George W. Melville
Encyclopedia
George Wallace Melville (10 January 1841 – 17 March 1912) was an engineer of the United States Navy
who became a rear admiral
.
on 10 January 1841. After graduating from Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, he entered the U.S. Navy on 29 July 1861 and became an officer of the Engineer Corps, with the rank of Third Assistant Engineer. His first year afloat was spent on the Great Lakes
' gunboat
Michigan
, during which time he was promoted to Second Assistant Engineer. Melville served in the sloops of war Dacotah
and Wachusett from mid-1862 until late in 1864, taking part in the capture of CSS Florida
in October 1864. He finished the Civil War
in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area working with torpedo boat
s and as an engineer on the gunboat Maumee.
In the years after the Civil War's conclusion, First Assistant Engineer Melville served aboard several ships, among them the experimental cruiser
Chattanooga
, gunboat Tacony
, steam sloop Lancaster
and Asiatic Squadron
flagship
Tennessee.
for her rescue in Baffin Bay
of 19 survivors of the Polaris expedition
to the Arctic.
In the summer of 1879, he was an eager and daring volunteer when an Arctic
expedition under Lieutenant Commander George W. DeLong
left San Francisco on board the USS Jeannette
on 7 August 1879 to try to find a quick way to the North Pole
via the Bering Strait
. Jeannette became icebound in September and, after two years of effort to save her, was crushed by ice floes
in the Laptev Sea
and sank 12 June 1881 — leaving the crew stranded on the ice floes in mid-ocean in three small boats and with scanty provisions.
Melville was the only boat commander to bring his crew to safety in the Lena delta in Siberia
. Later, he set out in search of DeLong and his men, traveling over a thousand miles in the deadly cold of the Arctic winter only to find them dead. However, he was able to recover and bring back all the records of the expedition. The third boat, under the command of Charles W. Chipp
, was never found and Chipp and seven other men were presumed dead.
The United States Congress
rewarded Melville for his gallantry and resourcefulness by advancing him 15 numbers on the promotion list and awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal. The incredible hardships of the expedition are described in his book, In the Lena Delta, published in 1884.
Melville was promoted to the rank of Chief Engineer during his time in the Jeannette and again went to the Arctic in Thetis
in 1884 for the Greely Relief Expedition.
Melville was an Inspector of Coal in 1884–1886, then performed his final seagoing duty in the new cruiser
Atlanta
. President Grover Cleveland
appointed Melville Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering
9 August 1887, with the relative rank of Commodore
.
During more than a decade and a half in that post, he was responsible for the Navy's propulsion systems during an era of remarkable force expansion, technological progress and institutional change.
Melville superintended the design of 120 ships of the "New Navy". Among the major technical innovations that he helped introduce, often in defiance of the conservative opinion within the naval establishment, were the water-tube boiler
, the triple-screw propulsion system, vertical engines, the floating repair ship, and the "distilling ship."
Promoted to Rear Admiral
3 March 1899, he was appointed Engineer in Chief of the Navy 6 December 1900. Melville entirely reformed the service, putting Navy engineers on a professional rather than an artisan footing.
The Annapolis
laboratory was a brainchild of Melville. As Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy, he fought hard to get an appropriation of $400,000 for an experiment and testing laboratory to be located at Annapolis. In 1903, he finally was successful in obtaining the appropriation for the Engineering Experiment Station (EES).
His primary argument for the establishment of an experiment station was that it would increase the efficiency of the Navy. His idea was to establish a dependable means for testing — before installation — machinery and equipment designed for Navy ships. His secondary argument was that it could aid in training engineering officers, and therefore, it should be located in Annapolis near the Naval Academy
. With characteristic modesty, Melville refused to have EES named in his honor.
Prior to his retirement, Melville headed a committee tasked with studying how to use fuel oil
in Navy boilers instead of coal. They strongly recommended that a testing plant be developed to test methods of burning fuel in Navy boilers. On 18 November 1910, the Secretary of Navy
authorized "... the construction and equipment, at an estimated cost of $10,000.00, of a structure simulating a naval fireroom, for the purpose of instigating the subject of fuel oil burning in connection with the design of proposed oil burning battleship
s" in an existing building (Bldg. 47) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. This facility, the Fuel Oil Testing Plant, grew into NAVSSES.
Leaving active duty on 10 January 1903, Rear Admiral Melville spent his last years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, where he died on 17 March 1912.
