Naval History and Heritage Command

Carderock Division 
Naval Surface Warfare Center
Naval Sea Systems Command
West Bethesda, MD 20817-5700

This laboratory traces its history back to the Experimental Model Basin established in 1898 by David W. Taylor at the Washington Navy Yard. The organization began relocation to the Bethesda site in 1940. At that time the new site was named the David W. Taylor Model Basin. Over the years a variety of names were assigned such as the David Taylor Research Center in 1987. A collection in the Division's Technical Information Center includes correspondence, biographical materials and photographs related to the late Rear Admiral David W. Taylor USN as well as on the late Captain Harold E. Saunders USN who built the early Bethesda facilities.         

A pamphlet on the history of the model basin, "The David Taylor Model Basin, A Brief History," has been published by the Naval Historical Foundation. Historical background on the organization is covered in the bound manuscript "A Case Study of the David W. Taylor Model Basin," by E. L. Livingstone, February 1954. A history of the organization David Taylor founded is set forth in a Naval Historical Center book dated 1998 entitled, Where the Fleet Begins by Rodney P. Carlisle.              

The Annapolis Laboratory, Annapolis, Maryland has been closed by the action of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. This laboratory began as the U.S. Naval Engineer Experiment Station and Testing Laboratory at Annapolis in 1903. It evolved into the U.S. Navy Marine Engineering Laboratory and in 1967 was merged into the Naval Ship Research and Development Center, now known as the Carderock Division. A historical collection includes early correspondence, annual reports starting in 1911, early photographs of personnel and buildings, facility descriptions, and accident reports. Useful documents are included in the scrapbook "History of Engineer Experiment Station, 1908-1944."