Arthur Shuman, Jr. – Captain, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Arthur Shuman, Jr., a retired Naval officer, died in Ocala, Florida, on April 21, 2000. Born in Boston, Massachusettsn July 2, 1906, he attended Georgetown Prep and Georgetown University. Prior to WWII, he lived in Marblehead, Massachusetts and worked as a naval architect, yacht designer and broker in Boston for the firms, Eldridge-McInnis and Paine, Balknap and Skene, with such notables as Andrew Hepburn, Waldo Howland and Ray Hunt.

In 1937, he founded his own firm which designed and built, among other yachts, the popular ”Shuman Single Hander.” He was an accomplished yacht racing skipper and also served in the afterguard of several ocean racers of the day including the 1932 winner of the Bermuda race ”Highland Light” and the J class yacht, ”Rainbow.”

In 1940, he activated his US Naval Reserve commission and subsequently served as Commanding Officer of PC-584, PC-595, DE/APD USS Laning, USS Stack, USS Waldron, USS Beatty and the USS Ameb to Antartica on Operation Deep Freeze 1960. In addition he served as US Naval Academy sailing officer, gunnery officer on the 6th Fleet staff, and later, advisor to the Turkish Navy. He retired from the Navy in 1963 and moved to Stuart, Florida. His numerous decorations included two awards of the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat ”V.”

His primary interests were yacht racing and cruising. He was a member of the Destroyer Escort Association, the Cruising Club of America, the New York Yacht Club, the Cross Roads Yacht Club, the Royal Swedish Sailing Society. He was a past member of the Ocean Cruising Club, Royal Ocean Racing Club, Club de la Voile de Villefranche, Istanbul Yelken Klub, Annapolis Yacht Club, The Sailing Club of the Chesapeake, the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron, the Boston Yacht Club, the Corinthian Yacht Club, the Eastern Yacht Club and others.

He was married briefly to Barbara Smyth and later to Mary L. (Polly) Waterburg. He is survived by his children, Capt. Edwin A. Shuman, III,  Mary Russell, Sally Smyth, and Ann Mills; 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. A step-son, Francis P. Hamlin, died in August 1999.

A private graveside service will be conducted at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Naval Academy Sailing Foundation, 58 Bennio Rd., Annapolis, MD 21402-5054.

Read our general and most popular articles

Leave a Comment

error: