Gordon Munro was one of the first naval architects to successfully pioneer motor-sailors, designing his first such craft in 1921. Born in Scotland in 1889, Munro moved to Massachusetts at the age of five with his family. He worked at George Lawley & Son starting in 1910, and then at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, before starting his own business designing and building yachts in 1920. Early designs included sailing yachts that did well in races. In the early 1930s Munro built a test platform using his yacht club's floats to run towing tests of models of International 6-Metre Yachts. Munro returned to George Lawley & Sons later in the 1930s to lead the boatyard's commercialization of plywood boats, and he stayed on at the yard as an executive through World War 2. He then returned to his own design practice, mostly focusing on commercial vessels but also developing a patented hull form that he called Duoform. Munro, who especially in his earlier years often spelled his name “Munroe”, died in 1967. In 1968 his widow gave his plan files, photographs and models to MIT.

The Gordon Munro Collection consists of plans, archival materials, and models that span Munro’s career. The archives highlight the broad range of Munro's designs, from small daysailers to large self-powered barges, and his imaginative lifelong quest for better designs. The archives include many letters to and from clients and other prominent naval architects, including John Hanna and Olin Stephens. The archives also include photographs, photostats, sketches, plans, calculations, magazine articles by and about Munro and his designs, boat brochures and other material. Models include design half-hulls, demonstrations of Duoform shapes, and towing models. The roughly 300 plans are filed by design number.

Title: Gordon Munro Collection

Creator: Gordon Munro

Dates: circa 1920 – circa 1964

Extent: Approximately 300 plans, 2.5 linear feet archives with photos, and 18 models

Language: English

Repository: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections

Access: Open for research by appointment

Copyright: Some restrictions may apply.

Credit: Hart Nautical Collection, MIT Museum

See more detail in the Gordon Munro Collection Finding Aid [PDF]