Shipbuilder's Half Model of an Oyster Dredge, Designed by Naval Architect Adin K. Woodward

Half model of the oyster dredge "JOHN P. HOLLOWAY" with builder's plate that reads "OYSTER DREDGE JOHN P. HOLLOWAY 101' X 28' NORFOLK SHIPBUILDING AND DRYDOCK CORP. NORFOLK, VIRGINIA. 1959"

The wood half model is painted white and is mounted on to a molded wood backboard painted flat black. Minor shrinkage crack to the top gunwale of the ship's bow. Dimensions of backboard OA 57" L x 10 1/2" H

Weight: 20 lbs.

Click here for enlarged view.

This ship was designed and commissioned by Adin K. Woodward, Naval Architect, Norfolk, Virginia. Woodward held the first naval architect license in Virginia. This model was past down to the architects daughter.

BIOGRAPHY

By Brown Carpenter, Feb 10, 2010

Growing up in Norfolk, surrounded by water, Adin Woodward knew his life's calling would be tied up with this coastal geography.

As a naval architect and maritime engineer, he designed and built seaworthy vessels ranging from hard-laboring scows to luxury pleasure boats. He also put together the engines that powered them.

The expertise of Woodward, who died Jan. 26, 2010 at age 89, was legendary. His advice was sought when the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was under construction. He helped local watermen improve their dredges to boost catches of clams and oysters.

He co-owned a shipyard in North Carolina. He helped oversee the restoration of the USS Monitor.

"He did it all," said Alyn Fife, a marine surveyor who worked with Woodward. "From barges to warships."

Woodward kept his own boat on Crystal Lake and estimated that he and his wife, Cindy, had logged 36,000 miles on the waterways between Maryland and Florida.

A 1943 graduate of the Webb Institute in New York, Woodward served two years on active duty with the Navy and later retired as a captain in the Reserve. In the beginning, the duality of his profession could cause confusion.

"When I applied for registration in North Carolina, the Board of Engineers looked over my credentials and handed them back, saying I was an architect," Woodward told a trade publication in 1980. "Then I went to the division for architects; there I was told I was an engineer."

Woodward was frequently an expert witness in trials involving maritime matters.

Kent Woodward, Adin's son, noted that his father's cruises offered a reminder of his accomplishments: "Often, he would see a vessel that he had been involved with. Or on the way to Florida he might pass a dredge that he had helped with the design or modification."