David Watson Taylor was a U.S. naval architect and an engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair.
American marine engineer who used the first ship-model testing facility in the U.S. to evaluate basic principles in the design of ships. The Experimental Model Basin built at the Washington Navy Yard enabled experimentation on the shape of a ship’s hull that affect its motion against the resistance of the water. He developed the internationally known Taylor Standard Series Method that enabled an estimation of water resistance from the planned dimensions before a ship was built.
In 1917 Taylor became a rear admiral and from 1914 to 1922 was responsible for the design and construction of ships, submarines, and aircraft for the U.S. Navy, including the NC-4, first plane to fly the Atlantic . He made many other contributions to aeronautics in 15 years of service on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.