Fredrik Henrik af Chapman facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Fredrik Henrik af Chapman
Chapman painted by Lorens Pasch the Younger in 1778. Chapman is wearing his hooded work jacket with the Order of Vasa on it.
Born	9 September 1721 Gothenburg, Sweden
Died	19 August 1808(1808-08-19) (aged 86) Sweden
Allegiance	Sweden
Service/branch	Swedish Navy
Rank	Vice admiral
Other work	Manager of the shipyard at Karlskrona

Fredrik Henrik af Chapman (born September 9, 1721, died August 19, 1808) was a famous Swedish shipbuilder, scientist, and naval officer. He was also in charge of the Karlskrona shipyard from 1782 to 1793. Chapman is known as the first person to use scientific methods in shipbuilding, making him the first true naval architect.

He wrote important books like Architectura Navalis Mercatoria (1768) and Tractat om Skepps-Byggeriet (1775), which helped create modern ship design. He was also the first in Northern Europe to use prefabrication in shipyards. This means building parts of ships in advance, which helped him build many ships very quickly.

He was given the noble name "af Chapman" in 1772 after King Gustav III successfully changed the government.

Early Life and Learning to Build Ships
Chapman's Advanced Education
- Studying British Shipbuilding
- Learning in Europe
Working for Sweden's Navy
- Designing New Ships
The Djurgården Shipyard
King Gustav III and the Navy
- Expanding the Navy
Architectura Navalis Mercatoria
Gallery
- Ships Designed by af Chapman
See also

Early Life and Learning to Build Ships

Fredrik Henrik Chapman was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, on September 9, 1721. His father, Thomas Chapman, was an English naval officer who moved to Sweden. His mother was Susanna Colson, whose father was a shipbuilder in London.

Fredrik showed a talent for shipbuilding early on. He made his first ship design based on a drawing of a privateer ship. At age fifteen, in 1736, he started working at sea. He spent his late teenage years working in both private and government shipyards. In 1741, he helped build a Spanish merchant ship. This project gave him enough money to work as a ship's carpenter in London from 1741 to 1744.

After his time in England, he returned to Gothenburg. There, he started a shipyard with a Swedish merchant named Bagge. They built a few small ships and did repair work for the Swedish East India Company.

Chapman's Advanced Education

Even though he had a good basic understanding of shipbuilding, Chapman realized he needed more knowledge. He wanted to learn higher mathematics to figure out things like how deep a ship would sit in the water and how stable it would be while still designing it.

In 1748, he sold his share of the shipyard and moved to Stockholm. He studied there for two years. Then, he went to London to study with the English math professor Thomas Simpson. Simpson had developed ways to calculate the volume of irregular shapes. After a year of studying in London, Chapman went on to learn about shipbuilding at British royal shipyards. These included Woolwich, Chatham, and Deptford.

Studying British Shipbuilding

Chapman wrote down a lot of what he learned about British shipbuilding. One document was called Directions for Building of a Ship of 50 Guns. In it, he described how the British built ships and how they launched them. His activities caught the attention of the British navy. When he left Deptford in 1753, he was arrested and his papers were taken. He was accused of trying to get shipyard workers to work for France. At that time, France and Great Britain were big rivals. Both Sweden and Denmark were trying to learn British building methods and hire British shipbuilders.

Chapman was kept under house arrest for about a month. He was still allowed to visit London with an escort. All his documents were returned to him except for one rigging plan. After he was released, he stayed a few more months to study physics and learn engraving.

Learning in Europe

In 1754, Chapman continued his learning trip in the Netherlands. In 1755, he went to France. There, he was allowed to stay at the royal shipyards in Brest. He watched the building of a French 60-gun ship called Célèbre. He saw the whole process, from laying the keel to adding the rigging. He also drew plans of several French ships, including the huge Ville de Paris.

The French authorities were the first to see how skilled Chapman was. They tried to convince him to stay and work for France, but he said no. After Chapman returned to London in 1756, the head of the British navy also tried to hire him. Chapman wrote in his notes that he probably would have stayed if that official hadn't lost his job soon after their meeting. Instead, he was hired by the Swedish minister in Paris, Ulrik Scheffer.

Working for Sweden's Navy

In 1757, at age 36, Chapman became an assistant shipwright at the royal shipyards in Karlskrona. Soon after, he drew up plans for ideal docks. These plans included places for properly aired sail storage and advanced dock pumps. These pumps could be powered by people, horses, or windmills. However, these plans were not built until much later, when Chapman became the chief shipwright of the Karlskrona yards.

Designing New Ships

In 1760, Chapman got his first big assignment. The newly formed archipelago fleet (a coastal navy) needed new ships. The old galleys had not worked well in the war against Prussia. Augustin Ehrensvärd, the commander of the archipelago fleet, worked with Chapman. They designed new types of ships called "archipelago frigates." These ships were inspired by Russian "chebecks," which were sailing ships that could also be rowed. Chapman and Ehrensvärd created ships that could be rowed, but also had stronger weapons and better protection for the crew. This was important for the cold Baltic Sea.

Their teamwork resulted in four new types of archipelago frigates: udema, pojama, turuma, and hemmema. They were all named after Finnish names of Swedish provinces in Finland, which they were meant to protect.

Chapman's parabola method for ship designs.

Chapman studied drawings of ships that were known to sail well. He realized that a ship's framework should be built in a specific way. The frames should get smaller from the widest part of the ship in a certain pattern. This building method is called the "parabola method."

