Introductory Address 



Dr. Courtland D. Perkins 



President, National Academy of Engineering 



On behalf of the National Academy of Engine- 

 ering and the National Academy of Sciences it is 

 my distinct pleasure and privilege to welcome you 

 to our Nation's Capitol, to the home of both Acad- 

 emies, and to the Twelfth Symposium on Naval Hydro- 

 dynamics, 



We have welcomed the opportunity to join with 

 the Office of Naval Research and the David W. Taylor 

 Naval Ship Research and Development Center in organ- 

 izing and hosting the Twelfth Symposium in this 

 distinguished series of meetings. 



We have, as a matter of fact, a special inter- 

 est in the continuing success of the series since 

 we cosponsored the First and Second Symposia with 

 the Office of Naval Research in 1956 and 1958. 

 Therefore, it is as gratifying for us as it must 

 be for the Office of Naval Research to find that 

 the international community of fluid dynamics and 

 related specialties continues to find these meetings 

 a unique forum for the exchange of research results 

 and the discussion of problem areas of concern to 

 both military and commercial activities. 



The interest and the involvement of the Acad- 

 emies in naval science and engineering, of course, 

 has a much longer history. After a careful reading 

 of the early history of the National Academy of 

 Sciences, one is persuaded that the Academy would 

 not have come into being in 1863 had it not been 

 for the carefully laid plan and persuasive argu- 

 ments of the Navy's Chief of Navigation, Commodore 

 Charles Henry Davis. One is further impressed by 

 the fact that perhaps a quarter of those who signed 

 the Academy's Charter were affiliated with the Navy 

 in one way or another. And it is significant that 

 the first five studies conducted by the fledgling 



Academy were requested by the Navy. In case some 

 of you may be interested, these were: 



On Protecting the Bottom of Iron Vessels 

 On Magnetic Deviation in Iron Ships 

 On Wind and Current Charts 

 Sailing Directions 



On the Explosion On the United States Steamer 

 CHENANGO 



I don't want to leave you with the impression that 

 the Academy worked only on naval problems during 

 the 1863-65 period. We did another study entitled 

 "On the Question of Tests for the Purity of Whiskey" 

 --an investigation undoubtedly stimulated by 

 President Lincoln's remark that he wished he could 

 supply all his generals with whatever it was that 

 General Ulysses S. Grant was drinking. 



I have taken this short detour through some 

 early Academy history , not so much to demonstrate 

 our own long and continuous interest in naval sci- 

 ence and engineering but to recognize the important 

 role played by the Navy in supporting science and 

 engineering throughout its 200-year history. Over 

 the past 32 years the Office of Naval Research has 

 continued that tradition by serving as a model for 

 enlightened government support of basic research. 



On a more personal note may I conclude by say- 

 ing that as a former professor of aeronautical 

 engineering at Princeton University your technical 

 program is of special interest to me. Therefore, 

 I wish you an interesting and productive meeting. 

 We are pleased that you have chosen to meet at our 

 institution, and the staff we have assembled to 

 support you is available to assure that your stay 

 is a pleasant one. 



