Dates

• Existence: 1858-1917
• Existence: 1858 - 1917

Biographical Note

Washington Irving Babcock was born September 26, 1858 at Stonington, CT. He was the son of Captain David S. Babcock and Charlotte (Noyes) Babcock. The Babcocks moved to Brooklyn, NY during his childhood. Babcock attended Brooklyn public schools and obtained a B.S. degree from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1876 and was awarded a degree in civil engineering in 1878. He worked briefly with Morgan's Iron Works in New York and then took a position with John Roach & Sons, Chester, PA. He was with the Roach firm from 1878 to 1885. Babcock worked at the Providence & Stonington Steamship Co. from 1885 to 1887 and then assumed the superintendency of the Union Dry Dock Co. in Buffalo, NY. In 1889, he organized the Chicago Shipbuilding Co. and initially served as general manager. Babcock became president of the company ten years later, a position he served in briefly until the company was absorbed by the American Ship Building Co. in 1900. He then moved back to New York where he served as a consultant, eventually forming a partnership with Henry Penton under the name of Babcock & Penton. Washington Irving Babcock was perhaps the best known naval architect of his time. He introduced and adapted pneumatic tools that decreased the dependency on labor in shipbuilding. He introduced the mould system of construction which became universal in shipyards. He designed 400 ft. bulk freighters designed for seaway shipping on the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes. Babcock was a vice president of the council of the American Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, member of the Society of Consulting Engineers, member of the Institute of naval Architects of Great Britain, and a member of the United States Naval Institute. Washington Irving Babcock died at his home in New York on August 7th, 1917.

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