The U.S. Navy has named two ships in honor of George W. Melville: Melville
(Destroyer Tender
#2, later AD-2), 1915–1948; and the oceanographic
research ship Melville (AGOR-14), 1969–.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
who became a rear admiral
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
.
Civil War
Melville was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 10 January 1841. After graduating from Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, he entered the U.S. Navy on 29 July 1861 and became an officer of the Engineer Corps, with the rank of Third Assistant Engineer. His first year afloat was spent on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
' gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
Michigan
USS Michigan (1843)
|USS Michigan was the United States Navy's first iron-hulled warship and served during the American Civil War. She was renamed USS Wolverine in 1905.-Early career:...
, during which time he was promoted to Second Assistant Engineer. Melville served in the sloops of war Dacotah
USS Dacotah (1859)
USS Dacotah — the only United States Navy ship to be so named — was a large steam sloop that served the United States Navy in the Atlantic Ocean as well as in Pacific Ocean...
and Wachusett from mid-1862 until late in 1864, taking part in the capture of CSS Florida
CSS Florida (cruiser)
CSS Florida was a cruiser in the Confederate States Navy.Florida was built by the British firm of William C. Miller & Sons of Toxteth, Liverpool, and purchased by the Confederacy from Fawcett, Preston & Co., also of Liverpool, who engined her...
in October 1864. He finished the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area working with torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s and as an engineer on the gunboat Maumee.
In the years after the Civil War's conclusion, First Assistant Engineer Melville served aboard several ships, among them the experimental cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
Chattanooga
USS Chattanooga (1864)
USS Chattanooga was constructed during the final years of the American Civil War but was not launched because the war was winding down in the Union’s favor. She was eventually placed into wet storage until she was holed by ice in 1872....
, gunboat Tacony
USS Tacony (1863)
USS Tacony was a double-ended, side-wheel steamboat acquired by the Union Navy during the third year of the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a heavy gunboat with powerful guns and used in the Union blockade of the waterways of the Confederate States of America.- Built in Philadelphia,...
, steam sloop Lancaster
USS Lancaster (1858)
The first USS Lancaster was a screw sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the American Civil War through the Spanish-American War....
and Asiatic Squadron
Asiatic Squadron
The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navy warships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century, it was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded...
flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
Tennessee.
Arctic exploration
In 1873 he volunteered for duty as Chief Engineer of TigressUSS Tigress (1871)
The third USS Tigress was a screw steamer of the United States Navy, chartered during 1873 to mount an Arctic rescue mission.-Whaler, 1871–1873:...
for her rescue in Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay , located between Baffin Island and the southwest coast of Greenland, is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea...
of 19 survivors of the Polaris expedition
Polaris expedition
The Polaris expedition was led by the American Charles Francis Hall, who intended it to be the first expedition to reach the North Pole. Sponsored by the United States government, it was one of the first serious attempts at the Pole, after that of British naval officer William Edward Parry, who in...
to the Arctic.
In the summer of 1879, he was an eager and daring volunteer when an Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
expedition under Lieutenant Commander George W. DeLong
George W. DeLong
George Washington DeLong was a United States Navy officer and explorer.- Biography :Born in New York City, he was educated at the United States Naval Academy in Newport, Rhode Island...
left San Francisco on board the USS Jeannette
USS Jeannette (1878)
The first USS Jeannette was originally HMS Pandora, a Philomel-class gunvessel of the Royal Navy, and was purchased in 1875 by Sir Allen Young for his arctic voyages in 1875-1876. The ship was purchased in 1878 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., owner of the New York Herald; and renamed Jeannette...
on 7 August 1879 to try to find a quick way to the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
via the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
. Jeannette became icebound in September and, after two years of effort to save her, was crushed by ice floes
Sea ice
Sea ice is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about -1.8 °C ....
in the Laptev Sea
Laptev Sea
The Laptev Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands. Its northern boundary passes from the Arctic Cape to a point with co-ordinates of 79°N and 139°E, and ends at the Anisiy...
and sank 12 June 1881 — leaving the crew stranded on the ice floes in mid-ocean in three small boats and with scanty provisions.
Melville was the only boat commander to bring his crew to safety in the Lena delta in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Later, he set out in search of DeLong and his men, traveling over a thousand miles in the deadly cold of the Arctic winter only to find them dead. However, he was able to recover and bring back all the records of the expedition. The third boat, under the command of Charles W. Chipp
Charles W. Chipp
Charles Winans Chipp was a United States Navy officer and explorer.-Biography:Born in Kingston, New York, he was educated at the United States Naval Academy in Newport, Rhode Island and Annapolis, Maryland. After graduating in 1868, he served in the steam frigate USS Franklin, flagship of the...
