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Where the Fleet Begins: A History of the David Taylor Research Center, 1898 - 1998
Where the Fleet Begins -A History of the David Taylor Research Center chronicles the first hundred years (1898-1998) of the Center which provides research and testing in the development and design of the U.S. Navy fleet of warships and submarines. Today, the Center continues to design ships and test models using precisely built towing tanks and computer simulation. The book describes the research, people and institutional culture which have brought, during periods of war and of peace, cutting-edge science and technology to the Navy's fleet. The book, with over 100 illustrations, was originally published by the Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy.
680 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1998
About the author
Rodney P. Carlisle
81 books7 followersDr. Rodney P. Carlisle is a professor emeritus of Rutgers University. He received his AB degree from Harvard College and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He most recently served as general editor of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and Right (2005) and authored The Iraq War (2004).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 9, 2014
I finally finished this book. It is not one I recommend for general audiences, in fact I likely would not have finished it myself had I not worked for the David Taylor Research Center (DTRC) as my first job after graduating with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in December 1984. Because of that experience I was curious,and motivated to complete the book.
The author wrote the book under contract to the DTRC, which charted the effort with an intent to capture it's storied history from its beginnings at the very end of the late 19th century, and resulting from significant changes in American naval doctrine after the Civil War, to 1998 when the book was published. I found it an informative history of American naval architecture, design, testing, and shipbuilding. I learned that this laboratory had some auspicious accomplishments to its credit. For example, bulbous ship bows, the Albacore hull design shape that is now standard of US nuclear submarines and which allows for their remarkable high speed performance while operating submerged, development of hydrofoil, surface effect ships, and SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) designs, as well as key breakthroughs in computer modeling and testing.
Perhaps it is just wounded pride, but I found the book a little light on the contributions of my specific organization - the Puget Sound Detachment, then located in Bremerton, Washington. Our work was primarily focused on underway and static site acoustic testing and signature analysis. While the book does a good job discussing the important contributions of the DTRC to underwater acoustics, ship and machinery silencing, signatures reduction, and testing methodologies, I felt it's focus was primarily on research and development. I never felt our work in the testing and measurement arena was all that valued by the senior leadership of the DTRC, yet without our work no one would have known about the need to improve acoustic performance. Anyway, its probably just my own insecurities springing up again!
So, I would recommend this as a supplemental reading text for students of naval architecture, shipbuilding and design, and naval activities. Not a page turner, but a pretty good and authoritative source of important American naval history. It appears well reasearched and documented, with extensive footnotes and citations for further study by anyone who has the interest.
The author wrote the book under contract to the DTRC, which charted the effort with an intent to capture it's storied history from its beginnings at the very end of the late 19th century, and resulting from significant changes in American naval doctrine after the Civil War, to 1998 when the book was published. I found it an informative history of American naval architecture, design, testing, and shipbuilding. I learned that this laboratory had some auspicious accomplishments to its credit. For example, bulbous ship bows, the Albacore hull design shape that is now standard of US nuclear submarines and which allows for their remarkable high speed performance while operating submerged, development of hydrofoil, surface effect ships, and SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) designs, as well as key breakthroughs in computer modeling and testing.
Perhaps it is just wounded pride, but I found the book a little light on the contributions of my specific organization - the Puget Sound Detachment, then located in Bremerton, Washington. Our work was primarily focused on underway and static site acoustic testing and signature analysis. While the book does a good job discussing the important contributions of the DTRC to underwater acoustics, ship and machinery silencing, signatures reduction, and testing methodologies, I felt it's focus was primarily on research and development. I never felt our work in the testing and measurement arena was all that valued by the senior leadership of the DTRC, yet without our work no one would have known about the need to improve acoustic performance. Anyway, its probably just my own insecurities springing up again!
So, I would recommend this as a supplemental reading text for students of naval architecture, shipbuilding and design, and naval activities. Not a page turner, but a pretty good and authoritative source of important American naval history. It appears well reasearched and documented, with extensive footnotes and citations for further study by anyone who has the interest.
Displaying 1 of 1 review