William Price Williamson William Price Williamson ( August 1884 – 17 August 1918 ) was an officer in the United States Navy . Biography . Born in Norfolk , Virginia , Williamson was appointed midshipman on 29 June 1903 and graduated from the Naval Academy with the class of 1907 , in the advanced section of that class , on 12 September 1906 . Assigned to " Indiana " ( Battleship No . 1 ) , he landed from that ship at Kingston , Jamaica , in January 1907 and was cited by his commanding officer for his efficient work in a rescue party during fires resulting from an earthquake there . Williamson later joined " Kansas " ( Battleship No . 21 ) and made the globe - girdling cruise of the Great White Fleet ( 1907 – 1908 ) in her before he was ordered to Washington , D . C . , in March 1909 for " ordnance instruction . " From there , he went to " Utah " ( Battleship No . 31 ) in October 1911 . While in that dreadnought , he commanded the gun battery of " Utah ' s " landing force during the landings at Veracruz , Mexico , in April 1914 . Wiliamson inspected ordnance at the E . W . Bliss and Co . , Brooklyn , New York , from 1914 to 1916 before he joined " Galveston " ( Cruiser No . 17 ) on 13 May 1916 for a brief tour of duty . He then journeyed to the Asiatic Station to become the Inspector of Ordnance and Powder at the Naval Magazine and Chemical Laboratory , Olongapo , Philippines ( later called the Naval Ammunition Depot , Olongapo ) on 7 July 1916 . Returning to the United States in the spring of 1918 , he was assigned duty assisting in the fitting out of " Orizaba " ( Id . No . 1536 ) and became the ship ' s first executive officer when that transport was commissioned . Williamson then worked closely with the ship ' s commanding officer , Captain R . Drace White — another ordnance expert — in developing a workable depth charge thrower for use on board transports , in the hope of providing them with some measure of protection of their own . Wiliamson ' s invention was a modified Lyle gun ( one used for line - throwing in rescue operations ) . In the first test on 16 August 1918 , the crude depth charge projector hurled a 50 - pound charge approximately 150 feet . However , before using their creation in actual operations against submarines trailing her convoy , the two officers wanted at least one more test with a larger propellant charge . Accordingly , on 17 August 1918 , they commenced another experiment — one that proved to be a disaster . Williamson fired the gun , but a defective fuse caused the depth charge to explode prematurely , killing him instantly . The blast knocked Capt . White to the deck ( with a broken jaw , broken knee , and flesh wounds ) , and killed three sailors . In addition , four other officers and 22 other enlisted men were wounded in the tragic explosion . For his work , however , Williamson was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously . William Price Williamson was the grandson of Confederate Chief Engineer William Price Williamson of North Carolina . Confederate Chief Engineer Williamson has been credited with first suggesting that the hull of the U . S . S . Merrimack could be used to build the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia ( Davis , William C . , " Duel Between The First Ironclads " ) . Another descendant of Confederate Chief Engineer William Price Williamson is Admiral Dennis Cutler Blair , United States Navy ( Ret . ) , nominated for the post of Director of National Intelligence in the Obama administration . Namesake . USS " Williamson " ( DD - 244 ) was named for him .