which position he held for about eighteen months, being sent to Newport 

 News, Va., in February, 1894, as a member of the staff of Naval Constructor 

 J. T. Woodward, U. S. N., the first superintending constructor assigned to 

 duty at the works of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Com- 

 pany. 



In the summer of 1897 Mr. Hopkins was transferred from Naval Con- 

 structor Woodward's office and assigned to the Graduate School of Naval 

 Architecture at the U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., at which place 

 he was an instructor and lecturer on naval architecture and ship construction. 



At the outbreak of the Spanish War in April, 1898, the officers and 

 students of the academy joined the fleet, and Mr. Hopkins was assigned to 

 the naval station at Key West, Fla., the nearest station to the blockading 

 fleet operating in Cuban waters. While at Key West he was in charge of 

 all the "construction and repair" work done for the fleet at that station. He 

 was also active in improving the efficiency of the plant, installing much new 

 equipment and increasing its capacity as a repair station for naval purposes. 



It was while engaged in the work at Key West that Mr. Hopkins 

 received from the late W. A. Post, Member American Society of Civil 

 Engineers, then general superintendent of the shipyard, an offer to return 

 to Newport News and enter the service of the Newport News Shipbuilding 

 and Dry Dock Company. He accepted, and in August, 1898, returned to 

 Newport News as the personal assistant of Mr. Post. 



The able constructive work done by Mr. Hopkins in the years follow- 

 ing will always be remembered by those who were associated with him. 

 Gifted with a rarely keen mind, he was quick to grasp the essentials of 

 any situation. His education and training qualified him to choose unerringly 

 the right course to pursue, and his strong will and personality enabled him 

 to carry to its logical conclusion the course so chosen. United with these 

 strong characteristics were an unfailing courtesy and a consideration for 

 others, which endeared him to all his associates. 



In 1905, when Mr. Post was made general manager of the company, 

 Mr. Hopkins was appointed assistant general manager, and, in 1911, when 

 Mr. Post succeeded to the presidency, on account of the death of Mr. C. B. 

 Orcutt, Mr. Hopkins was made manager. 



On the death of Mr. Post in February, 1912, Mr. Hopkins was elected 

 vice-president, and became the chief executive officer of the company, with 

 headquarters in New York City. In this new field he fully sustained the 

 high position accorded to his predecessors, and it was quickly and widely 

 recognized that an able executive was directing the company's affairs. In 

 his own profession, and also among the men whom, because of his profes- 



