Education
Though he had a received a good basic education in shipbuilding, Chapman recognized that he did not possess the knowledge of higher mathematics that was required to determine draft and stability at the design stage of a vessel. In 1748, he sold his share of the shipyard and moved to Stockholm where he studied for two years under Baron Palmqvist. He went on to study under the English professor of mathematics, Thomas Simpson, who had worked out methods for calculating the volume of irregular surfaces and bodies. After one year of studies in London, he went on to study shipbuilding at the British royal dockyards in Woolwich, Chatham and Deptford.
Chapman recorded his extensive research of British shipbuilding in several documents, including an 8-page handwritten document titled Directions for Building of a Ship of 50 Guns, where he described construction methods as well as the British method of launching ships. His activities attracted the interests of the British naval authorities and upon leaving Deptfort in 1753, he was arrested, his papers confiscated and was then charged with trying to lure shipyards workers into French service. France and Great Britain were at the time bitter rivals, and both Sweden and Denmark were active in uncovering British manufacturing methods as well as trying to persuade British shipwrights into their service. Chapman was kept under house arrest for about one month at the cost of half a guinea per day, though still allowed to visit London with an escort. All of his documents were returned to him except a rigging plan. After his release, he stayed a few months to study experimental physics and took lessons in engraving.
In 1754, Chapman continued his educational tour by going to the Netherlands and in 1755 to France, where he was given permission to stay at the royal shipyards at Brest to observe warship construction. There he observed the complete process of construction of the French 60-gun ship Célèbre from keel-laying to rigging under the French shipwright Geoffrey the Elder. He also made line drawings and plans of several French ships, including the huge Ville de Paris and the 64-gun Bienfaisant and pen and ink drawings of ship decorations. The experience in Brest is believed to have made a deep impression on Chapman, later contributing to his conviction that 60-gun ships were the most appropriate for Swedish service.
The French authorities were the first to recognize Chapman's skills and attempted to convince him to stay and enter service for France, an offer he declined. After Chapman returned to London in 1756, the First Lord of the Admiralty tried to do the same, and came close to succeeding by using patriotic appeals to Chapman's British heritage. In his memoirs, Chapman wrote that he would likely have stayed had the current First Lord not lost his office soon after their meeting. Instead, he was recruited by the Swedish minister in Paris, Ulrik Scheffer, later Minister of External Affairs under Gustav III.
Read more about this topic: Fredrik Henrik Af Chapman
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