OWENS

OWENS is an American shipbuilding company that was founded by Charles Owens Sr. during the period from 1925 to 1930. The company's founder died soon after, and the shipyard was transferred to his sons. At first the company existed only in the garage. The brothers built small boats and did not claim to major orders. In 1936 they bought the land plot on the waterfront in Baltimore, where the automobile factories were previously located. They managed to rebuild the industrial capacities for the yacht production. Since then, the shipyard began to build the serious ships.

The first ship launched on the new site was a 32-foot cruiser. OWENS continued to grow - during the war years they produced a lot of boats and speedboats, and began to build the sailboats. The Owens brothers were experienced sailors, they participated in the races on their own vessels and won the competitions. The sailing cruising yachts of the company were exhibited at special events in America. The great achievement was the 40-foot sailboat OWENS Cutter.

During the war, the company gained experience in the construction of landing barges and rescue boats. It contributed to the development of technologies at the shipyard. Having transferred the rights for the design of Cutter to Henry Hinckley in 1950, the brothers switched to another projects. During the Korean War, they began to build the minesweepers for the Navy.

The new changes took place in 1957. The shipyard ceased to build the small boats with a length of less than 20 feet and abandoned the wood - the company decided to use fiberglass for the construction of the yachts. Later, the shipyard was sold and then closed. Today, the legacy of the company is located in the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic town, Connecticut.