Fredrik Henrik af Chapman has probably had a greater influence on Swedish shipbuilding and naval architecture than any other individual. Chapman was born in 1721 at Nya varvet (the New Shipyard) in Gothenburg and died in 1808 at Karlskrona, and his whole life was dominated by ships and shipbuilding.
He pursued his career at shipyards both in Sweden and abroad, studying mathematics and physics in Sweden and England.
Posterity remembers him primarily for his work on the Swedish naval fleet and his theoretical work, but he also practised at civilian yards such as BŒngs varv in Gothenburg and Djurgårdsvarvet in Stockholm.
Chapman was involved in the development of Sveaborg, the fortified naval base off Helsinki. He devised several new types of vessel, specifically designed for operation in the archipelagos off the Swedish and Finnish coasts. At the age of 60, he was appointed head of the Swedish naval dockyard at Karlskrona, where he not only took charge of vessel design, but also restructured the entire shipbuilding process. As a result, in the space of only three years, the yard was able to deliver 20 new vessels - 10 ships of the line and 10 frigates.
Chapman's great interest in the theoretical aspects of naval architecture and his desire to transform shipbuilding from a trade into a science led him to produce a large number of treatises and other publications, of which the best known internationally is Architectura Navalis Mercatoria.
The Maritime Museum of Swedens online website has on their website ship plates from this work available for download in high resolution. They present an interesting perspective on what ship builders used for their plans during the era.
Authors of many of the books on model ship building have used Chapmans works as a valuable reference material.
