The Institution of Naval Architects

Abstract

THE spring meetings of the Institution of Naval Architects this year were, to a considerable extent, adversely affected by the recent death of Mr. William Denny, of Dumbarton, the eminent shipbuilder, who was for many years one of the most active members of the Council, and who was foremost amongst the mercantile shipbuilders of this country in the application of scientific methods to naval architecture. Mr. Denny, as is well known, set up at Dumbarton a large experimental tank similar to that contrived by the Admiralty at Torquay for the late Mr. W. Froude, F.R.S., and in which most of his famous experiments on the resistances of the hulls of ships were carried out. It is not often that manufacturers can be induced to spare time and money for the purposes of scientific investigation, even when such investigation is directly conducive to the success of their business. But Mr. Denny was an exceptional man. He firmly believed in the mercantile value of exact scientific knowledge, and he possessed the courage and the ability to act up to his beliefs. It is satisfactory to know that he considered himself fully repaid for the risks he ran, in the results which he attained.