Description

Naval Architect and draftsman who worked with William H. Hand, Philip Rodes, and others

Richard O. Davis (1899-1969) graduated from the Fall River Technical High School in 1918 and began his career as a draftsman with naval architect B.B. Crowninshield (MIT Class of 1889). After several years working for Crowninshield and local textile mills, Davis joined naval architect William H. Hand in 1926. Davis eventually became an associate designer in Hand’s firm, which specialized in motorsailers. He spent World War II designing navy minesweepers with Henry B. Nevins, Inc. of New York, and continued there designing yachts and motorsailers after the war. In 1954, Davis joined the Frank L. Sample & Son Yard in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, again overseeing a minesweeper program. Davis’s final job was with Philip L. Rhodes, an MIT alum and successor to the Gibbs & Cox design firm of New York.