, was never found and Chipp and seven other men were presumed dead.
The United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
rewarded Melville for his gallantry and resourcefulness by advancing him 15 numbers on the promotion list and awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal. The incredible hardships of the expedition are described in his book, In the Lena Delta, published in 1884.
Melville was promoted to the rank of Chief Engineer during his time in the Jeannette and again went to the Arctic in Thetis
USS Thetis (1881)
The first USS Thetis was a three-masted, wooden-hulled steam whaler in the United States Navy used to rescue a polar expedition and later in the Revenue Cutter Service....
in 1884 for the Greely Relief Expedition.
Bureau of Steam Engineering
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
Atlanta
USS Atlanta (1884)
The second USS Atlanta was a protected cruiser and one of the first steel warships of the "New Navy" of the 1880s.Atlanta was laid down on 8 November 1883 at Chester, Pennsylvania by John Roach & Sons; launched on 9 October 1884; sponsored by Miss Jessie Lincoln, the daughter of Secretary of War...
. President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
appointed Melville Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering
Bureau of Steam Engineering
Bureau of Steam Engineering was set up by act of 5 July 1862, receiving some of the duties of the former Bureau of Construction, Equipment and Repair. It became, by the Naval Appropriation Act of 4 June 1920, the Bureau of Engineering...
9 August 1887, with the relative rank of Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
.
During more than a decade and a half in that post, he was responsible for the Navy's propulsion systems during an era of remarkable force expansion, technological progress and institutional change.
Melville superintended the design of 120 ships of the "New Navy". Among the major technical innovations that he helped introduce, often in defiance of the conservative opinion within the naval establishment, were the water-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
, the triple-screw propulsion system, vertical engines, the floating repair ship, and the "distilling ship."
Promoted to Rear Admiral
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
3 March 1899, he was appointed Engineer in Chief of the Navy 6 December 1900. Melville entirely reformed the service, putting Navy engineers on a professional rather than an artisan footing.
The Annapolis
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
laboratory was a brainchild of Melville. As Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy, he fought hard to get an appropriation of $400,000 for an experiment and testing laboratory to be located at Annapolis. In 1903, he finally was successful in obtaining the appropriation for the Engineering Experiment Station (EES).
His primary argument for the establishment of an experiment station was that it would increase the efficiency of the Navy. His idea was to establish a dependable means for testing — before installation — machinery and equipment designed for Navy ships. His secondary argument was that it could aid in training engineering officers, and therefore, it should be located in Annapolis near the Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
. With characteristic modesty, Melville refused to have EES named in his honor.
Prior to his retirement, Melville headed a committee tasked with studying how to use fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
in Navy boilers instead of coal. They strongly recommended that a testing plant be developed to test methods of burning fuel in Navy boilers. On 18 November 1910, the Secretary of Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
authorized "... the construction and equipment, at an estimated cost of $10,000.00, of a structure simulating a naval fireroom, for the purpose of instigating the subject of fuel oil burning in connection with the design of proposed oil burning battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s" in an existing building (Bldg. 47) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. This facility, the Fuel Oil Testing Plant, grew into NAVSSES.
Leaving active duty on 10 January 1903, Rear Admiral Melville spent his last years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where he died on 17 March 1912.
The U.S. Navy has named two ships in honor of George W. Melville: Melville
USS Melville (AD-2)
USS Melville was a United States Navy destroyer tender that saw service in both World Wars.Laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, on 11 November 1913, she was launched on 2 March 1913, sponsored by Miss Helen W. Neel, granddaughter of Rear Admiral Melville; and...
(Destroyer Tender
Destroyer tender
A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...
#2, later AD-2), 1915–1948; and the oceanographic
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
research ship Melville (AGOR-14), 1969–.
Melville Award
The Navy's George W. Melville Award recognizes outstanding engineering contributions in the applications of knowledge toward research and development of materials, devices, and systems or methods; including design, development, and integration of prototypes and new processes.Melville Medal
The Melville Medal is awarded periodically by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in honor of the best original paper from its transactions.For further reading
- Sachs, Aaron, The Humboldt Current: Nineteenth Century Exploration and the Roots of American Environmentalism, (Viking, 2006), Melville is one of four Americans the author focuses on who were influenced by Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von HumboldtFriedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
.