Fredrik Henrik af Chapman

Infobox Military Person
name= Fredrik Henrik af Chapman
lived= September 9, 1721 - August 19, 1808
placeofbirth=Gothenburg, Sweden
placeofdeath=Sweden


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allegiance= Sweden
serviceyears=
rank= Vice admiral
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awards=
laterwork=Manager of the shipyard at Karlskrona

Fredric Henric af Chapman (September 9 1721 in Gothenburg – August 19 1808) was a Swedish naval architect, promoted to vice admiral in 1791, manager of the shipyard at Karlskrona between 1782-1793.

His father was an English naval officer, Thomas Chapman (born 1679 in Yorkshire), who moved to Sweden in 1715 and joined the Royal Swedish Navy and his mother was the daughter of a shipwright. Chapman was ennobled in 1772.

At the age of 15 Chapman moved to Stockholm to learn the art of shipbuilding, during a visit to England in 1741 he was arrested when visiting a shipyard. Upon release, he was offered English service, which he declined. In 1750, he studied mathematics under Thomas Simpson, applying Simpson's rules for integrating curves in ship design to calculate areas, volumes and moments. In 1744 he and another person established a shipyard in Gothenburg. Between 1752-56 he studied abroad. In 1757 he was commissioned as a junior shipwright by the Royal Swedish Navy and tasked with designing a couple of shallow draft vessels for the Finnish archipelago or coastal fleet. 1764 he was promoted to senior shipwright.

Chapman was the author of "Architectura Navalis Mercatoria" (1768) and several other shipbuilding-related works. His "Tract om Skepps Buggeriet" ("Treatise on Shipbuilding") published in 1775 is a pioneering work in modern naval architecture.

ee also

* Jacobstads Wapen
* Swedish Amphion

References

*cite journal | title = Science and the stability of ships / Review of 'F H Chapman: The First Naval Architect and his work' By Daniel Gibson Harris | author = William Scanlan Murphy | journal = New Scientist | date = 08 April 1989 | issue = 1659 | url = http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12216594.100-science-and-the-stability-of-ships--review-of-f-h-chapmanthe-first-naval-architect-and-his-work-by-daniel-harris-.html

Further reading

*citation | title = F H Chapman: The First Naval Architect and his work | first1 = Daniel | last1 = Gibson Harris | year = 1989 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 0870210521

External links

* [http://runeberg.org/sbh/a0183.html Chapman's entry at Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon]
* [http://runeberg.org/nfac/0121.html Chapman at Nordisk Familjebok]
* [http://www.mightyseas.co.uk/marhist/whitehaven/wsbc/dunboyne.htm af Chapman (ship)]

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