William Henry White

Who was William Henry White?

Sir William Henry White was a prolific British warship designer and Chief Constructor at the Admiralty.

He was born in Devonport and became an apprentice at the naval dockyard there in 1859. In 1863 he obtained a scholarship to enter the newly formed Royal School of Naval Architecture in South Kensington, in London. After his apprenticeship he worked for the Admiralty on specifications and calculations for new ships, and became secretary to the then Chief Constructor of the Admiralty, Edward Reed, until the latter's resignation on 9 July 1870.

He was then appointed instructor on naval design at the Royal School of Naval Architecture, and in 1872 became secretary of the Council of Construction which oversaw all Royal Navy ship construction. From 1872–1873 he worked at Pembroke and Portsmouth Dockyards.

In March 1875 he was promoted to Assistant Constructor and married later in that year. He also published his A Manual of Naval Architecture. For the use of Officers of the Royal Navy, Shipbuilders. He resigned from the Admiralty in April 1883 and joined Sir William Armstrong's company as designer and manager of their warship construction.