George W. Melville
Military Person
1841 – 1912
Who was George W. Melville?
Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville, USN was an engineer, Arctic explorer and author. As chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering, he headed a time of great expansion, technological progress and change, often in defiance of the conservative element of the Navy hierarchy. He superintended the design of 120 ships and introduced the water-tube boiler, the triple-screw propulsion system, vertical engines, the floating repair ship, and the "distilling ship." Appointed Engineer in Chief of the Navy, Melville reformed the service entirely, putting Navy engineers on a professional rather than an artisan footing.
Melville also established the Engineering Experiment Station near the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. As Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy, he fought hard to get an appropriation of $400,000 for an experiment and testing laboratory to be located at Annapolis. He argued that such a facility would be a dependable means for testing machinery and equipment before its installation in Navy ships and aid training engineering officers. Both, he surmised, would increase the efficiency of the Navy.
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- Born
- Jan 10, 1841
New York City - Also known as
- George Melville
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Education
- Polytechnic Institute of New York University
- Employment
- Boston Pizza
- Died
- Mar 17, 1912
Philadelphia
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
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"George W. Melville." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/george_w_melville>.
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