Lewis Barton Combs (April 7, 1895 in

Manchester Center, Vermont Manchester Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Manchester in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 2,120, out of 4,391 people in the entire town of Manchester. Geograph ...

– May 20, 1996 in

Red Hook, New York Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 9,953 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 11,319 in 2010. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Hu ...

) was a United States Navy admiral who helped found and direct the famed "

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

" construction battalions in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Born in 1895 to Louis D. and Stella Burgess Combs, at age 10 he became a golf caddy at the local course in

Manchester, Vermont Manchester is a town in, and one of two shire towns (county seats) of, Bennington County, Vermont. The population was 4,484 at the 2020 census. Manchester Village, an incorporated village, and Manchester Center are settlement centers within ...

. On occasion he caddied for

Robert Todd Lincoln Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 – July 26, 1926) was an American lawyer, businessman, and politician. He was the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. Robert Lincoln became a business lawyer and company presid ...

, son of the 16th president. His family moved to

Rensselaer, New York Rensselaer is a city in Rensselaer County, New York, United States, and is located on the east side of the Hudson River, directly opposite of Albany. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 9,210. Rensselaer is on the western border of ...

in 1907, where he attended the prestigious

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

(class of 1916), having earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He went to work as a maintenance engineer for the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

Navy career

Following his graduation from RPI in 1916, he was commissioned a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy Civil Engineering Corps shortly after the United States entered World War I. In February 1918, he reported as the Civil Engineering Officer in charge of field construction at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., for one year. He then reported to the Republic of Haiti to serve as the Treaty Engineer. In this billet, he served as Assistant to the Engineer Chief, and Director of Highways and Bridges, Harbor Development and Lighthouse Service. Combs returned to the United States in June 1924 and was assigned to the Navy Yard, New York. Additionally, he served four years in the Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire beginning in 1925. He would go on to serve as Senior Assistant to the Public Works Officer and Executive Officer for the Eleventh Naval District, San Diego, California. He remained there until January 1932, when he became Public Works Officer with the ninth Naval District. Ordered to the Philippine Islands, he served from May 1935, through April 1937, as Public Works Officer, Sixteenth Naval District, at the Navy Yard, Cavite. In May 1937, then Commander Combs, reported to the Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks as Officer in Charge of Construction at the Navy Experimental Model Basin, Carderock, Maryland. In January 1938, at the age of 42, Commander Combs was appointed Assistant (Deputy) Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, under Admiral Ben Moreell. In this billet he presided over the expansion of the Navy Civil Engineering Corps from a small group of 120 Officers and about 300 civilian engineers, to a wartime peak of over 10,000. Additionally, he oversaw the massive expansion of naval shore bases necessary to support the “Two Ocean Navy”. Combs directed the creation of the Navy’s Construction Battalions, also known as the

. He served as Deputy Chief of Civil Engineers, from 1938 through 1946. During this time, Combs served as a technical adviser during the making of the film ''

The Fighting Seabees ''The Fighting Seabees'' is a 1944 war film, directed by Edward Ludwig and starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The supporting cast includes Dennis O'Keefe, William Frawley, Leonid Kinsky, Addison Richards and Grant Withers. ''The Fighting S ...

'' starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

. Combs retired from the Navy in 1945 at the conclusion of

and served as the head of the Civil Engineering Department at his alma mater,

Later years

After his retirement from the Navy in 1947 he spent 15 years as head of the civil-engineering department at his alma mater, RPI.

Personal life

Combs' wife of 71 years, the former Laura B. Warren, died two months before her husband. The couple left no immediate survivors.

References

External links

* 1895 births 1996 deaths American men centenarians People from Rensselaer, New York People from Manchester, Vermont Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Military personnel from Vermont United States Navy rear admirals United States Navy personnel of World War II Seabees United States Navy personnel of World War I Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty {{US-navy-bio-stub