Metten, John F. (John Farrell), 1873-1968

Marine engineer and shipbuilding industry executive.

John Farrell Metten was born in Kent County, Del., on December 15, 1873. He began work at the age of 21 as a draftsman and soon found employment in the engineering department of the William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company in Philadelphia. Metten rose to be chief engineer at Cramp's (1909-1925) and vice president in charge of engineering (1925-1927). When Cramp's ceased shipbuilding in 1927, Metten became president of the Marine Engineering Corporation in Philadelphia. He spent the worst years of the Depression as a consulting engineer (1931-1935) and then became president of the reorganized New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, N.J. He was later elevated to chairman of the board of directors and retired in 1950. Metten received honorary degrees in engineering from Lehigh (1928), the University of Delaware (1942) and Stevens Institute of Technology (1949). He died on September 16, 1968.

...