Navesink Maritime Heritage Association presents

The History of Boatbuilding during WWII on the Jersey Coast

by Robert O'Brien, New Jersey Museum of Boating

Bob O'Brien, President of the [[http://www.njmb.org/|New Jersey Museum of Boating]] in Bay Head presented an illustrated history of the boatbuilders and their craft on Wednesday, March 25th, 800 pm at the Monmouth Beach Cultural Center.

During World War II, The US Navy recruited many New Jersey boatbuilders to build wooden boats for as picket boats, patrol boats for antisubmarine warfare, and the famous PT boats used in the Pacific. Famous boatbuilders of Monmouth County such as Charles Irwin, Olaf Olsen, Bahrs, and others produced craft essential to the war effort and were awarded commendations by the War Department for their work. Boatbuilders from Bayonne, where PT 109 was built, to Monmouth and Ocean Counties and beyond supported the war effort.

The New Jersey Museum of Boating was formed in 1998 in Pt. Pleasant in order to preserve the legacy of boating in New Jersey. The non-profit organization has over 350 members, receives visitors from tourists to school groups throughout the region, and is partner of Ocean County Council of Maritime Museums with Tuckerton Seaport and Toms River Seaport Society.

Bob O'Brien, retired as chairman and president of major financial institution in New Jersey and is former member of advisory council of the Federal Reserve.  He was Past Commodore of Bay Head Yacht Club served on board of Palm Beach Maritime Museum and New Jersey Historical Society and is a trustee of the Toms River Seaport Society and Bay Head Historical Society.