Palmer Johnson traces to Sturgeon Bay Boat Works, founded in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in 1918 by Hans Johnson and Herman Gmack, and renamed Palmer Johnson Yachts in 1956. The yard became a pioneer of aluminium construction from the 1960s and built custom motor and sailing yachts up to roughly 60 metres for private and royal clients, before its yacht-building division was sold separately from the parent company in 2000. From the Sturgeon Bay era, Fortuna, a 30.48-metre motor yacht built for King Juan Carlos of Spain and launched in 1979, reached a reported 46 knots and stood as the world's fastest yacht for over a decade.
Palmer Johnson's run of aluminium sailing yachts began in 1962 with Isanti and culminated in 1966 with the 35.6-metre ketch Firebird, reported as the world's largest aluminium sailing yacht on delivery. That programme established the yard's aluminium-construction expertise more than a decade before Fortuna, giving Palmer Johnson a reputation for lightweight, long-distance builds that carried through to its later motor yacht work.
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