Frank O. Braynard was a prominent American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author and maritime historian. Born Francis Osborn Braynard in Glen Cove, New York, he was educated at Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

 (receiving a degree in history in 1939) and later took a master's in maritime history at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Along with Nils Hansell, Braynard launched the world's first Operation Sail

Operation Sail

Operation Sail refers to a series of sailing events held to celebrate special occasions and features sailing vessels from around the world. Each event is coordinated by Operation Sail, Inc., a non-profit organization established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and must be approved by the...

, an extravanganza in which tall ships and naval vessels filled New York harbor, in 1964. He was chief organizer for OpSail 76, marking the bicentennial

United States Bicentennial

The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic...

 of the United States of America.

Braynard was also one of the creators of South Street Seaport

South Street Seaport

The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District. The Seaport is a designated historic district, distinct from the neighboring Financial District...

, a complex of shops and urban amenities built in several blocks of old waterfront buildings on the East River in New York City.

He died on December 10, 2007 at the age of 91.

Author

Frank is the author of 34 books including the six-volume encyclopedic work on the ocean liner, SS Leviathan

SS Leviathan

SS Leviathan, originally built as SS Vaterland, was an ocean liner which regularly sailed the North Atlantic briefly in 1914 and from 1917 to 1934...

• "Lives of the Liners", 1947.
• "Fifty Years on N.Y. Ship", 1949.
• "Famous American Ships"1956
• "The Story of Ships", 1962
• "S.S. Savannah", The Elegant Steamship, 1963
• "By Their Works Ye Shall Know Them", 1968
• "Leviathan, Vol I", 1972
• "Marine Collection of India House", 1973
• "Leviathan, Vol II"1974
• "Leviathan, Vol III", 1976
• "Leviathan, Vol IV, "1978
• "Great Liners", 1978 (co-author)
• "Famous American Ships", 1978 (revised edition)
• "Sail, Steam & Splendor", 1978 (co-author)
• "Romance of the Sea", 1980 (co-author)
• "Leviathan, Vol V"1981
• "Big Ship", 1981
• "Il Nastro Zaaurro", 1981 - in Italian
• "Famous Fifty Liners, Volume I" 1982, with Bill Miller
• "Leviathan, Vol VI", 1983
• "Famous Fifty Liners, Volume II", 1985, with Bill Miller
• "Picture History of the Normandie
  Normandie
  Normandie may refer to:* The region of Normandy in north-west France and the Channel Islands* Normandie , iron-clad battleship of the 1860s.* Normandie class battleships from World War I...
  
  ", 1987
• "Fifty Famous Liners, Vol III"1987, with Bill Miller
• "SS Savannah
  SS Savannah
  SS Savannah was an American hybrid sailing ship/sidewheel steamer built in 1818. She is notable for being the first steamship in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean, a feat that was accomplished from May to June 1819, although only a fraction of the distance was covered with the ship under steam...
  
  ",1988,Revised Edition
• "Story of Titanic in Postcards", 1988
• "Salute to The Crown", 1988
• "Classic Ocean Liners, Vol I", 1990
• "Picture History of the Cunard Line
  Cunard Line
  Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
  
  ", 1990, with Bill Miller
• "U.S. Steamships", 1991"
• "The Tall Ships of Today in Photographs", 1993, Dover Publications 0-486-27163-3
• "Classic Ocean Liners, Vol II", 1994

Artist

Sketchbooks include

• "Ship Sketchbook", 1962 includes 12 sketches
• Tugman's Sketchbook", 1965
• "From Fire Island to Venice", 1966
• "One Square Mile: A Sea Cliff Sketchbook, 1967
• "1976 Operation Sale Portfolio"
• "Search for the Tall Ships"
• "American Troopships Past and Present"
• United States Passenger Ships Over the Years"
• "A Sketcher's Paradise"
• "Saltaire Sketches"
• "From Sea Cliff" to Barcelona: A Lifetime in Sketches", 1995, 1-879-180-11

Maritime Historian

• "Assistant Marine Editor, New York Herald Tribune"
• " Former Curator, Museum at United States Merchant Marine Academy
  United States Merchant Marine Academy
  The United States Merchant Marine Academy is one of the five United States Service academies...
  
   located at Kings Point, NY
• "Co-founder South Street Seaport
  South Street Seaport
  The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District. The Seaport is a designated historic district, distinct from the neighboring Financial District...
  
   and were also involved in organizing Operation Sail
  Operation Sail
  Operation Sail refers to a series of sailing events held to celebrate special occasions and features sailing vessels from around the world. Each event is coordinated by Operation Sail, Inc., a non-profit organization established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and must be approved by the...
  
   run in New York in 1976 and 1986.

External links

• The Frank O. Braynard Commemorative Sail Around Long Island
• Howard Slotnick, Frank Braynard, and Peter Stanford
• http://www.alir.org/cronkiterev.pdf Letter from Walter Cronkite
  Walter Cronkite
  Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
  
  supporting the Frank O. Braynard Commemorative Sail Around Long Island
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/nyregion/14braynard.html?em&ex=1197781200&en=e6278c9d9dd729a6&ei=5087%0A# Frank Osborn (not Osmond) Braynard obituary - December 14, 2007, New York Times