Naval Consulting Board
Encyclopedia
The Naval Consulting Board, also known as the Naval Advisory Board (a name used in the 1880s for two previous committees), was a US Navy organization established in 1915 by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels
. Daniels created the Board during World War I
, but two years before the U.S. entered the war, to provide "machinery and facilities for utilizing the natural inventive genius of Americans to meet the new conditions of warfare. Daniels was worried that the U.S. was unprepared for the new conditions of warfare and needed new technology.
Daniels asked Thomas Edison
to be president of the Board but, because of his deafness, William Saunders was elected Chairman. There were 24 members, including Elmer Sperry
, Peter Hewitt
, Hudson Maxim
, Matthew Bacon Sellers II, Howard E. Coffin
, Andrew J. Riker, Thomas Robbins, W.R. Whitney, L.H. Baekelan, Frank Julian Sprague
, Benjamin G. Lamme
, Robert Simpson Woodward
, Arthur Gordan Webster, Andrew Murray Hunt, Alfred Craven, William Lawrence Saunders, Benjamin Bowditch Thayer, Joseph William Richards, Lawrence Addicks, William Le Roy Emmet
, Spencer Miller, and Henry Alexander Wise Wood. Later, the physicists Arthur Compton
and Robert Andrews Millikan joined the Board, as well as Lee De Forest
, inventor of the radio tube.
Initially the Board had no legal status, budget or staff, and its mission was unclear. Not until August 1916 did the US Congress appropriate $25000 for its operation.
The initial publicity surrounding its creation resulted in a flood of suggestions about how to improve the US Navy's ships, totalling 110,000 during the war. The Board's members decided that they could be most effective if they divided into technical committees to utilise their specialist expertise, including the Committee on Aeronautics and Aeronautical Motors. They provided consultants and arranged for research to be carried out in established civilian laboratories.
During World War I, the board was responsible for approving camouflage schemes for civilian ships, including one invented by William MacKay
. One of the most significant committees was that on Industrial Preparedness, which drew up an inventory of manufacturing capacity and sought to develop common manufacturing standards.
On 10 February 1917 the Board established a Special Problems Committee with a Subcommittee on Submarine Detection by Sound. This led to the collaboration of the Submarine Signalling Company, the General Electric Co and Western Electric Co in experiments on the problem. An experimental station was established at Nahant, Massachusetts
.
On May 11, 1917 the Secretary of the Navy created a Special Board on Antisubmarine Detection "for the purpose of procuring either through original research, experiment and manufacture, or through development of ideas and devices submitted by inventors at large, suitable apparatus for both offensive and defensive operations against submarines". Dr. Millikan of the United States National Research Council
, Dr. Whitney of the General Electric Co., Dr. Jewett of the Western Electric Co., and Mr. Fay of the Submarine Signal Co. were appointed as advisory members.
Josephus Daniels
Josephus Daniels was a newspaper editor and publisher from North Carolina who was appointed by United States President Woodrow Wilson to serve as Secretary of the Navy during World War I...
. Daniels created the Board during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but two years before the U.S. entered the war, to provide "machinery and facilities for utilizing the natural inventive genius of Americans to meet the new conditions of warfare. Daniels was worried that the U.S. was unprepared for the new conditions of warfare and needed new technology.
Daniels asked Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
to be president of the Board but, because of his deafness, William Saunders was elected Chairman. There were 24 members, including Elmer Sperry
Elmer Ambrose Sperry
Elmer Ambrose Sperry was a prolific inventor and entrepreneur, most famous as co-inventor, with Herman Anschütz-Kaempfe of the gyrocompass.Sperry was born at Cincinnatus, New York, United States of America...
, Peter Hewitt
Peter Cooper Hewitt
Peter Cooper Hewitt was an American electrical engineer and inventor, who invented the first mercury-vapor lamp in 1901. Hewitt was issued U.S. patent #682692 on September 17, 1901. In 1903, Hewitt created an improved version that possessed higher colour qualities which eventually found widespread...
