Fox & Livingston | packet | 1060 | 1850 | grounded and broke up on Great Burbo Bank, River Mersey, November 12 1856 | |||
58 | Isaac Bell | Fox & Livingston | packet | 1072 | 1851 | grounded on the Yangtzse Kiang, August 7, 1860 | |||
59 | Gazelle | Taylor & Merrill | extreme clipper | 1244 | 1851 | dismasted 1854, condemned and sold to Peruvian owners as Cora, Harry Puddemsey under British ownership | |||
60 | Challenge | N. L. & G. Griswold | extreme clipper | 2006 | 1851 | later Golden City, under British ownership, lost off French coast in 1876 after losing rudder | |||
61 | Great Western | C.H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1443 | 1851 | burned 1882 and scrapped | |||
62 | Comet | Bucklin & crane | extreme clipper | 1836 | 1851 | later sold to British owners as Fiery Star, sank after wool cargo caught fire, April 1865 | |||
63 | Invincible | James W. Phillips | medium clipper | 1768 | 1851 | later sold to British owners, burned in New York harbor, September 1867 | |||
64 | Swordfish | Barclay & Livingston | medium clipper | 1036 | 1851 | lost at mouth of Yangtze Kiang, July 1862 | |||
65 | James Adger | Spofford, Tileson & Company | sidewheel steamer | 1151 | 1852 | sold to USN as USS James Adger for Civil War, retuned, scrapped 1877-78 | |||
66 | Plandome | Samuel L. Mitchill | schooner | 266 | 1852 | sometimes referred to as Plendome | |||
67 | Manhasset | Bernard Flanner | schooner | 266 | 1852 | ||||
68 | Annawan | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | ship | 795 | 1852 | later sold to British owners as Royal Saxon | |||
69 | Robert Mills | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | bark | 488 | 1852 | lost February 28, 1860 at Holyhead New Harbour, North Wales | |||
70 | Australia | Williams & Guion | packet | 1447 | 1852 | ran aground on Frying Pan Shoal and lost, March 2, 1865 | |||
71 | George Law | US Mail Steamship Company | sidewheel steamer | 2141 | 1853 | later Central America(na), lost in a gale, September 12, 1857 with loss of 423 | |||
72 | Flying Dutchman | George B. Daniels and others | medium clipper | 1257 | 1852 | stranded at Brigantine Beach, NJ, February 14, 1858 | |||
73 | Augusta | NY & Savannah S.N. Co | sidewheel steamer | 1310 | 1853 | sold to USN as USS Augusta for Civil War service, afterwards Magnolia, lost in storm, September 30, 1877 | |||
74 | Reemplazo | J. Carela and M. Garcia | schooner | 110 | 1852 | ||||
75 | Volante | Schiff Brothers & Company | brig | 307 | 1853 | later sold to Argentinian owners | |||
76 | Fanny | John Wendell | barkentine | 150 | 1853 | dismasted and abandoned March 1853, sighted adrift as late as November 1853 | |||
77 | Knoxville | NY & Savannah S.N. Co | sidewheel steamer | 1240 | 1854 | burned at pier in New York, December 22 1856 | |||
78 | Young America | George B. Daniels | extreme clipper | 1961 | 1853 | sold to Austrian owners as Miroslav 1883, last seen departing the Delaware Capes February 1886 | |||
79 | Flyaway | Schiff Brothers & Company | medium clipper | 1274 | 1853 | sold to Spanish owners as Concepcion 1859, to British owners as Bothalwood; stranded January 20, 81 at St. Ouen's Bay, Jersey | |||
80 | San Francisco | Pacific Mail Steamship Co. | sidewheel steamer | 2272 | 1853 | abandoned and foundered in gale, January 5 1854 | |||
81 | Josephine | Macondry & Company | brig | 268 | 1853 | ||||
82 | Snap Dragon | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | bark | 618 | 1853 | ||||
83 | John Bright | Williams & Guion | packet | 1444 | 1854 | struck a reef at Capo de Sao Roque, Brazil on December 10, 1874; abandoned | |||
84 | Milton | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | bark | 536 | 1853 | ||||
85 | Cultivator | James C. Ward | packet | 1448 | 1854 | Sprung a leak in a gale 600 miles WSW of Fastnet light, abandoned on April 9 1880 | |||
86 | Harvest Queen | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1383 | 1854 | struck by White Star Liner Adriatic in the Irish Channel on December 30 1875, sunk with loss of all hands | |||
87 | Thornton | Williams & Guion | packet | 1422 | 1854 | grounded on approach to river Mersey and broke up, November 1867 | |||
88 | Houston | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | bark | 518 | 1854 | ||||
89 | Pelayo | Cuban owners | sidewheel steamer | 850 | 1854 | ||||
90 | General Admiral | Imperial Russian Government | Steam Frigate | 1859 | replaced in the 1870's by a ship of the same name | ||||
91 | Aurora | Grinnell, Minturn & Company | packet | 1639 | 1854 | burned in Calcutta February 5 1884 | |||
92 | James Foster, Jr. | C.H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1410 | 1855 | sold to German owners in 1881 as Hudson | |||
93 | New Orleans | Stanton & Thomson | packet | 924 | 1855 | sailed from New York February 1864, never heard from again | |||
94 | Neptune | C.H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1406 | 1855 | grounded and broke up on Sable Island, Nova Scotia April 1876 | |||
95 | Alamo | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | bark | 507 | 1855 | later sold to German, then British owners | |||
96 | Astoria | screw steamer | 428 | 1855 | sold to Russian owners as Alexander II, US-flag again as Alexander, then back to Russia as Alexander II | ||||
97 | Texas | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | bark | 554 | 1855 | departed New York December 1862, never heard from again | |||
