Historian Dr. Larrie Ferreiro considered the Rainbow “the first of a line of ‘extreme’ clippers, with a fine, raked bow, high deadrise, and hollow waterlines.”[1] The ship was known for fast passages but reportedly went “missing with all hands” in 1848.

His first book, Treatise on Marine and Naval Architecture, was initially published in twelve monthly installments, from January to December 1850.

Dr. Larrie Ferreiro wrote, "It was the first American book to extensively treat both the practical and theoretical aspects of ship design and construction .

Their first issue was published in October 1854 with the stated goal of “cultivating marine architecture in the United States.”[1][12] One year later it was renamed The US Nautical Magazine and Naval Journal.

Griffiths wrote numerous essays on maritime topics, including why wood was preferable to iron as a shipbuilding material.

In October 1862 Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles appointed Griffiths as superintendent of gun boats under Samuel Moore Pook.

[1][16] He earned a prize at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876 although carriage-maker Samuel R. Bailey always claimed that Griffiths had copied his invention.

[1] [18] Historian William Brown Meloney dedicated his 1916 book The Heritage of Tyre “to the memory of John Willis Griffiths, whose genius revolutionized the science of merchant shipbuilding and naval architecture and enthroned the United States as Mistress of the Seas.”[19] Marion H. Virnelson, Griffiths’ granddaughter, donated his belongings to the Smithsonian Institution in 1937.

[21] Meloney had written back in 1916, "Ocean conqueror by sail and by steam, he sleeps as he died, unhonored and unsung --- forgotten by a heedless people .

"[19] During World War II the Liberty ship SS John W. Griffiths was built in Panama City, Florida, and named in his honor.

[9] In May 2003, the trimaran (multi-hulled vessel) Great American II sailed from Hong Kong to Sandy Hook in fewer than 73 days.