A Man and His Ship: America's Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the S.S. United States
by Steven Ujifusa
Simon & Schuster | July 2012 | ISBN-10: 1451645074 | ePUB | 37 mb

THE STORY OF A GREAT AMERICAN BUILDER AT the peak of his power, in the 1940s and 1950s, William Francis Gibbs was considered America's best naval architect. His quest to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner of his time, the S.S. United States, was a topic of national fascination. When completed in 1952, the ship was hailed as a technological masterpiece at a time when "made in America" meant the best.
Gibbs was an American original, on par with John Roebling of the Brooklyn Bridge and Frank Lloyd Wright of Fallingwater. Forced to drop out of Harvard following his family's sudden financial ruin, he overcame debilitating shyness and lack of formal training to become the visionary creator of some of the finest ships in history. He spent forty years dreaming of the ship that became the S.S. United States. William Francis Gibbs was driven, relentless, and committed to excellence.
He loved his ship, the idea of it, and the realization of it, and he devoted himself to making it the epitome of luxury travel during the triumphant post-World War II era. Biographer Steven Ujifusa brilliantly describes the way Gibbs worked and how his vision transformed an industry. A Man and His Ship is a tale of ingenuity and enterprise, a truly remarkable journey on land and sea.

About the Author 
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Steven Ujifusa is an historian and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has written numerous articles on architecture and urban history for PlanPhilly.com and PhillyHistory.org. Since childhood, he has been fascinated by great American building projects, the people that made them possible, and the politics surrounding them.
When he is not writing, he enjoys singing, photography, rowing on the Schuylkill River, and travel.
A native of Chappaqua, New York, Steven received his undergraduate degree in history from Harvard University and a joint masters in historic preservation and real estate development from the University of Pennsylvania

CONTENTS
PROLOGUE: THE WAY IT WAS
BOOK I: THE MAN AND THE VISION
1. SIZE, LUXURY, AND SPEED
2. ESCAPING THE RICH BOYS
3. MAURETANIA
4. J. P. MORGAN’S TITANIC
5. PIPE DREAMERS AT WORK
6. PRIZES OF WAR
7. A GIANT LIVES AGAIN
8. THE PARVENU
9. MRS. WILLIAM FRANCIS GIBBS
10. MALOLO
11. A GERMAN SEA MONSTER
12. DEATH BY FIRE
13. FDR’S NEW NAVY
14. THE QUEEN AND THE AMERICA
15. A FULL MEASURE OF TOIL
BOOK II: BUILDING THE DREAM
16. A VERY PLEASING APPEARANCE
17. PRIMACY ON THE SEAS
18. A MIGHTY SWEET BABY RISES
19. AMERICAN MODERNE
20. TURN HER UP
21. CREWING UP THE BIG SHIP
22. TRUMAN ON THE ATTACK
23. THE NEW SEA QUEEN ARRIVES
24. A VERY FAST LADY
25. MASTERS OF VICTORY
26. THE HALCYON YEARS 27. TROUBLE ASHORE
28. NO TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE
29. SECRETS TOLD
EPILOGUE
PHOTOGRAPHS
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
 
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