Post by ferryfast admin on May 16, 2005 14:38:16 GMT -5
Philip Spaulding, designer of large ferry boats, dead at 92
5/16/2005, 9:15 a.m. PT
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Philip Spaulding, a naval architect who designed some of the world's largest ferry boats, some still in use after nearly half a century, is dead at 92.
Spaulding, designer of the first Boeing Co. hydroplane test vessel, various oceangoing ships and ferries for Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state, died May 5 at his home, relatives said.
He was best known for the 440-foot jumbo-class Washington state ferries Walla Walla and Spokane. Built in 1972 with a capacity of 2,000 passengers and 188 vehicles, they were the world's largest double-ended ferries at the time and the largest in the fleet until the advent of the 460-foot superjumbo Mark II class of vessels in 1997.
In 1979 Spaulding was awarded the Society of Naval Architect and Marine Engineers' David W. Taylor Award as "one of the world's most innovative and inventive naval architects."
Born at his family's homestead in the Snoqualmie Valley and reared on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Spaulding was the grandson, son, brother and nephew of shipmasters. His father, also a fireboat pilot, rescued people stranded at the end of a pier during the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
He earned an engineering degree at the University of Washington and a naval architecture degree at the University of Michigan, worked for Bethlehem Steel in Maryland and Todd Shipyard in Seattle, then started his own firm, Philip F. Spaulding and Associates, in 1952.
Spaulding designed the 341.5-foot Black Ball Transport Inc. vehicle-and-passenger ferry Coho, built in 1959 and still used on runs between Port Angeles and Victoria, British Columbia.
Other vessels he designed include seven ferries for the Alaska Marine Highway, three aluminum high-speed San Francisco Bay ferries, 14 British Columbia ferries and bulk carriers, tankers, tugboats, barges, fishing boats and yachts.
In 1972 he merged his firm with a competitor to become Nickum & Spaulding, and subsequent designs ranged from tugboats and fishing vessels to sophisticated oil tankers.
Survivors include daughters Susan Zehner of Walla Walla and Diane Spaulding of Seattle; sons William Spaulding of Bothell, David Spaulding of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Robert Spaulding of Kennewick; five grandchildren, and five step-grandchildren. A life celebration is scheduled Sunday from at the Seattle Yacht Club.
5/16/2005, 9:15 a.m. PT
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) — Philip Spaulding, a naval architect who designed some of the world's largest ferry boats, some still in use after nearly half a century, is dead at 92.
Spaulding, designer of the first Boeing Co. hydroplane test vessel, various oceangoing ships and ferries for Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state, died May 5 at his home, relatives said.
He was best known for the 440-foot jumbo-class Washington state ferries Walla Walla and Spokane. Built in 1972 with a capacity of 2,000 passengers and 188 vehicles, they were the world's largest double-ended ferries at the time and the largest in the fleet until the advent of the 460-foot superjumbo Mark II class of vessels in 1997.
In 1979 Spaulding was awarded the Society of Naval Architect and Marine Engineers' David W. Taylor Award as "one of the world's most innovative and inventive naval architects."
Born at his family's homestead in the Snoqualmie Valley and reared on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Spaulding was the grandson, son, brother and nephew of shipmasters. His father, also a fireboat pilot, rescued people stranded at the end of a pier during the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
He earned an engineering degree at the University of Washington and a naval architecture degree at the University of Michigan, worked for Bethlehem Steel in Maryland and Todd Shipyard in Seattle, then started his own firm, Philip F. Spaulding and Associates, in 1952.
Spaulding designed the 341.5-foot Black Ball Transport Inc. vehicle-and-passenger ferry Coho, built in 1959 and still used on runs between Port Angeles and Victoria, British Columbia.
Other vessels he designed include seven ferries for the Alaska Marine Highway, three aluminum high-speed San Francisco Bay ferries, 14 British Columbia ferries and bulk carriers, tankers, tugboats, barges, fishing boats and yachts.
In 1972 he merged his firm with a competitor to become Nickum & Spaulding, and subsequent designs ranged from tugboats and fishing vessels to sophisticated oil tankers.
Survivors include daughters Susan Zehner of Walla Walla and Diane Spaulding of Seattle; sons William Spaulding of Bothell, David Spaulding of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Robert Spaulding of Kennewick; five grandchildren, and five step-grandchildren. A life celebration is scheduled Sunday from at the Seattle Yacht Club.