At Sveaborg, Chapman oversaw the building and expansion of the naval yards. This included cranes, docks, and various buildings. He moved to Stockholm in 1764 but remained in charge of designing ships for the archipelago fleet. He also joined a group that was to suggest improvements for the main navy. Their report in 1764 suggested new designs for standard ships of the line with 50 to 70 guns.

This report showed the ideas of a new group of shipbuilders. They believed in using scientific methods and theoretical models for all parts of ship design. This was different from the older way of building ships, which relied on slow changes based on trying things out. The old way was supported by Gilbert Sheldon. But the new ideas won when the navy leaders supported Chapman's group in 1769. Chapman was then put in charge of designing the navy's new warships.

The Djurgården Shipyard

In 1768, Chapman bought a share in a shipyard at Djurgården in Stockholm. A group of companies provided the money, and Chapman brought his technical skills and shipbuilding experience. The same year, he moved into a new house in Djurgården with his nephew and his housekeeper, with whom he had a daughter and son.

Chapman built a new type of saw mill for the Djurgården yard. It used a circular saw blade in the middle of an eight-sided building. A system of chains and pulleys pulled long pieces of wood towards the saw. This mill could take wood from eight different directions.

The Djurgården yard built several of Chapman's successful designs. These included cats, barques, and East Indiamen from 1767 to 1779. Some of these ships were named after King Gustav and were launched with the royal family watching. The yard built both merchant ships and warships for the military. During Chapman's time there, over 50 vessels of different sizes were built. This included the first archipelago frigates like the udemas, pojamas, and turumas.

King Gustav III and the Navy

In 1772, King Gustav III made big changes in Sweden, sometimes called a "royal revolution." Before this, the Swedish parliament had a lot of power, and other countries often interfered. Gustav's actions made him a strong ruler. He wanted to reduce the power of the nobles, who were not popular because of corruption.

Chapman supported the king's bold move. He even helped by storing ammunition for the king's loyal troops. This paid off because Gustav supported growing both the army and the navy. He saw Russia as Sweden's main enemy. An alliance with France meant that a lot of French money was sent to help Sweden's military against Russia. This money helped pay for Chapman's plans to expand the navy with 60- to 70-gun warships of his own design.

Expanding the Navy

In 1776, Chapman became a civilian member of the Board of the Admiralty. His influence and the king's support led to important reports. These reports criticized the navy for spending too much money keeping old ships instead of building new, better ones. Chapman's ideas for improving the Karlskrona facilities were also liked by the king and approved. The same year, he was chosen as a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Expanding the navy was seen as necessary. But the design of the new ships was still being debated in the late 1770s. The old school of shipbuilders, like the Sheldon family, preferred older designs with only small changes. The new school, led by Chapman, wanted more radical changes. They wanted designs based on scientific theories and math. Chapman's first idea for a new standard warship was the Wasa (1778) [sv], finished in 1778. Its upper parts were made much lower to make it stiffer. The gun decks were placed higher than in older designs so they could be used even in rough weather.

The Wasa was tested at sea in 1779. It was compared with Sofia Magdalena, an older ship favored by those who liked traditional designs. The Wasa performed better than Sofia Magdalena in some ways, but not completely. Chapman believed he only needed to make small changes to his design to create a much better warship.

At age 60, Chapman was made head of the naval shipyard at the main naval base of Karlskrona. Here, he built new ships and organized production lines using prefabrication methods. This meant he could deliver twenty new ships in just three years: ten ships-of-the-line and ten frigates. Chapman also became a pioneer in using mathematical calculations for ship design. He studied how rigging, how much water a ship displaces, water resistance, the center of gravity, stability, and tonnage were all connected.

To test his math theories, he had a 100-meter-long pool built outside Karlskrona. In this pool, he tested different hull designs using scale models. The models were pulled through the water with pulleys and ropes. This method gave realistic results and is similar to how new ship designs are tested today.

The 1923 reconstruction of the royal barge Vasaorden [sv], which was originally designed by Chapman in 1774 for Gustav III.

King Gustav III asked Chapman to comment on Patrick Miller's warship Experiment. Chapman called it the "English sea-spook." The king sent Miller a snuff box filled with rutabaga seeds to show his thanks. The snuff box, which has pictures of ships, is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Architectura Navalis Mercatoria

In 1765, Chapman asked for permission from his job to work on Architectura Navalis Mercatoria. This was a collection of ship types from his time that he thought were the best and most interesting. The book was ordered by Duke Charles, the brother of King Gustav. It was published in 1768.

The book had 62 illustrations of ships and smaller vessels, both Swedish and foreign designs. Some were Chapman's own designs, but many were types he had seen during his travels. Everything from large warships to small fishing boats was included.

The book was meant for people all over the world. The text was available in Swedish, French, and English. All measurements were given in Swedish, French, and English feet. However, it took seven years to finish the explanations for the pictures. The charts and the later book Tractat om Skepps-byggeriet ("Treatise on Shipbuilding") in 1775 made Chapman one of the world's leading experts on shipbuilding.

A further advance in the general theory was made on the appearance in 1775 of a work on the construction of ships by the Swedish Constructor—Admiral Frederick Henry de Chapman. This was translated into French by Vial du Clairbois, 1779, and into English by Dr. Inman, 1820. It contains the first published record of the use of Simpson's rules for approximate quadrature, and the calculations of displacement, centre of buoyancy, and metacentre given in the book closely resemble those made at the present day.