David W. Taylor

David Watson Taylor (4 March 1864 – 28 July 1940) was an engineer of the United States Navy. He was best known as the man who constructed the first experimental towing tank ever built in the United States.

Related Topics:
4 March - 1864 - 28 July - 1940 - United States Navy - Towing tank

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Taylor was born in Louisa County, Va. He entered the United States Naval Academy after graduating from Randolph-Macon College in 1881. He graduated from the Academy in 1885 at the head of his class, setting a scholarship record. He was sent to Greenwich, England in 1885 and received the highest honors of the Royal Naval College in 1888, again setting a record.

Related Topics:
Louisa County - Va. - United States Naval Academy - Randolph-Macon College - 1881 - 1885 - Greenwich - Royal Naval College - 1888

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In August 1886, Taylor was appointed an assistant naval constructor.

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Early in his naval career he served on various stations and in 1909 acted as chief of the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair. He was the first American honored by award of a gold medal of the British Institute of Naval Architecture. In 1898 he constructed and had charge of the first

Related Topics:
1909 - Bureau of Construction and Repair - British Institute of Naval Architecture - 1898

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experimental tank for models of war vessels built in the United States. He was connected with boards dealing with hull changes of naval vessels. After the Titanic disaster, he was assigned to investigate the problem of making ships more seaworthy through better hull construction. On this duty, he served under the Secretary of Commerce and took a leading part in the International Conference on Safety at Sea, which grew out of the Titanic sinking.

Related Topics:
''Titanic'' - Secretary of Commerce

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He became chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, with the rank of Rear Admiral on 14 December 1914, and served through World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy. Taylor's active interest in aviation was stimulated by his appointment as a representative of the government on the National Research Council in 1916. In January, 1917, he was senior member of the Joint Army and Navy Technical Board for Design and Construction of a Zeppelin-type airship. Through the World War, Taylor supervised the creation of numbers of new ships for naval service. For this work the Navy bestowed upon him the Distinguished Service Medal, with the citation: "For exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility as Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair."

Related Topics:
Rear Admiral - 14 December - 1914 - World War I - National Research Council - 1916 - 1917 - Zeppelin - Airship - Distinguished Service Medal

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The French government made him a Commander of the Legion of Honor.

Related Topics:
French - Legion of Honor

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Rear Admiral Taylor also aided in the development of the NC-type flying boat, the first aircraft to make a transatlantic flight.

Related Topics:
NC-type - Flying boat - Transatlantic

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After his retirement from service, Taylor served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Aeronautical Inventions and Designs of the National Advisory Committee from its organization in March 1927. He was made chairman of the Subcommittee on Aerodynamics later that year. Long recognized as an international authority on naval architecture and marine engineering. Taylor applied the principles of hydrodynamics to the problem of aerodynamics. Following this new field of aviation, Taylor became one of the foremost authorities in the world in aerodynamics. He specialized on problems connected with the design of aircraft propellers and of seaplane floats and flying-boat hulls.

Related Topics:
1927 - Naval architecture - Marine engineering - Hydrodynamics - Aerodynamics

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In 1931, Taylor was awarded the John Fritz Medal, the highest honor of the American engineering profession, "for outstanding achievement in marine architecture, for revolutionary results of persistent research in hull design, for improvements in many types of warships and for distinguished service as chief constructor for the United States Navy during the World War."

Related Topics:
1931 - John Fritz Medal

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Shortly before his death, Taylor was appreciatively honored by the Navy R&D community. The new model basin constructed at Carderock, finest of its kind in the world, was dedicated as the David Taylor Model Basin in his presence in 1939. The Model Basin retains his name as a living memorial to this distinguished naval architect and marine engineer.

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Taylor died in Washington, D.C., 28 July 1940.

Related Topics:
Washington, D.C. - 28 July

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In 1942, the destroyer David W. Taylor (DD-551) was named in his honor.

Related Topics:
1942 - Destroyer - ''David W. Taylor''

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