Howard Irving Chapelle (February 1, 1901 – June 30, 1975) was an American naval architect, and curator of maritime history at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
[2] During World War II, Chapelle served in the United States Army Transportation Corps ship and boatbuilding program, rising to lieutenant colonel.
In 1956/57, he served the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization as a consultant on fishing boat construction to the government of Turkey.
Upon returning to America, he was appointed Division of Transportation curator of the National Museum of History and Technology.
He felt that inexpensive yachts based on traditional workboats were the most practical way to go sailing and designed a number of small boats.