The Washington herald., 1914-12-20

erature Of the art he was awarded 4
gold medal by the institution-the only
American ever so honored during the
J half century of the life Of the associa
/ tion.
! Chief Constructor Taylor is even more
than a naval architect; he Is a marine
engineer besides. This is an unusual
combination Of technical talents. Proof
of IL was given thirteen years ago In a
conspicuous manner. In 1901 the AmeTi'
can Society Of Naval Architects and
, Marine Engineers offered prizes for the
best paper on Theoretical and Practi-
cal Methods Of Balancing Marine En-
ginCs." a question that was very much
to the front
The papers were submitted anOny-
mously in the competition and there
were many of them sent in. The first
prize was won by Naval Constructor
TAYLOR and the second prize went to the
late Rear Admiral George w. Melville.
then engineer in chief of the United
States navy and the senior Of Capt. Tay-
Ior by a good many years.
For the past twenty years Taylor has
taken an important part in the design
ing of every naval vessel planned in the
Navy Department. which means in ef-
feet every fighting ship now In active
service. Ever since the experimental
model basin at the navy yard, Wash
ington, has been i'm operation it has been
under the immediate supervision Of the
new chief constructor. In truth. the
basin, itself, was planned by him and
well nigh all Of its remarkable features
are the product of his fertile brain.
Year by year, he has given to the world
professional papers of the greatest value
dealing with one phase or another OF
the many sided subject OF forming
ship so that she may meet the service
requirements and yet make the desired
speeds with a minimum of prOpulsive
effort. Here is where his astounding
economies have been made possible.
Scores of instances might be detailed
illustrating how he has effected these
savings, but the mere mention OF the
broad principles involved will have to
suffice Up to the time Capt. Taylor
took charge Of the model experimental
ba sin, or tank as Il Is commonly called.
American ships were designed by a sys-
TEN of empirical comparison based upon
the more or less kindred forms of other
craft in service. At best II was a sort
OF cropping in the dark. and designers
but imperfectly realized how much the
resistance to propulsion would change
II a ships under water body were mod
flied in some direction.
So, too, the engineer planned with
liberal margin of weight, and well nigh
made his engine more pow
erful than his calculations called for in
order that he might have a certainty of
reserve energy upon which he could
draw to force the craft through the
water at the desired maximum speed.
This was crude and it was not econOm-
ical: because IL meant an excess of
dead weight in the engines; it called,
for a heavier first cost than was ac-
tuaIly needful, and II added just so
much more to the fuel bill and to the
outlays for maintenance and repair.
The model experimental basin revo-
lutionized these rule-of-thumb methods
and, as, year by year. research data and
the results of finished ships accumu-
lated by means Of the tank, Capt. Tay-
lor was able to Improve the models of
prospective ships so that for a given dis
placement the craft could be driven at
their best speeds with relatively less
horsepower. This meant lighter en-
gines, cheaper first cost and economies
in upkeep and fuel consumption.
More than that, he was able to find
ou. in advance just how he could change
the shape OF the ship to be to the best
advantage. and, at the modest outlay
involved in building and towing a wood
ed model or two, he was able to tell
just what the great full sized craft would
do on trial and prescribe within very