Gregory Caldwell Davison (August 12, 1871 – May 7, 1935) was a naval officer, inventor and a Vice President of the
Electric Boat Company
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
in
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...
.
Biography
Davison was born August 12, 1871 in
Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...
, the son of Alexander Caldwell and Sarah Caroline ''Pelot'' Davison.
He graduated from the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
on 27 May 1892. He served in many ships, specializing in
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
operations. until resigning in 1908.
[
An excellent scientist as well as an efficient naval officer, ]Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
Davison was responsible for many inventions in ordnance
Ordnance may refer to:
Military and defense
*Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment.
**The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...
, torpedoes
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
, submarines
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...
and general naval science. Retiring from the Navy on December 31, 1907, he later became Vice President of the Electric Boat Company, continuing his interest in and support of the Navy until his death on May 7, 1935.[
]
Marriage
On April 11, 1898, he married Alice Shepard, the daughter of Rear Admiral Edwin M. Shepard.
Namesake
In 1942, the destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
(DD-618) was named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Davison. His widow, Alice Davison, was the ship's sponsor.[
]
See also
*Bliss-Leavitt torpedo
The Bliss-Leavitt torpedo was a torpedo designed by Frank McDowell Leavitt and manufactured by the E. W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, New York. It was put into service by the United States Navy in 1904 and variants of the design would remain in it ...
*Bliss-Leavitt Mark 2 torpedo
The Bliss-Leavitt Mark 2 torpedo was a Bliss-Leavitt torpedo adopted by the United States Navy for use in an anti-surface ship role after the E. W. Bliss Company of Brooklyn, New York, which had been building Whitehead torpedoes for the US Navy, ...
*USS D-3 (SS-19)
USS ''D-3'' (SS-19) was a D-class submarine built for the United States Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. It was the first submarine to make an over ocean voyage under its own power.
Description
The D-class submarines were enlarged ...
References
1871 births
1935 deaths
United States Navy officers
United States Naval Academy alumni
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