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Carderock Division Naval Surface Warfare Center
U.S. Navy Research Center
This research facility of the U.S. Navy has one of the longest indoor bodies of water in the world. It is dedicated to David W. Taylor, a brilliant Naval designer who convinced Congress in the 1890s to build a research center to test models of ships. Taylor did pioneering work in wave action, design of ship bows, and even wind tunnel research as early as 1912. Taylor's work was conducted at the Navy Yard on the Anacostia River in downtown Washington. His successors continued the work at the Carderock, Maryland, site. In 1939, the first facility was built at Carderock with a basin 21 feet wide, 10 feet deep, and 1,048 feet long for high speed testing of model ships for the Navy. Research at the facility, one of the largest in the world, has expanded into submarines, applied physics, hydrofoils, and advanced naval maneuvering. Tours of the Carderock Division are available by reservation.
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U.S. Navy
9500 MacArthur Blvd.
Bethesda MD 20817
301-227-1500
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