380 OBITUARY. 



During the period from 1895 until his retirement in November, 1897, Captain Fernald 

 served on various important naval boards, and also as superintending constructor at the Bath 

 Iron Works, Bath, Me. At the time of his statutory retirement for age he had had a total 

 service of twenty-six years and seven months on the active list of the Navy, being unemployed 

 less than three months of this period. 



In March, 1901, Captain Fernald was again placed on active duty and ordered to proceed 

 to the Asiatic Station and to report to the Commander-in-Chief for special duty. In January, 

 1902, upon the completion of this duty, he was detached and ordered to proceed to Washing- 

 ton via Rangoon, Burmah. 



After a short period of service in Washington, he was assigned to duty as superintend- 

 ing constructor at the works of the Gas Engine and Power Company, Morris Heights, New 

 York; the Crescent Shipyard, Elizabethport, N. J.; and the Columbian Iron Works, Balti- 

 more, Md. Also, during the period from June, 1902, tmtil May, 1906, he was a member of 

 various departmental boards, one of the most important of which was that under the presi- 

 dency of Rear Admiral Thomas O. Selfridge, U. S. N., this board being charged with the 

 very important duty of appraising the value of work performed on various naval vessels, 

 contracts for which had been forfeited. In May, 1906, he was detached from all duty, 

 ordered home, and returned to an inactive status on the retired list. 



The connection of Captain Fernald with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine En- 

 gineers was especially notable. He was a Charter Member, an Incorporator and one of 

 the original Members of Council. In due course he became one of its Vice-Presidents and 

 was also one of the first to be accorded the distinction of being elected an Honorary Vice- 

 President. Up to the very end he manifested great interest in the development of his pro- 

 fession and was constant in his attendance at the annual meetings of the Society, where his 

 presence was always warmly greeted, not only by his former professional associates but 

 also by the rising generation of shipbuilders and engineers, all of whom held him in high and 

 affectionate esteem. 



The foregoing summary recital of the principal duties performed by Captain Fernald 

 while an officer of the Construction Corps of the Navy, with brief allusion to his connection 

 with this Society, gives only a meager outline of the character and extent of the professional 

 activities of that very able officer during his long and distinguished service. 



He was an officer of unusually sound professional judgment, broad experience and high 

 ideals, and he has left to his former colleagues, and especially the younger generation, an 

 exami>le of efficient and loyal performance of duty worthy of highest admiration and all 

 possible emulation. 



Captain Fernald died on May 29, 1921, while on a visit to California. He is survived by 

 a son, Chester Bailey Fernald, an author of note, now living in London, England. 



WILLIAM DUNDERDALE FORBES 



MEMBER 



Mr. Forbes was bom in Perth Amboy, N. J., on July 10, 1854. He was educated abroad 

 and while a student in France served in the F ranco-Prussion War as a f ranc-tireur in the 

 French Army. Before returning tO' this country he worked with the famous gunsmiths of 

 Switzerland and for a time was on the editorial staff of Engineering of London. 



