Benjamin Franklin Isherwood (October 6, 1822 – June 19, 1915) was an engineering officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the early days of steam-powered warships. He served as a ship's engineer during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...

, and after the war did experimental work with steam propulsion. Rising to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

, as Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, he helped to found the Navy's Bureau of Steam Engineering.

Career in civilian engineering

Isherwood was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He worked for the Utica and Schenectady Railroad and trained under William C. Young, one of the most prominent engineers of that period. Isherwood then worked on the

Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity fro ...

, followed by an engineering job on the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing ...

. Designing and constructing lighthouses for the Treasury Department was Isherwood's last employment before joining the Navy.

Early Naval career

At the age of 22, Isherwood was appointed first assistant engineer in the Navy May 23, 1844, serving aboard from 1846 to 1847. During the

, he served on the , and later was senior engineer of the . When the Mexican–American War ended, Isherwood was assigned to the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrat ...

, where he assisted Charles Stuart in designing engines and experiments with steam as a source of power for propelling ships. Throughout the 1850s, Isherwood compiled operational and performance data from steam engines in American and foreign commercial vessels and warships. He used these empirical data to analyze the efficiency of engine types then in use. In the twelve years between the Mexican–American War and the Civil War, Isherwood published 55 technical and scientific articles on steam engineering and vessel propulsion in the prestigious ''Journal of the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

''. In 1859 the engineer published the results of his own original thermodynamic experiments in the two-volume ''Engineering Precedents for Steam Machinery''. Isherwood was the nation's most prolific antebellum technical writer. Isherwood went to sea during the period between the wars, serving as Chief Engineer of the steam

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

on a cruise of more than three years on the

Asiatic Station 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. Vessels of the squadron were primarily inv ...

. During this cruise he was stricken with

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

, prompting his return to the United States.

Civil War

Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, Isherwood was appointed Engineer-in-Chief of the Navy, and so important were his services considered that the Bureau of Steam Engineering was created under his direction. When the Civil War began, the Navy had 28 steam vessels, and during the war, the number grew to 600. Isherwood conducted the design and construction of the machinery necessary to accomplish this. He designed ships that were fast enough to pursue the

blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usua ...

s. In 1863 and 1865, Isherwood published the first and second volumes of ''Experimental Researches in Steam Engineering'', which were translated into six languages and became a standard engineering text upon which future steam experimentation was based.

Post-war activities

Immediately upon the conclusion of the war, Isherwood was principally involved with organizing a new scientific curriculum for steam engineering at the

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. By 1874, naval engineers refined this curriculum to the point that it served as the model for mechanical engineering education at most American universities. In 1869 Isherwood ran afoul of former shipmate Admiral

David Dixon Porter David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891) was a United States Navy admiral and a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the U.S. Navy. Promoted as the second U.S. Navy officer ever to attain the rank of ...

. During the war years Isherwood led a campaign to increase the rank and influence of engineering officers in the navy. Porter opposed this change in the service's class structure. After the presidential inauguration of

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

, Isherwood's longtime patron, Secretary of the Navy

Gideon Welles Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 – February 11, 1878), nicknamed "Father Neptune", was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, a cabinet post he was awarded after supporting Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election. Although opposed ...

, could no longer protect him. Admiral Porter banished Isherwood to the

Mare Island Navy Yard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates t ...

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. Despite his diminished stature, Isherwood continued to produce technical innovations. In 1870 and 1871, Isherwood conducted experiments that resulted in a

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

that was used by the Navy for the next 27 years. He was a pioneer in the production of fast

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several ...

s, producing this class against strong opposition. Following a tour of European dockyards, he became president of the Experimental Board under the Bureau of Steam Engineering until his retirement on October 6, 1884. Isherwood died in

at the age of 92.

Legacy

The Navy has recognized Isherwood's contributions in various ways. ''Isherwood Hall'', built in 1905 on the campus of the

, was the home of the Department of Marine Engineering. It was razed in 1982 to make space for the academy's new ''Alumni Hall''. Isherwood's name lives on as the new hall's ''Isherwood Entrance''. The Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Isherwood Award is awarded by the Navy to recognize "innovation and expertise in the effective assessment, development, execution, or deployment of technological solutions for operational Fleet needs." Three U.S. Navy ships – two

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

s named and the never-finished

fleet replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

– have been named for him. In a 1941 article in the

United States Naval Institute The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds se ...

