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ersonal Sketches of Marine Men William H. Todd, President, Todd Shipyards Corp. By Ben K. Price ORE than 52 years in the shipbuilding indus- try, beginning as boilermaker’s apprentice and rising to the head of one of the largest shipbuilding and repair organizations in the ——— country, an inventor and philanthropist, Wil- liam Henry Todd is an outstanding figure in the marine world. Born in Wilmington, Del., Nov. 27, 1864, the son of a shipyard foreman, William H. Todd attended school in that city, leaving at the age of 13 to become newsboy on a Philadelphia-Baltimore train. A year later he was at work under his father at the Pusey & Jones ship- yard in Wilmington, beginning as a boilermaker’s ap- prentice. Advancing in turn to riveter, ship fitter, mold- er and master mechanic, he became at the age of 22 years, assistant foreman of the yard. He was in direct charge of the construction of the yacht VoLuNTEER, which later was to win for America an international cun race. This work was completed in the record time of one month, from the laying of the keel. Four years later he became master ship fitter in the Brooklyn navy yard, winning this position in a com- petitive examination from close to 100 contestants. Af- ter four years, in the navy yard, in 1895, he went to work for the John N. Robins Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., as iron workers’ foreman. He became assistant plant su- perintendent and three years later vice president and general manager. Upon Mr. Robins’ retirement in 1909, Mr. Todd became president. He was then 45 years old. In 1911 the Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. was or- ganized to succeed the John N. Robins Co., with the Clyde interests in control. Four years later the com- pany was offered for sale by Mr. Clyde to an English purchaser for $7,000,000. Balking the proceedings, he offered to buy the company for the same amount. Tak- ing with him 100 of his fellow workers, he formed the William H. Todd Corp. and finally consummated a deal for the property with a long installment schedule of payment. In 1916, Mr. Todd formed a new company, the Todd Shipyards Corp., and took over the Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Co., Hoboken, N. J.; the Seattle Dry Dock & Con- struction Co., Seattle, Wash.; and the Quintard Iron EGINNING as a boilermaker’s ap- prentice he now heads one of the world’s largest ship repair and ship- building organizations. XPANSION of his affairs is based on a constant effort to provide fa- cilities always ahead of immediate demands. IS outstanding business foresight is paralleled by an unusually close and human relationship with his co-workers. Works, New York. The 100 partners received a sub- stantial cash dividend out of this reorganization, and one and a half times their holdings of stock in the old company. The Todd Shipyards Corp. proved a success from the start. During the World war, with its various yards expanded, it was a leader in the production of ship ton- nage. Early in 1917 Mr. Todd closed contract with the United States navy for three scout cruisers of 7100 tons for construction at the Seattle yards. That same year Mr. Todd also formed the Todd Dry Dock & Construction Corp. and built a large plant at Tacoma, Wash. So rapidly was the plant constructed and put into operation that by the end of 1918 it had launched nine 7500-ton freighters, eight of which were for the government. Selling the Seattle plant to the United States government, Mr. Todd acquired another site nearby for the erection of a ship repair plant equipped with two floating dry docks of 12,000 tons and one of 2000. At the various Todd yards more than 17,000 men were employed at one time during the war. Since then other plants have been added, including the Todd Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Mobile, Ala., and the Todd Engineering Dry Dock & Repair Co., New Orleans. In 1929 the company opened what was said to be the largest privately owned graving dock in the New York district at the Robins plant in Brooklyn. Mr. Todd has contributed much to the development of equipment for the burning of fuel oil and is the head of the Todd Oil Burning Engineering Corp. Recently he has perfected machinery for the burning of pulver- ized coal. In addition to his own companies, Mr. Todd has numer- ous other affiliations, both business and social. About 75 per cent of employers of the Todd companies are also stockholders. In recognition of his achievements, Manhattan college, New York City, conferred upon him in 1920 the honorary degree of LL.D. Commenting on Mr. Todd as a leader in industry, Charles M. Schwab, chairman of the Beth- lehem Steel Corp., once said: ‘Todd is a human dynamo, a man among men, who does things and whose life is a record of achievement.” 8g MARINE REview—April, 1931