Skip to main content

Navy

(Image not displayed)
Society: ASMEMain Category: Naval EngineeringSub Category: Steam, WaterEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1892Creator: U.S. Navy

The U.S.S. Olympia is one of the two surviving ships of the era of the vertical reciprocating steam engine. The Cruiser Olympia, launched in 1892, was one of the first naval ships to be built with these engines. As part of the new American steel Navy, the construction of the Olympia was authorized in 1888 as cruiser number 6. As part of a Congressionally-mandated program to establish complete domestic capability for warship construction, the ship's contract was awarded to the Union Iron Works of San Francisco.

(Image not displayed)
Society: ASMEMain Category: Civil, Naval EngineeringSub Category: Water, Transportation, Vehicles, Water TransportationEra: 2000-presentDateCreated: 179915 Mcdonough St, PortsmouthState: NHCountry: USA

The Portsmouth Navy Yard is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuously operating shipyard. Today, most of its work concerns the overhaul, repair, and modernization of submarines. he Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was established on June 12, 1800, during the administration of President John Adams.

Image Caption: L-8 in 1917, the first submarine ever built by a U. S. navy yard
Turbinia
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Water TransportationEra: 1890-1899DateCreated: 1897Tyne and Wear Museums ServiceNewcastle upon TyneZip: NE1 4Country: UKWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/water-transportation/-73-turbinia-%281897%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/49f372ec-0fe3-4447-bcc2-30b5b58e7032/73-Turbinia-1897.aspxCreator: Parsons, Charles Algernon, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company

The Turbinia was the world's first turbine-driven ship. It attracted worldwide attention at the 1897 Spithead Naval Review by traveling more than 34 knots. This remarkable performance accelerated the acceptance of the steam turbine as an alternative to the steam reciprocating engine on ships as well as for central electric light and power stations. Sir Charles A. Parsons (1854-1931) invented (1884), developed, and promoted the steam turbine, as well as the design of the Turbinia. For this, he is considered among the outstanding technological innovators of all time.

YearAdded:
1982
Image Credit: Public Domain (Copyright Expired)Image Caption: TurbiniaEra_date_from: 1897
SS Great Britain
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Water TransportationEra: 1840-1849DateCreated: 1843Great Western DockyardBristolZip: BS1 6TYCountry: UKWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/water-transportation/-97-ss-great-britain-%281843%29Creator: Patterson, William

The innovative SS Great Britain, launched in 1843, was the first iron-hulled, screw-propelled ship to cross any ocean and led mercantile history into British domination in the late nineteenth century. Standard practice of naval and merchant ship construction derived from this ship. The compartmented hull, unprecedented 1,500-horsepower engine with chain drive, and many other seminal features were the designs of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. New design features included a balanced rudder, an electric log, a double bottom, and water-tight bulkheads.

YearAdded:
1984
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Terry Whalebone (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: SS Great BritainEra_date_from: 1843
Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility
Society: ASCEMain Category: CivilSub Category: BuildingsEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1943Icarus WayAieState: HIZip: 96701Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Red-Hill-Underground-Fuel-Storage-Facility/Creator: U.S. Navy, Goodrich Tire Company

Conceived in the early years of World War II as a plan to bury four fuel containers horizontally in a hillside at the U.S. Navy facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility ultimately encompassed the design and construction of 20 vertical storage tanks - each large enough to contain a 20-story building - buried in the volcanic hillside and connected by tunnels to a harbor-side pumping station more than two-and-a-half miles away.

