Thomas Davidson (28 August 1828 – 18 February 1874) was a naval constructor for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Biography

Davidson was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, England on 28 August 1828. He came to the United States at the age of four with his parents, and settled in Philadelphia. Early on, he developed a talent for mechanical invention and construction, following which he was apprenticed to the trade of ship building with Matthew Van Dusen, while also studying mathematics with his brother George Davidson. His capabilities soon attracted the attention of John Lenthall, then chief constructor of the U. S. Navy. In 1850, at the age of 22, he built his first vessel "from the stumps" on the banks of the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

, and soon after entered into business in Philadelphia. In 1861, he was appointed quartermaster over the ship carpenters in the

Philadelphia Navy Yard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the cit ...

, and in 1863 was promoted to assistant naval constructor. He attained the full grade in 1866 with the relative rank of commander, the office which he held until his death. At one time during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

he conducted repairs of 42 vessels, both large and small, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and also built several new ships. The ''

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **''Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

'', sister ship of the '' Kearsarge'', was built under his direction in 58 working days, and the ''

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

'' in 27 days. His greatest feat was the building, in 70 days, of the '' Juniata'' (1,240 tons, 7 guns) from the frame of a Florida live-oak frigate that had been seasoned for 23 years. Davidson displayed his engineering abilities in the floating of the '' Monongahela'', which had been driven inland on

Santa Cruz Island Santa Cruz Island (Spanish: ''Isla Santa Cruz'', Chumash: ''Limuw'') is located off the southwestern coast of Ventura, California, United States. It is the largest island in California and largest of the eight islands in the Channel Islands a ...

during the earthquake of 18 November 1867, and left stranded high. With a body of skilled men selected from different navy yards, in a little over three months he succeeded in moving the ship sideways to the water's edge, and thence for over a bed of coral to deep water. Subsequently, he was ordered on duty at the bureau of construction in Washington, and was busy with plans for developing a navy of armored vessels,

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 ...

s, and fast cruisers. The models and drawings for the first large torpedo boats built in New York were executed by him. Davidson was about to be sent to Europe for an exhaustive study of foreign navies and navy yards when his health failed, leading to his death at the age of 45, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Thomas 1828 births 1874 deaths English emigrants to the United States American naval architects Engineers from Pennsylvania

Biography

See also

References