CRAMP, CHARLES HENRY American shipbuilder, was born in Philadelphia, May 9, 1828, the eldest of eleven children of William Cramp (1807-186g), who in 183o es tablished shipyards on the Delaware river, near Philadelphia. He became his father's partner in 1849. His inventive capacity and resourcefulness soon gave him high rank as an authority on shipbuilding, and made his influence in that industry widely felt. During the Civil War he designed and built several ironclads for the United States navy, notably the "New Ironsides" in 1862, and the light-draught monitors used in the Carolina sounds; and after 1887 constructed wholly or in part from his own designs many of the most powerful ships in the "new" navy. In the transformation from sail to steam, and from wood to iron and steel, Cramp had a prominent part. He built warships for several foreign navies, among others the "Retvizan" and the "Variag" for the Russian Government. He died in Philadelphia June 6, 1913.
See A. C. Buel, Memoirs of C. H. Cramp (Philadelphia, 1906).