Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-05-21
|bEURET TO SUCCEED
ADMIRAL TAYLOR
Chief Naval Constructor to
Retire After Distinguished
Service.
IDEAS RULE OTHER NAVIES
Genius Reflected in Modern Craft.
Holds Scholarship Records in
England and Annapolis.
IDEAS RULE OTHER NAVIES

\ by the Associs ted Press.
! Capt. John d. Beuret was nominated
yesterday by President Harding 10 be
chief naval constructor and chief of
the bureau of construction and repair
of the Navy Department, with the
rank of rear admiral
| The nomination of Capt. Beuret means
not only the elevation of new man 10
| one of the most important Offices in the
/ naval establishment, but foreshadows
the retirement in July II Rear Admiral
David W. Taylor. who has been chief
of the bureau for more than eight
years and who is understood to have
asked for leave from July until the
date in December when he viii he
| eligible for retirement by reason Of con-
tinued service of more than thirty-fye
years. Admiral Taylor expects to re-
tire to his farm in Virginia.
The retirement Of Admiral Taylor
| marks the passing from the active naval
service of one of the most distinguished
technical officers ever graduated from
the Naval Academy. Among the naval
architects of the world. Admiral lay
| Tor is generally accorded a place not
admitted by foreign nava! officers as
well as those in the American service
that his genius is more largely reflect
ed in the design Of modern battlecra1l
of all navies today than that of ans
other single individual in the world,
Admiral Taylor was graduated from
the Naval Academy with standing
| in mathematics and general average
of standing in all studies that has
never been equaled. On the year of
,, iar he nnnfl a a hdn
been laid for the building of the new
American Navy and he was first OF
the American naval constructors who
was assigned under an agreement
with the British government TO corr
plete his professional studies al tns
Royal College of Naval Constructors,
then located at Greenwich. England.
Again at that highly technical and
highly developed school for special
lists in warship construction, Admiral
Taylor achieved marks in his courses
which had never before and have
| never since been equaled in that
school.
Fathered Model Basin.
Practically the entire period of Ad-
miral Taylors active service has been
spent in the bureau of construction
and repair in Washington where il
! was his effort and vision that result
| ed in the estab Enlistment many years
ago of the model basin at Washing
ten navy yard BY means of that sys-
TEN of testing hull models Of war
vessels il has been possible. as he
rcd!cted, to determine accurately in
advance of laying down of the keel
even of such a monster as the 10000
ton battle cruisers now under con
struction. the exact speed the ship
would be able to make with a given
horsepower in her en- ines.
During his work at the model basin
and before he became head of the
bureau of construction and repair.
Admiral Taylor worked out through
a long series Of tests with special
models. the laws that govern the re-
sistance of the water and control the
speed and many other factors relating
| TO new ships. This data he compiled
! into books on shin Skin Friction.
which are the standard of the naval
architects OF the world
Admiral Taylor is also generally
credited among naval officers with
| being responsible for the development
; in all navies of the present type OF
battle ships and other major hgbting
| craft with turrets on the center line
| of the ship. permitting almost an all
around fire. BY this practire II is
possible with new ships TO @concen-
| trate the entire main battery on
1 either broadside OF deliver half the
| fire of the battery directly forward.
| or directly aft
Opinion sOuGht-oE brHfHh'
During the war Admiral Taylor
practically controlled the letting of
contracts for hundreds of millions of
dollars in new naval ships. including
the 35-knot destroyers built for the
purpose of crushing German sub
marine attacks. Under his bureau
also was developed the monster sea-
plane n CT, which after the war
successfully crossed the Atlantic
ocean.
An indication of the esteem in
which Admiral Taylor is held in other
countries came when the British liner
Titanic and the British cruiser Hawk
were in collision in the Mersey river
near Liverpool some years before the
war. The British Board of Trade
and the British admiralty failed 10
reach a decision as to responsibility
for the ybroadside crash or any ex-
PLANTATION of the accident. The ad-
miralty and the White Star line Joined
in request to the United States gov
eminent that Admiral Taylor he sent
over to give expert testimony. He
went and promptly solved the mys-
terry by explaining the laws OF force
that operated to draw the Hawk
against the side of the Titanic as the
vast hull of the liner was slowly
passing the small cruiser.