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Personal Sketches of Marine Men William Francis Gibbs, President, Gibbs Bros. Inc. By B.C, Kreutzberg N HIS boyhood, William Francis Gibbs made boats his hobby. ._This was somewhat peculiar for the reason that his ancestry was entirely devoid of engineers and seafaring men. His father was a financier. But young Gibbs was _ al- ways buying boats and he accumulated a large collec- tion of them. He would put these in the bathtub and ‘for hours would observe their behavior in the water. His ‘parents took him to England and when they asked him ‘to pick out a souvenir of his trip, he selected a beauti- fully made compound steam engine, about five inches high. He was interested in other mechanical devices. For instance, he had a most elaborate electric railway. But his primary enthusiasm was for boats. Today Mr. Gibbs, still a young man—born at Philadelphia in 1888—has won recognition as one of the ablest ship designers and engineers in the United States. Mr. Gibbs entered Harvard at 18 and graduated as a bachelor of science in the class of 1910. Classmates recall that he was an unusually hard-working student. Then he went to Columbia and studied two courses simultaneously, Jaw and arts. After graduating in 1913, he traveled abroad for a period. On his return to New York he passed the bar examination. Soon after, he set up as a consulting naval architect and marine engineer and be- came connected with the International Mercantile Mar- ine. In 1918, five years after graduating from college, Mr. Gibbs was appointed chief of naval construction for the International Mercantile Marine. -After that, affairs moved with tremendous momentum. In his connection with the International Mercantile Mar- ine, Mr. Gibbs was closely associated with P. A. S. Frank- lin, president of that great interest, so that when Mr. Franklin became chairman of the shipping control com- 56 IS work and his personality have become well known and have made a deep impression upon the ship- building and shipping circles of his time. NTENSE and thorough in his work he carries his ideas into practice with remarkable insistence and with utmost courage. E POSSESSES a keen and search- ing mind and reads widely not only that which has a bearing on his business but also matter of cultural interest. mittee, appointed to work in conjunction with the shipping board during the war, Mr. Gibbs was called upon to serve as naval architect for the committee. In this con- nection his abilities quickly registered themselves, and in 1919, Mr. Gibbs was called upon to go to Paris where he served as special assistant to the chairman of the shipping board during the Peace conference. Then he resumed his old place as ehief of construction for the International Mercantile Marine, who had been appointed agent of the shipping board in connection with the reconditioning of the LEVIATHAN’ and to Mr. Gibbs, as chief of construction, fell the task of preparing the plans and _ specifications. In 1922, at the request of the shipping board, Mr. Gibbs left the International Mercantile Marine to organize his own company for handling the reconditioning of the LEVIATHAN. With his brother, F. H. Gibbs, he organized Gibbs Bros. Inc., with William Francis Gibbs as president. The new firm at once proceeded with the task. The LEVIATHAN was reconditioned at Newport News and was ready for operation in 1923. Mr. Gibbs took over the operation of the ship during her guarantee period and at that time brought together the organization to take charge of this vessel. Mr. Gibbs then handled the re- conditioning of the REPUBLIC in the same way. Later he also supervised the conversion of troopships into the five passenger and freight boats that now comprise the Ameri- ean Merchant line. : Few recent developments in shipping have attracted more interest than the Winchester-Gibbs bid whereby J. H. Winchester & Co., operators of the American Merchant line, and Gibbs Bros. Ine. jointly submitted to the ship- ping board a proposition to take over and operate the United States line, with additional provisions by which