Gracefully curled slivers of wood flowed from the hand plane as it glided back and forth across the teak decking. The calloused hand of the black-clad master craftsman slid over the smooth surface giving it a final check. Satisfied, he pushed back the brim of his straw hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. A smile appeared on his bearded face sans a mustache as he gazed at the boat coming together before him. It was this outstanding Amish craftsmanship and attention to detail that earned rave reviews among boating enthusiasts for the sleek designs produced by the Trojan Boat Company located in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Beginnings
The Trojan Boat Company was born from the tenacity of a World War II fighter pilot and the meticulous eye for detail of a naval architect. James R. McQueen spent the war flying a P-51 Mustang fighter, while his future business partner, Harper Hull, designed government ships for the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation. They met while working at the Owens Yacht Company in Baltimore, MD.
Buoyed by the post-war economic boom, the pair decided to go into business for themselves. With an initial investment of $4000 they travelled to Troy, NY, on December 31, 1948 and bought the assets of Cottrell-Spoore Boatworks. They returned home with big dreams and a trailer full of woodworking tools and machinery.
The duo set to work, acquiring an old dairy barn in York, PA, for use as a factory and recruited a local workforce of skilled Amish craftsmen. The first model they produced was a 10-foot plywood car-topper.
They soon moved their operation to Lancaster, PA, acquiring a 26-acre site and setting up a 142,000 square foot factory and an adjacent truck depot at 167 Greenfield Road.
With McQueen focusing on sales and Hull designing the boats, the duo needed someone with experience in manufacturing and running an assembly line to join their team. In November 1949, Owens alumnus Ernie Warner joined the firm. He staked his claim in the company by mortgaging his house and cashing in a life insurance policy.
The onset of the Korean War in 1950 hindered sales and saw McQueen return to active military duty. However, the end of the war brought a business boom. By the mid-1950s, Trojan Boats produced an average of 4000 boats per year.
Expansion
As the company continued to grow, they expanded the size of their boats and increased the number and sophistication of models offered. Designs included runabouts, fishing boats, weekenders, go fast boats, liner boats, trollers, and yachts up to 55 feet. They sported model names such as Sea Queen, Sea Bee, Sea Breeze, Marlin, Bimini Sportsman, Ski Bee, and Sea Voyager.
Potential buyers were impressed by the quality of workmanship and attention to detail. Only the finest fittings were used including copper and bronze fastenings and stainless-steel railings and hand-holds. Desired features that were costly options from competing companies came as standard equipment on Trojan cruisers. These included: a complete galley, stand-up head, upholstery and cabin cushions, and carpets. Spacious cabins done in mahogany and teak decks added to the appeal. Powerplants came with single or twin-screw options and a choice between gasoline or diesel fuel, a feature ahead of its time.
Another state-of-the-art advancement for Trojan Boats was the use of an early IBM computer to perform accounting tasks, track materials, and provide inventory control. It had enough computing power that Trojan Boats was able to contract their services out and complete the payroll and data processing needs of other local businesses.
As orders poured in, workers who did piecework were offered incentives including a profit-sharing retirement plan to increase production. However, if their work did not make the grade, the workers made the necessary corrections on their personal time.
Hollywood stardom found the Trojan Boat Company in 1960 when they were asked to custom build the Argonaut, a 33-foot Trojan Express Cabin Cruiser for use on the fourth season of the popular television show Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges. Bridges’s character, Mike Nelson, was a former navy Scuba diver who traveled the world seeking adventure above and below the surface of the water. Bridges enjoyed the boat so much that he kept it as the family boat after the series ended in 1961.
Sales continued rolling along, and in 1964 Trojan Boats opened a second production facility in Elkton, MD, along Big Elk Creek to help keep up with demand. In 1966, they acquired the Shepherd Boat Company, a Canadian firm capable of producing up to 52-foot luxury yachts.
Seeking to expand international sales in 1966, Trojan Boats sent 24 models to boat shows in England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. By 1968, the firm offered a complete line of wooden boats and was the second largest producer of inboard boats in the world.
Transitioning to Fiberglass
The 1960s also saw massive changes in the way boats were being manufactured. A new technology, fiberglass, was beginning to replace traditional wood construction.
For some, the old ways die hard, and this was certainly the case with Trojan Boats. McQueen was reluctant to make the switch to fiberglass, considering it a passing fad. However, the ease of maintaining fiberglass boats was winning over an increasing number of recreational boaters.
Finding itself lagging, Trojan Boats reluctantly began making the transition to fiberglass. Their first fiberglass hulls were produced by a local company that manufactured fiberglass bathtubs.
Unfortunately, the capital necessary to rework the entire production line was in short supply, necessitating Trojan Boat’s buyout in 1969 by the Whittaker Corporation of Los Angeles. McQueen and Hull left the company in the 1970s, and the production of wooden boats was phased out by 1974. About 65,000 wooden boats had been produced between 1958 and 1974.
A steady stream of new investors stepped in to solve Trojan Boats’ financial woes resulting in a number of mergers and buyouts. Whittaker was followed by Invest Corp. Next came Bertram who introduced the Bertram Trojan International series in the late 1980s. Finally, Genmar Holdings, Inc., the largest independent manufacturer of recreational powerboats in the world, purchased the business and paired the Trojan name with Carver, one of their subsidiaries.
Genmar shuttered Trojan’s Lancaster plant in 1992 and moved the operations to Wisconsin, bringing an end to the era of luxury yachts being produced in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Dutch Country. The last vestige of the Trojan Boat Company in Pennsylvania is Beacon Marine Supply, operated by Bob Cushman and John Leed. They offer a wealth of knowledge about Trojan boats and have a large inventory of original Trojan parts ensuring that the legacy of the Trojan Boat Company continues.
By Bart A. Stump
A version of this article was originally published in the March/April 2022 issue of Pennsylvania Magazine. It has been lightly edited by PropTalk staff.