William Badger (shipbuilder)
| William Badger | |
|---|---|
c. 1805 portrait by James Frothingham
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| Born |
May 26, 1752 Newfields, New Hampshire |
| Died |
February 22, 1830 Kittery, Maine |
| Occupation | Shipbuilder |
| Known for | USS Washington |
| Spouse(s) | Abigail Goodwin Beal Elizabeth Rice Mary Rice Fernald |
William Badger (May 26, 1752 – February 22, 1830) was a master shipbuilder operating in Kittery, Maine, United States who built more than 100 vessels.
The eldest of six children, he was born to William Badger and Anstisa Emerson Badger at what is now Newfields, New Hampshire. Trained by master shipbuilder Colonel James K. Hackett at John Langdon's shipyard on Rising Castle Island (or Langdon's Island) in Kittery, he helped build the USS Ranger. In 1782, he worked with Hackett to complete the USS America. About 1788, Badger established a shipbuilding business with David Colcord and Stilmon Tarleton on the Squamscott River at Newfields, but returned to work with Hackett from 1794 until 1799 as a master carpenter on the USS Crescent and USS Congress.
In 1797, Badger acquired 3 acres (1.3 hectares) on Rising Castle Island from his wife's family. He built a house and began shipbuilding on what would thereafter be called Badger's Island. In 1800, Commodore Isaac Hull, commander of the new Portsmouth Naval Shipyard down the Piscataqua River on Fernald's Island, contracted William Badger and his nephew Samuel Badger to build a 74-gun ship of the line. Dissatisfied with the latter shipwright, however, Hull fired both Badgers in November. A dozen years then passed at the federal shipyard without the completion of a single vessel. Hull rehired William Badger in 1813, and the USS Washington, first ship produced at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, launched in 1814.
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