GRIFFITHS, JOHN WILLIS 882 ), American naval architect, was born in New York city on Oct. 6, 1809. He was apprenticed to his father's trade of shipwright, and at the age of 19 laid the lines of the frigate "Macedonia." In 1835 he suggested the ram for the bow of warships; in 1836 published a series of articles embodying his ideas on shipbuilding in the Advocate, at Portsmouth, Va. ; in 1842 gave a series of lectures on naval architecture in New York city and elsewhere, the first notable discourses on the subject to be given in the United States. In the same year he opened a free school for instruction in ship building. In 1841, he proposed departures from the accepted standards in ship construction, exhibiting a model at the American Institute in February of that year, and in 1843 began the con struction of a ship embodying his proposals for William H. Aspinwall, a New York-China merchant. This ship, christened the "Rainbow" and launched in 1845, was the first renowned clipper, and introduced a new era in shipbuilding.
Continuing his experiments, Griffiths invented, in 1848, iron keelsons for wooden ships, and in 1851 exhibited a steamboat model at the World's Exhibition in London, which attracted wide attention. Three years later he built for William Norris of Phila delphia, a steamer which made the record for speed between Havana and New Orleans. He became co-editor and associate proprietor of the Nautical Magazine and Naval Journal in 1856, but upon his appointment by the U.S. Government as special naval constructor in 1858, the magazine ceased publication. He then built the U.S. gunboat "Pawnee" incorporating several new features, including twin screws and a drop bilge, which was one of the widest and lightest draught vessels of similar displacement ever built. Then followed a series of inventions : bilge keels to prevent rolling in 1863, a timber bending machine which he used with success in the "New Era," Boston, 187o, and triple screws for great speed in 1866. He was engaged by the U.S. Government in 1871-72 to erect timber bending machinery, and in 1872 built the "Enterprise" for the Government at Portsmouth, N.H. His timber bending machines were awarded two prizes at the Cen tennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. In 1879-82, he was en gaged in editorial work on the American Ship, a New York city weekly journal. He died in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 29, 1882. His Treatise on Marine and Naval Architecture (2 vol. 185o) was republished in England, and brought him recognition from many maritime nations. His other published works include: The Ship builder's Manual (2 vol., 1853) ; The Progressive Shipbuilder (2 vol., 1875-76).