Lawrence York Spear (23 October 1870 – 9 September 1950) was an American naval officer and businessman who spent the majority of his career working for the

Electric Boat Company Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

Biography

Born in

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Mahoning River, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown, Ohio, Y ...

, Spear graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

in 1890. Lieutenant Spear went to Scotland to attend the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. After returning, he was asked to inspect and oversee the projects that were taking place at several shipyards across America. One of those shipyards was the

Crescent Shipyard Crescent Shipyard, located on Newark Bay in Elizabeth, New Jersey, built a number of ships for the United States Navy and allied nations as well during their production run, which lasted about ten years while under the Crescent name and banner. ...

of Elizabeth, New Jersey, where the United States Navy's first submarines were built by John P. Holland's

Holland Torpedo Boat Company Holland Torpedo Boat Company was founded by John Philip Holland (18411914) in 1893. Holland was an Irish engineer-inventor, who designed and built the first practical submarine. His ''Holland VI'' was renamed the USS ''Holland'' (SS-1), and became ...

. Later on, this company changed its name when Isaac Rice merged his other holdings ( Electric Storage and

Electro-Dynamic The Electro-Dynamic Company manufactured electric motors and generators 1880–2000, principally as a subsidiary of the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics and its predecessors. History The company was founded by electrical inventor Will ...

) with Holland's to create the

. In 1902 Spear resigned his Navy commission and joined Electric Boat as a naval constructor He was appointed vice-president when Holland resigned in April 1904. Spear served as president from 1942 to 1947, running the company during World War II, when it was a leading producer of submarines. He served as chairman of the board from 1947 until his death on 9 September 1950. Electric Boat changed its name to General Dynamics in 1952 under the company's new chairman and CEO,

John Jay Hopkins John Jay Hopkins (October 15, 1893 – May 3, 1957) was founder and president of General Dynamics from 1952 to 1957. Hopkins was born in Santa Ana, California. He was assistant to the Treasury Secretary. In 1937, he joined Electric Boat as a law ...

Honors

The

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

, built by the General Dynamics Shipbuilding Division in Quincy, Massachusetts, was named after him.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography
Chief of Naval Operations Submarine Warfare Division: Submarine Pioneers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spear, Lawrence York 1870 births 1950 deaths People from Warren, Ohio United States Navy officers United States Naval Academy alumni