James Henry Carpenter James Henry Carpenter ( September 14 , 1846 – March 6 , 1898 ) was a 19th - century American engineer and industrialist who founded the Carpenter Steel Company ( renamed in 1968 as the Carpenter Technology Corporation ) . Born in Brooklyn , New York , he joined the Union Navy as a sailor at age 15 during the American Civil War , during which he was wounded in action . He was promoted to master ' s mate in the United States Navy for meritorious conduct and was appointed to the United States Naval Academy at age 16 . He resigned from the US Navy in 1865 , aged 19 , and studied engineering in New Jersey . On June 7 , 1889 , he founded the Carpenter Steel Company of Reading , Pennsylvania , becoming its general manager . Under his management , the company was a successful supplier of armor plating and ordnance to the US Navy . Early life . James Henry Carpenter was born in Brooklyn , Kings County , New York , on September 14 , 1846 , to Charles H . Carpenter and Elizabeth Mary Baylis . His father was a descendant of Rehoboth Carpenter family and of its founder William Carpenter ( born about 1605 in England ) , who migrated to America in 1638 on the " Bevis " . His mother was a descendant of John Bayles ( born about 1617 in England ) , an indentured servant who migrated to America in 1635 on the " Truelove " . Carpenter was the first of at least five children . His only brother ( born 1857 ) became a doctor and worked with Carpenter at the Carpenter Steel Company . Carpenter spent time on Long Island as a child , both in Jamaica , Queens , and in Brooklyn . Fascinated by sailing ships and by how things worked , he learned to sail small boats and said he wanted to be a sailor . He went to sea as a cabin boy in 1860 , aged 14 , with his father ' s permission . Civil War . In 1861 , at the start of the American Civil War , the 15 - year - old Carpenter enlisted as a sailor and was assigned to USS " Santee " , a recently commissioned 44 - gun wooden - hulled three - mast frigate under the command of Captain Henry Eagle . " Santee " arrived in the Gulf of Mexico in July , headed for Galveston , Texas , for Union blockade duty . Carpenter was present when " Santee " captured the Confederate States Navy schooner " C . P . Knapp " off the Florida coast and the CSN brig " Delta " off Galveston in October . He was selected for a night - time cutting out operation that was intended to capture and burn the Confederate armed steamer " General Rusk " . After the boats ran aground and it took time to free them , the officer in charge chose a picket boat called the " Royal Yacht " as an alternate target . They captured it at the cost of two lives , setting fire to it and taking a dozen prisoners . Carpenter was one of the wounded , having been stabbed in the thigh during the hand - to - hand fighting , and was mentioned in dispatches . At the end of December 1861 , " Santee " captured the CSN schooner " Garonne " . Shortly after , Carpenter was made acting master ' s mate of " Santee " . ( At that time a frigate carried two master ’ s mates , who were often senior and experienced sailors . In today ' s US Navy , a similar position is held by the senior chief petty officer ) . On February 11 , 1862 , Carpenter was appointed a master ' s mate and ordered to the flagship , USS " Niagara " . After evaluation he was appointed on February 21 , 1862 , as master ’ s mate to the steamer USS " R . R . Cuyler " and took part in the capture of several enemy vessels . On June 20 , 1862 , " R . R . Cuyler " s Captain reported that Carpenter ’ s good work " justifies the suggestion that he should endeavor to obtain admission to the U . S . Naval Academy " . Carpenter left " R . R . Cuyler " on September 22 , 1862 , and was assigned to until he was discharged as a sailor on November 28 , 1862 . He was appointed midshipman the next day . The United States Naval Academy ( USNA ) had been relocated to Fort Adams in Newport , Rhode Island , for the duration of the Civil War . Carpenter started there in December 1862 , when he was 16 . He lived , worked , and studied on the school ships " Constitution " and " Santee " , the latter having recently been decommissioned as a warship and recommissioned as a school ship . During Carpenter ' s academic work was generally good and he excelled in the sciences , but later he accumlated many demerits , which brought him restrictions and extra duties . Carpenter was one of the cadets who sailed on " Santee " on August 2 , 1865 , to return to the USNA at Annapolis , Maryland , where the strict pre - war discipline and decorum of spit and polish was reinstituted . It was harsh change for many cadet midshipmen , like Carpenter , who obtained many new demerits . At the end of his third year , he tendered his resignation . His reasons are unclear , but his father was contacted and no serious effort was made to retain Carpenter at the academy . " Letter No . 