YearAdded:
1994
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikicommons/Leslie Nelson (CC BY-SA 4.0)Image Caption: Above-ground fuel storage tanks at Pearl Harbor prior to the construction of Red Hill.Era_date_from: 1943
Society: SWEMain Category: Women in EngineeringSub Category: ComputingEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1959 UniversityLock HavenState: PAZip: 17745Country: USACreator: Hopper, Grace Murray
A curious child who dissembled the clocks in her parent's home, Grace Hopper graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in mathematics and physics. She continued her education at Yale University by completing a masters and Ph.D. in mathematics. She then returned to Vassar to teach. During World War II, Hopper joined the Navy and was sworn into the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1943. After training, she was commissioned as a lieutenant and assigned to the Bureau of Ordinance Computation Project at Harvard University. She became the third person to program the Harvard Mark I computer.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Smithsonian InstituteImage Caption: Grace Hopper sits at the UNIVAC Computer.Era_date_from: 1959
Goodyear Airdock
Society: ASCEMain Category: Aerospace & AviationSub Category: AviationEra: 1920-1929DateCreated: 1929 Fulton International Airport (AKC)AkronState: OHZip: 44306Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asce.org/Project/Goodyear-Airdock/Creator: Arnstein, Karl , Wilbur Watson Engineering Company

Wind dynamics were a major consideration in building such a huge structure. When winds blow against the building, they are deflected up over the roof, creating a partial vacuum that can draw the roof up with a force several times greater than the direct force of the wind. Wind tunnel testing on a model helped designers decide that a semi-parabolic shape would best resolve air current concerns.

YearAdded:
1980
Image Credit: Public Domain (National Park Service)Image Caption: Goodyear AirdockEra_date_from: 1929
Society: ASMEMain Category: MechanicalSub Category: Air and Space TransportationEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1942Air ZooKalamazooState: MIZip: 49002Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-a-l/air-and-space-transportation/-238-grumman-wildcat--sto-wing-wing-folding-mecha, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/2d64abc8-3fa3-4d29-92d4-40db4777e8b2/238-Grumman-Wildcat-Sto-Wing-Wing-folding-Mechanism.aspxCreator: Grumman, Leroy

The Wildcat's innovative "Sto-Wing" mechanism developed on the XF4F-4 prototype by Leroy (Roy) Grumman (1895-1982), a founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, was crucial to the U. S. Navy's success during World War II.

The idea of a folding wing was not new: as early as 1920, F.M. Osborne patented a high-wing monoplane with folding wings, but never produced this design. A 1928 plane with folding wings designed by W. Leonard Bonney crashed on its first flight.

YearAdded:
2006
Image Credit: Public Domain (US Navy)Image Caption: Grumman Wildcat “Sto-Wing” Wing-folding MechaEra_date_from: 1942
Subscribe to Navy

Innovations

The Wildcat's innovative "Sto-Wing" mechanism developed on the XF4F-4 prototype by Leroy (Roy) Grumman (1895-1982), a founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, was crucial to the U. S. Navy's success during World War II.

The idea of a folding wing was not new: as early as 1920…

Read More
Goodyear Airdock

Wind dynamics were a major consideration in building such a huge structure. When winds blow against the building, they are deflected up over the roof, creating a partial vacuum that can draw the roof up with a force several times greater than the direct force of the wind. Wind tunnel testing on…

Read More
A curious child who dissembled the clocks in her parent's home, Grace Hopper graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in mathematics and physics. She continued her education at Yale University by completing a masters and Ph.D. in mathematics. She then returned to Vassar to teach. During World… Read More
Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility

Conceived in the early years of World War II as a plan to bury four fuel containers horizontally in a hillside at the U.S. Navy facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility ultimately encompassed the design and construction of 20 vertical storage tanks - each…

Read More
SS Great Britain

The innovative SS Great Britain, launched in 1843, was the first iron-hulled, screw-propelled ship to cross any ocean and led mercantile history into British domination in the late nineteenth century. Standard practice of naval and merchant ship construction derived from this ship. The…

Read More
Turbinia

The Turbinia was the world's first turbine-driven ship. It attracted worldwide attention at the 1897 Spithead Naval Review by traveling more than 34 knots. This remarkable performance accelerated the acceptance of the steam turbine as an alternative to the steam reciprocating engine on ships as…

Read More
(Image not displayed)

The Portsmouth Navy Yard is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuously operating shipyard. Today, most of its work concerns the overhaul, repair, and modernization…

Read More
(Image not displayed)

The U.S.S. Olympia is one of the two surviving ships of the era of the vertical reciprocating steam engine. The Cruiser Olympia, launched in 1892, was one of the first naval ships to be built with these engines. As part of the new American steel Navy, the construction of the Olympia was…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.