"WHERE THE FLEET BEGINS"
A History of the David Taylor Research Center
By Rodney P. Carlisle

In 1898, Capt. David W. Taylor built the first Experimental Model Basin at the Washington Navy Yard. The Basin staff moved to Carderock, Maryland, just before World War II, where engineers today continue to design ships and test models using the precisely built towing tanks supplemented with computer simulation.

Admiral George W. Melville, Chief of the Bureau of Engineering in the 1890's, fought for an engine experiment station to build the machines to power the 20th Century Navy. Implementing his dream, researchers designed and tested engines and fuels that drove the ships of World War I and II at the Engineering Experiment Station at Annapolis. In 1967, the Annapolis and Carderock institutions merged, and their work saw action in the Vietnam war.

This book traces the modern research and development center from its dual origin when Taylor and Melville brought science and technology to the emerging steam-driven fleet, through a full century of modernization and several reorganizations.

"Where the Fleet Begins details constant work to transform vision into reality, and to keep innovation flowing from cutting-edge science and technology into the Navy's ships and submarines. Some experimental ideas were tried and abandoned, and paths not taken were as vital to progress as successes. Research, people, and institutional culture make up the story of the place where the fleet begins."