, Hudson Maxim
Hudson Maxim
Hudson Maxim , was a U.S. inventor and chemist who invented a variety of explosives, including smokeless gunpowder. He was the brother of Hiram Stevens Maxim, inventor of the Maxim gun and uncle of Hiram Percy Maxim, inventor of the Maxim Silencer.Maxim was a man of many talents...
, Matthew Bacon Sellers II, Howard E. Coffin
Howard E. Coffin
Howard Earle Coffin was an American engineer and industrialist. He was one of the founders of the Hudson Motor Car Company with Roy D. Chapin...
, Andrew J. Riker, Thomas Robbins, W.R. Whitney, L.H. Baekelan, Frank Julian Sprague
Frank J. Sprague
Frank Julian Sprague was an American naval officer and inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators...
, Benjamin G. Lamme
Benjamin G. Lamme
Benjamin Garver Lamme was an electrical engineer and chief engineer at Westinghouse, where he was responsible for the design of electrical power machines...
, Robert Simpson Woodward
Robert Simpson Woodward
Robert Simpson Woodward was an American physicist and mathematician, born at Rochester, Michigan. He graduated C.E. at the University of Michigan in 1872 and was appointed assistant engineer on the United States Lake Survey. In 1882 he became assistant astronomer for the United States Transit of...
, Arthur Gordan Webster, Andrew Murray Hunt, Alfred Craven, William Lawrence Saunders, Benjamin Bowditch Thayer, Joseph William Richards, Lawrence Addicks, William Le Roy Emmet
William Le Roy Emmet
William Le Roy Emmet was an electrical engineer who made major contributions to alternating current power systems including the design of large rotary converters....
, Spencer Miller, and Henry Alexander Wise Wood. Later, the physicists Arthur Compton
Arthur Compton
Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery of the Compton effect. He served as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.-Early years:...
and Robert Andrews Millikan joined the Board, as well as Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest
Lee De Forest was an American inventor with over 180 patents to his credit. De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that takes relatively weak electrical signals and amplifies them. De Forest is one of the fathers of the "electronic age", as the Audion helped to usher in the widespread use...
, inventor of the radio tube.
Initially the Board had no legal status, budget or staff, and its mission was unclear. Not until August 1916 did the US Congress appropriate $25000 for its operation.
The initial publicity surrounding its creation resulted in a flood of suggestions about how to improve the US Navy's ships, totalling 110,000 during the war. The Board's members decided that they could be most effective if they divided into technical committees to utilise their specialist expertise, including the Committee on Aeronautics and Aeronautical Motors. They provided consultants and arranged for research to be carried out in established civilian laboratories.
During World War I, the board was responsible for approving camouflage schemes for civilian ships, including one invented by William MacKay
William MacKay
William Andrew Mackay was an American artist who created a series of murals about the achievements of Theodore Roosevelt. Those three murals, completed in 1936, were installed beneath the rotunda in the Roosevelt Memorial Hall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York...
. One of the most significant committees was that on Industrial Preparedness, which drew up an inventory of manufacturing capacity and sought to develop common manufacturing standards.
On 10 February 1917 the Board established a Special Problems Committee with a Subcommittee on Submarine Detection by Sound. This led to the collaboration of the Submarine Signalling Company, the General Electric Co and Western Electric Co in experiments on the problem. An experimental station was established at Nahant, Massachusetts
Nahant, Massachusetts
Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,632 at the 2000 census. With just of land area, it is the smallest municipality by area in the state...
.
On May 11, 1917 the Secretary of the Navy created a Special Board on Antisubmarine Detection "for the purpose of procuring either through original research, experiment and manufacture, or through development of ideas and devices submitted by inventors at large, suitable apparatus for both offensive and defensive operations against submarines". Dr. Millikan of the United States National Research Council
United States National Research Council
The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...
, Dr. Whitney of the General Electric Co., Dr. Jewett of the Western Electric Co., and Mr. Fay of the Submarine Signal Co. were appointed as advisory members.
External links
- Naval Consulting Board of the United States by L.N. Scott [incomplete]