's ''Proceedings'', George W. Dyson stated that Isherwood might possibly be the greatest engineer the United States Navy had developed. The revolutionary engineering program initiated by Isherwood at the U.S. Naval Academy became the template for professional American mechanical engineering education. That basic curriculum designed at Annapolis in the late 1860s and early 1870s still serves as the core of university mechanical engineering pedagogy.

Selected publications

* ''Engineering Precedents for Steam Machinery; Embracing the Performances of Steamships, Experiments with Propelling Instruments, Condensers, Boilers, Etc., Accompanied by Analysis of the Same, Vol. II''. New York: Bailliere Brothers, 1859. * ''Experimental Researches in Steam Engineering Vol. I''. (Philadelphia: 1863). * 'Notes on the Steamer ''Bibb''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 52 (1851): 250–255. * 'Investigation of the Comparative Merits of the Perpendicular and Radial Paddlewheels for Sea-Going Vessels.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 50 (August 1850): 134–139. * 'Investigation of the Comparative Merits of the Perpendicular and Radial Paddlewheels for Sea-Going Vessels.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 50 (September 1850): 181–188. * 'Reply to the Objections of ‘M’ (Published in the October Number, page 260) to a Comparison Between the Radial and Perpendicular Paddle Wheels for Steamers.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 50 (December 1850): 378–383. * 'Remarks on Nystrom's Screw Propeller.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 52 (July 1851): 42–49. * 'Trial Trip of the U.S. Screw Propeller Steamship of War, ''San Jacinto''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 52 (November 1851). * 'Notes on the Indicator Diagrams from the U.S. War Steamer ''Spitfire''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 51 (February 1851). * 'Notes on the U.S. War Steamer ''Spitfire''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 51 (March 1851). * 'Performance at Sea of the U.S. Steamship ''Fulton''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 53 (February 1852). * 'Remarks on H.B.M. Screw Steam Frigate ''Arrogant''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 53 (May 1852). * 'Performance of the U.S. Screw Steamship ''San Jacinto'', from Norfolk, Va., to Cadiz, Spain, during the month of March, 1852.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 53 (June 1852): 393–397. * 'The French Line-of-Battle Screw Steamship ''Charlemagne''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 57 (February 1854). * 'Notes on the Application of Lamb and Sumner's Boilers to the U.S. Steamer ''Vixen''.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 58 (1854): 267–269. * 'An Account of some Experiments on a Mixture of Saturated and Surcharged Steam (Wethered's patent) made under the direction of E.K. Collins, Esq.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 57 (April 1854): 257–267. * 'An Account of some Comparative Experiments made at the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard, April, 1854, on the ordinary mode of setting Land Boilers, and on the mode patented by Henry F. Baker.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 58 (September 1854): 193–201 and Vol. 58 (October 1854): 259–269. * 'Disquisition on the Laws regulating the Slips of Screw Propellers in Function and Form of Dimensions; based on a digest of the Experiments made in 1845 by M. Bourgois, Engineer de Vaisseau, at the French Government Manufactory at Indret.' ''Journal of the Franklin Institute'' Vol. 59 (March 1855): 156–163, Vol. 59 (April 1855): 219–231, Vol. 59 (May 1855): 295–304, and Vol. 59 (June 1855): 361–368.

References

Sources

* * Bennett, Frank M., ''The Steam Navy of the United States: A History of the Growth of the Steam Vessel of War in the U.S. Navy, and of the Naval Engineer Corps''. Pittsburgh: W. T. Nicholson Press, 1896. * Sloan, Edward, ''Benjamin Franklin Isherwood Naval Engineer: The Years as Engineer in Chief, 1861–69''. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1965. * ''Index to the Journal of the Franklin Institute for the One Hundred and Twenty Volumes from 1826 to 1885''. Philadelphia: Franklin Institute, 1890.

External links

Navy PAO biography of B.F. Isherwood
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isherwood, Benjamin Franklin 1822 births 1915 deaths United States Navy engineering officers Military personnel from New York City People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union Navy officers United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War United States Navy rear admirals (upper half)