Bowdoin B. Crowninshield

Bowdoin Bradlee Crowninshield (October 13, 1867 – August 12, 1948) was an American naval architect who specialized in the design of racing yachts.

Born October 13, 1867 in New York City, Crowninshield grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, into the wealthy Crowninshield family with long-standing ties to the sea. The family estate Crowninshield House was built by his father in 1870. His father was Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1837–1892) and mother was Katherine May Bradlee (1844–1902). Through his paternal grandmother Sarah Gool Putnam (1810–1880) he was distant cousin of architect J. Pickering Putnam (1847–1917). His great-grandfather Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1772–1851) had served as Secretary of the Navy, and his great-granduncle George Crowninshield Jr. (1766–1817) built the first luxury yacht in the United States, Cleopatra's Barge in 1816. His younger brother Francis Boardman Crowninshield (22 April 1869 – 19 May 1950), married heiress Louise Evelina du Pont (August 3, 1877 – July 11, 1958). His cousin once removed was Frederick Josiah Bradlee, Jr. (1892–1970) whose son was Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (1921-2014). Because of his many relations, he was known as "B.B." Crowninshield.

After graduating from Harvard in 1890 he speculated in real estate before signing on as a draftsman with John R. Purdon, a respected yacht designer in Boston with several knockabout designs to his credit. Crowninshield struck out on his own 18 months later, starting a yacht design and brokerage firm which quickly prospered. He would rise to become one of America's most respected yacht designers during a period which is now regarded as the golden age of American wooden yacht design.

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