49 , dated 23 Nov 1865 " from Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter " regarding the resignation of James Henry Carpenter , age 19 , member of the 3rd class " indicates a deterioration in attitude and commitment . Carpenter was honorably discharged from the USNA on December 18 , 1865 , aged 19 . Marriages . Carpenter attended an engineering college in New Jersey , where he completed his studies . ( It may have been Rutgers University , but this has not been confirmed . ) While finishing school , he met Theodora Anna Silvera ( Siloena ) , born about September 2 , 1846 , in New Jersey . Her father Joseph was from Portugal and her mother Anna was born in England . Carpenter married Theodora in West Hoboken , New Jersey , on December 17 , 1867 . They lived for several years in Paterson , New Jersey , where their daughter Serena ( January 12 , 1868 – October 30 , 1870 ) and their first son Walter ( September 2 , 1870 – January 13 , 1895 ) were born . Carpenter became a block engineer and tinkered with metallurgy . By 1875 they were living in Brooklyn , where their daughter Ruth ( c . 1875 – c . 1900 / 1910 ) and second son Joseph William ( March 13 , 1879 – ? ) were born . Shortly after 1880 the family moved to Hartford , Connecticut , where Theodora died on February 2 , 1883 , from complications during childbirth . The baby , a daughter , was raised by Theodora ' s paternal grandmother . Walter , Ruth and Joseph would later stay with Theodora ' s parents while Carpenter focused on working . Carpenter then went to seek engineering work in Chicago , where he met Georgian Clara Smith ( born June 1865 in Canada ; died August 21 , 1930 ) of Saint Paul , Minnesota . They married on July 16 , 1884 , in Chicago , and their daughter Georgette was born there on October 8 , 1886 . They later had two sons , Harry Rudolph ( October 5 , 1889 – October 2 , 1903 ) and Wesley Folger ( November 4 , in Reading , Berks County , Pennsylvania . Carpenter Steel Company . In late 1887 , Carpenter went to Europe to study steel foundries and the metallurgy of steel . During this time he developed the improved processes that he would later patent . Carpenter returned home at the end of December 1888 looking for financial support to start his business . Working with a small group of New York capitalists , he found that the city council in Reading , Pennsylvania encouraged his efforts and that Reading would be an " ideal place " to put his ideas to work . Carpenter Steel Company , Inc . was incorporated on June 7 , 1889 , and Carpenter became its general manager . He leased the defunct Philadelphia and Reading rail mill in Reading , and eleven weeks later he was pouring steel for tools . Within a short time , 3 , 000 tons of steel had been produced and the company was receiving orders that exceeded the capacity of the mill . In November Carpenter acquired the nearby Union Foundry , which he modernized and expanded . The old Union Foundry is now the headquarters of the Carpenter Technology Corporation and is a specialty steel producer . Rob Engle describes Carpenter ' s approach as an employer in an essay for the Historical Society of Berks County : James Carpenter , founder of Carpenter Steel , believed strongly in the safety and welfare of his employees . Photographs of the era depict employees receiving medical care at company sponsored health clinics , clean dormitory rooms provided to workers , employees engaged in spirited games of baseball on a Carpenter Steel - maintained field at lunch time , and happy workers participating in a local parade . Far from being entirely company propaganda , Carpenter Steel ' s approach to employee relations is supported by the fact that five drives to unionize workers over the years all resulted in a rejection of union affiliation in favor of remaining a non - union shop . The company ' s policy was to " stay one step ahead of the union benefits and offer Carpenter employees all the advantages of union membership without joining . Carpenter bought property and built an Italianate house at 606 , North Fifth Street , Reading , which he called Swanona ( not Swannanoa ) . The house is slightly over a mile south of the Carpenter foundry , and Carpenter often walked to work . He became involved in community affairs as a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and later became a Vice Commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States , also known as the Union Veteran Legion , in Reading . These organizations gained him business contacts and led him to learn that specialty steel was needed by the U . S . Navy . Benjamin F . Tracy , the Secretary of the Navy from 1889 though 1893 during the administration of US President Benjamin Harrison , had been promoting a " New Navy " to replace the aged vessels of the Civil War era . One requirement was for three new battleships , for which the Navy needed both new , harder steel and projectiles that could pierce such steel . A contract for a critical specialized steel tool was signed in May 1890 . In June , Congress passed a commitment to increased funding for the new ships , giving rise to a need for new steel to pierce their armored plates , and in June 1891 a new contract was signed for armor - piercing projectiles of 4 – 13 inches ' diameter . From 1890 , Carpenter used a process for treating steel ingots by air hardening . Application for a patent was delayed at first , because the process was deemed a state secret . Carpenter filed an application on March 14 , 1895 , with the title " Apparatus for treating Ingots of Steel " , but there was a further delay before the patent was finally awarded on July 3 , 1900 . , the first modern United States battleship , was commissioned on November 20 , 1895 , and was considered a test bed for future battleships . This class of ship did not use Carpenter ’ s steel , but Harvey armor , in which only the facing of the steel plates was hardened . The belt armor plates on " Indiana " were at most eighteen inches thick , and most plates were far less . A standard 13 - inch gun used on the USS Indiana was expected to penetrate 10 – 12 inches of Harvey armor . Testing showed that Carpenter ' s projectiles fired from the same gun could achieve penetrations of up to 15 inches . In November 1896 , the Navy informed Congress that Carpenter ' s projectiles had tested successfully , calling them " the first made that would pierce improved armor plate " . When exploded in Havana Harbor , Cuba , on February 15 , 1898 , " Remember the Maine ! " became a rallying cry and the pace at Carpenter Steel became frantic as the demand for the new projectiles increased . Carpenter borrowed money against the value of his house to increase production . He was already in debt , but was considered a good credit risk because of the US Navy contracts . But these contracts used Carpenter Steel ' s entire production capacity , and payments were always late . Carpenter and the board members of Carpenter Steel Company became slightly estranged during the last part of 1897 . Increased debts , business costs , employee benefits and other economic factors were the main part of the problem . Carpenter offered to resign as general manager , but this was not accepted until March 1898 . The armor - piercing projectiles used during the Spanish – American War of 1898 , which devastated the Spanish fleets , were Carpenter projectiles . Letters later sent to Carpenter and to the Carpenter Steel Company gave glowing reports of their projectiles . Death and legacy . Carpenter never saw the letters , nor the success of his steel projectiles . During the frantic days of mid February 1898 , he worked long hours . He caught a cold but continued to walk to and from the foundry even during the cold rains . By the beginning of March he was bedridden , and on March 6 he died in his bed of pneumonia , aged 51 . He was buried on March 12 , 1898 , in lot 104 , Section S , in Charles Evans Cemetery , Reading . Within three months of his death , Carpenter ' s house and other belongings were sold to satisfy the debt collectors . It was not enough , and board members of Carpenter Steel Company had to pay the remainder . His wife and children became destitute and moved back to Brooklyn to be with the family . She was given $ 300 to restart her life , and from 1904 she received a widow ’ s pension from the US Government . In early 1899 , after the end of the Spanish – American War , the US Navy canceled its contracts because of overstock ing . With no other business opportunities pending , the company struggled for several years . The court appointed Robert E . Jennings , a marketing expert and former vice - president of another steel company , as receiver in 1903 , and he turned the company around . He was elected company president in 1904 and led the company through several years of innovation . Carpenter special steel was used in the early airplanes of the Wright brothers and in Glenn Curtiss aircraft and continues to be used in many types of high - performance craft .