98 | Sabine | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | brig | 399 | 1855 | burned at sea SSW of Galveston, October 2 1859 | |||
99 | America | Imperial Russian Government | sidewheel steamer | 544 | 1855 | ||||
100 | Silas Wright | Williams & Guion | packet | 1340 | 1856 | lost in a gale in the river Mersey, November 12 1856 | |||
101 | Fanny Holmes | Post, Smith & Company | bark | 700 | 1855 | burned while loading cotton at Appalachicola, April 3 1860 | |||
102 | John H. Elliott | Post, Smith & Company | packet | 1077 | 1856 | grounded in the river Mersey January 1863, abandoned, burned | |||
103 | Alice Tainter | Post, Smith & Company | bark | 667 | 1856 | to Bermudan flag 1864 | |||
104 | Cuba | Cuban owners | sidewheel steamer | 820 | 1856 | to Cuban flag upon delivery | |||
105 | Intrepid | Bucklin & crane | medium clipper | 1173 | 1856 | aground March 31 1860 at Belvedere Reef in the Gaspar Strait, attacked by pirates, abandoned and burned by crew | |||
106 | Guatemala | sidewheel steamer | 217 | 1856 | to Belize flag upon delivery | ||||
107 | Ocean Monarch | Stanton & Frost | packet | 2145 | 1856 | cargo shifted March 9 1862 in Atlantic, partially abandoned, presumed lost | |||
108 | Uncowah | Wakeman, Dimon & Company | medium clipper | 988 | 1856 | set afire by Chinese laborers en route from Macao to Callao in 1870; crew abandoned ship but 425 laborers perished | |||
109 | William H. Webb | Chambers & Heiser | sidewheel towboat | 655 | 1856 | to Confederate Navy in 1865 as CSS William H. Webb or CSS Webb, burned April 23, 1865, 24 miles below NOLA | |||
110 | Black Hawk | Bucklin & crane | medium clipper | 1175 | 1857 | sold to German owners in 1881, to Norwegians as Christiana; condemned after fire in February 1891 | |||
111 | Roger A. Heirn | Post, Smith & Company | packet | 1088 | 1857 | to British registry 1865; lost anchor during gale in Mobile Bay December 16 1865, ran aground at Sand Island, total loss | |||
112 | Trieste | W. A. Sale & Co | bark | 549 | 1857 | ||||
113 | Moses Taylor | United States Mail SS Co | sidewheel steamer | 1370 | 1857 | later used as a stores hullk at Acapulco. | |||
114 | Resolute | Williams & Guion | packet | 1412 | 1858 | transferred to Dutch owners 1884, abandoned in North Atlantic 1886 after losing rudder and sails. | |||
115 | Harriet Lane | U.S. Revenue Service | revenue cutter | 674 | 1857 | rebuilt as a bark in 1869 as Elliot Ritchie, sprang leak and was abandoned off Brazil March 22 1884. | |||
116 | Japanese | Imperial Russian Government | steam corvette | 1530 | 1858 | sometimes spelled Japanis. | |||
117 | Martinho de Mello | Portuguese Government | bark | 622 | 1858 | built by Eckford Webb under subcontract at Greenpoint NY. | |||
118 | Yorktown | New York & Virginia SS Co | sidewheel steamer | 1403 | 1859 | seized by CSN as CSS Patrick Henry April 1861, CSN school ship, burned in Richmond to prevent capture April 3 1865 | |||
119 | Harvest Queen | C. B. Fessenden | bark | 315 | 1860 | ||||
120 | Mississippi | Samuel L. Mitchill | sidewheel steamer | 2026 | 1861 | Purchased by USN after delivery, returned to commercial service 1865, broken up 1878. | |||
121 | Alexander Marshall | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1177 | 1860 | dismasted and leaking from gale in 1869, abandoned in North Atlantic. | |||
122 | Constitution | Pacific Mail Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 3315 | 1861 | Intentionally sunk to extinguish a fire at San Francisco October 1877, demolished 1878. | |||
123 | Re d'Italia | Italian Navy | steam ironclad | 1863 | rammed and sunk by Austrian ironclad July 20 1866. | ||||
124 | Don Luigi di Portogallo | Italian Navy | steam ironclad | 1864 | rammed but not sunk by an Austrian ironclad. | ||||
125 | Golden City | Pacific Mail Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 3373 | 1863 | stranded on Cape San Lazaro February 22 1870, broke up. | |||
126 | Sacramento | Pacific Mail Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 2647 | 1864 | stranded and broke up near San Geronimo, Baja California on December 5 1872. | |||
127 | Colorado | Pacific Mail Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 3357 | 1865 | laid up 1876, demolished 1881. | |||
128 | Dunderberg | United States Navy | steam ironclad | 1867 | sold to the French in 1867 as Rochambeau, disposed 1872. | ||||
129 | Henry Chauncey | Pacific Mail Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 2656 | 1865 | sold for scrap July 1877. | |||
130 | Montana | Pacific Mail Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 2676 | 1866 | built by Eckford Webb under subcontract at Greenpoint NY, retired 1877. | |||
131 | Bristol | Merchants Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 2962 | 1867 | burned at Newport RI December 30 1888. | |||
132 | Providence | Merchants Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 2962 | 1867 | dismantled autumn 1901 | |||
133 | China | Pacific Mail Steamship Co | sidewheel steamer | 3836 | 1867 | sold for scrap 1885; the cabin was saved and is open to the public in Belvedere CA. | |||
134 | James A. Borland | S. W. Lewis & Company | bark | 637 | 1869 | wrecked on Tugidak Island AK-1896. | |||
135 | Charles H. Marshall | C. H. Marshall & Co. | packet | 1683 | 1869 | sold Norwegian as Souverain 1887; caught fire loading coal near Cardiff, Wales on March 20 1891. |