Lewis Nixon (naval architect)
Lewis Nixon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 7, 1861 |
| Died | September 23, 1940 (aged 79) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation(s) | naval architect and political activist |
| Spouse | Sally Lewis Wood (1891-1937) (Her death) |
Lewis Nixon (born April 7, 1861 in Leesburg, Virginia, USA died September 23, 1940) was a shipbuilding executive, naval architect, and political activist.
Nixon graduated first in his class from the US Naval Academy in 1882 and was sent to study naval architecture at the Royal Naval College where, again, he graduated first in the class in 1885. During his time at the Royal Naval College he was appointed an assistant naval constructor with the rank of lieutenant. On his return he was assigned to the John Roach & Sons shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania, which the US Navy had commandeered in order to finish three protected cruisers of the new steel navy: USS Atlanta (1884), USS Boston (1884), and USS Chicago (1885). In 1890 with help from assistant naval constructor David W. Taylor he designed the Indiana-class battleships.
Soon after the contracts for the battleships were awarded he resigned from the Navy to go to work for the shipyard that won the lead contract, William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilding Company, as Superintendent of Construction. It was at Cramps where he met a man that would change his "forecast" in the not so distant future.
He started his own business in 1895 by leasing the Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey. This move north to the state of New Jersey took place by January of that year. Nixon started this new shipyard with another former William Cramp and Sons shipbuilder and naval architect, Arthur Leopold Busch, who came from Great Britain to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1892 - and was Lewis Nixon's superintendant-in-charge at Crescent during this time. Under Nixon (and Busch) this yard built many vessels, including USS Florida (BM-9) and USS Annapolis (PG-10), which were "of" Navy designs.
Nixon's expertise was called on in the aftermath of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.[1] Nixon's yard, the Crescent Shipyard, was where America's first submarines were built beginning in December of 1896. The famous USS Holland (SS-1) was one of the creations of that shipyard and is a very significant achievement in naval technology. The submarines success led to the order for more submarines of the "Holland Type" by the United States Government, which were known as the Plunger-class submarines built at New Jersey's Crescent Shipyard's and The Union Iron Works, a shipbuilding firm located near Mare Island Naval Base, some 20 miles north of San Francisco. These submarines became America's first fleet of underwater fighting vessels operated by the United States Navy on both coasts - leading the way in a "Vanguard" sense of strategic defense for the young America and its Western "allies".
These submarines also gave birth to a new company that was founded by John Philip Holland on 7 February 1899. His company was then known as the Holland Torpedo Boat Company and became the Electric Boat Company officially by 1904. Nixon made some very positive comments about Busch and his proficiency in the field shipbuilding (and of) naval architecture. These documents are housed at the Nautilus Memorial Submarine Force Library and Museum, located in Groton, CT. This site is the home of the world's first nuclear powered craft known as USS Nautilus (SSN-571).
[1].
In 1937 Nixon was president of the Nixon Nitration Works.
Political Activism
He was also active in Democratic Party politics. He was leader of Tammany Hall in 1901-1902, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention seven times.
Family
Nixon married Sally Lewis Wood of Washington in 1891. She died 15 June 1937 [2] Their son was Stanhope Wood Nixon. Mrs. Nixon, originally a resident of Washington, was a descendant of General Andrew Lewis of Colonial Virginia.
Nixon was the grandfather of Lewis Nixon (1918 - 1995), an officer in the 101st Airborne Division during WWII, who was made famous by the miniseries Band of Brothers.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
References
- ^ Lewis Nixon, The lesson of the “Titanic”, the North American Review, Jan-Jun 1912, Vol CXCV, No. 679, pp 748-753
- ^ R70/150 The New York Times, June 16, 1937, p. 24
External links
- Crescent Shipyard information at globalSecurity.com
- [2] History and origins of Electric Boat/General Dynamics. Company foundation begins here at Crescent Shipyard, Elizabeth, New Jersey.