Thomas Kemp (shipbuilder)


Thomas Kemp was a Baltimore shipbuilder, known for building some of the fastest and best known privateers of the War of 1812, such as,, Patapsco, Chasseur, and Lynx.

Early Career as a Shipbuilder

Thomas Kemp moved to Baltimore in 1803 from the Eastern Shore. It is not known where he learned the shipbuilding, but in 1804 he built a schooner with his brother Joseph. In the next few years his shipyard was mostly involved in making repairs to Baltimore vessels. He made some repairs for Isaac McKim on the schooner Maryland, the brig Samuel and the Chesapeak, for Henry Craig on the Vigilante and the schooner Eclipse and for John Conway on the schooner Nonsuch.

Building Baltimore Clippers

On July 6, 1805, Kemp purchased additional property bounded by Fountain, Fleet, and Washington streets at Fell's Point, expending his business and establishing his own shipyard.
It is important to noticed that some of the vessels built by Kemp were attributed to different shipbuilders, partially because Kemp did not put his name on those ships, as it was against Quaker principles.

Ships Built by Thomas Kemp's ShipyardHoward I. Chapelle, ''History of the American Sailing Navy'' (New York, 1949), pp. 290-291

After the War of 1812 demand on shipbuilding declined and Kemp returned to the Eastern Shore to live at his farm, Wade's Point. He only built a few vessels after the war.