Ship Plans Directory

Explore CAMM member ship plan information

Independence Seaport Museum

The Seaport Museum maintains a 12,000 plus ship plan collection relating to vessels built in the greater Philadelphia area. These include personal crafts, commercial vessels and military ships and submarines.

Names of Collections

Small Craft Plan collection
Large Craft Plan collection
Becuna (Submarine) plans
John H. Mathis Company records
John Lenthall papers of The Franklin Institute
Pennsylvania Railroad records
RTC Shipbuilding Co. records
Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company records
Thomas D. Bowes, M.E., Associates records
William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company collection of The Franklin Institute

Description

Small Craft Plan collection: The collection is comprised of traditional wooden craft built along the Delaware River and the New Jersey seaboard. It includes plans for: canoes, catboats, Delaware duckers, garveys, mellon seeds, oyster schooners, skiffs, sloops, sneakboxes, tuck-ups and other small vessels.

Large Craft Plan collection: The collection contains plans for both wood, iron and steel vessels. Companies represented include: Philadelphia and Reading Transportation Line, Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad, Delaware River Ferry Company, Pusey and Jones, Morris and Mathis, RTC Shipbuilding, J. Murray Watts and more. There are also plans by Edward Brownlee in the collection.