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44-785: The United States Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division ( NSWCDD ), named for Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren , is located in King George County , Virginia , in close proximity to the largest fleet concentration area in the Navy. NSWCDD is part of the Naval Surface Warfare Centers under the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). NSWCDD was initially established 16 October 1918 as a remote extension of Maryland's Indian Head Proving Ground used for testing naval guns. The Dahlgren site

88-826: A 10-inch shell gun of 86 cwt. In 1854, the six Merrimack -class steam frigates were equipped with 9-inch Dahlgren shell guns. By 1852, the Dahlgren gun had become the standard armament of the United States Navy. The boat howitzer derived from a requirement realized during the Mexican–American War. During that war, naval landing parties were armed with various army ordnance, often too cumbersome for landing boats. Dahlgren first experimented with standard army-issue 12-pounder mountain howitzers before devising his own guns system. The boat howitzers came in four basic types: small, light (or medium), and heavy versions of

132-422: A Civil War Navy commander, who is the acknowledged "father of modern naval ordnance." Prior to 1918, the Navy operated a proving ground at Indian Head, Maryland, but it became inadequate as advances in gun designs and ordnance made its range obsolete. During World War I, a range of 90,000 yards (82,000 m) was sought by the Navy to prove its new battleship guns. The range was required to be over water but inside

176-668: A cavalry raid on Richmond, Virginia , while carrying out an assassination plot against Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Cabinet. The plot became known as the Dahlgren Affair . The admiral was deeply troubled by Ulric's death and role in this event, as well as reports of the disrespectful treatment of the corpse before Richmond spymaster Elizabeth Van Lew secured its proper burial. His brother William also spied on Confederate purchasing agents in England during

220-704: A number of brilliant young scientists and engineers to the area during the war, and some were tapped to help with the ongoing Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. Two such people include Dr. Norris E. Bradbury , who later became the Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Deak Parsons , the weaponeer on the Enola Gay , the aircraft which dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. In

264-438: A register were available when needed. The tape containing the program could encode only eight instructions, so what a particular instruction code meant depended on when it was executed. Each second was divided up into several periods, and a coded instruction could mean different things in different periods. An addition could be started in any of eight periods in the second, a multiplication could be started in any of four periods of

308-462: Is the local county high school. John A. Dahlgren John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren (November 13, 1809 – July 12, 1870) was a United States Navy officer who founded his service's Ordnance Department and launched significant advances in gunnery. Dahlgren devised a smoothbore howitzer, adaptable for many sizes of craft and shore installations. He then introduced a cast-iron muzzle-loading cannon with vastly increased range and accuracy, known as

352-428: The 2010 Census was 599. It is entirely distinct from Dahlgren CDP , to the west. Dahlgren was established in the spring of 1918 as a Naval Proving Ground. Its recorded first work, the firing of a 7-inch (178-millimetre)/45 caliber tractor-mounted gun, occurred on 16 October 1918, which is recognized as the official founding date. The proving ground was named Dahlgren in honor of Rear Admiral John Adolphus Dahlgren ,

396-639: The Bureau of Ordnance . In February 1863, Dahlgren was promoted to rear admiral and took command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . In 1864, he helped William Tecumseh Sherman secure Savannah, Georgia . Dahlgren's eldest son Charles Bunker Dahlgren (1839–1912), who had studied steam engineering, joined the U.S. Navy at the start of the Civil War and served with distinction, receiving several promotions and ending as

440-810: The Dahlgren gun , that became the U.S. Navy's standard armament. In the Civil War , Dahlgren was made commander of the Washington Navy Yard , where he established the Bureau of Ordnance. In 1863, he took command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at the rank of rear admiral. He helped William Tecumseh Sherman secure Savannah, Georgia. Dahlgren was born on November 13, 1809, in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania,

484-693: The Naval Support Activity Panama City was part of Dahlgren Division, but in 2008, it became its own division within the NAVSEA Naval Surface Warfare Center structure. The physical base where NSWCDD is located became officially known as the Naval Support Activity Dahlgren (NSA Dahlgren) in 2003 when Naval Installations Command assumed all base operating functions, leaving NSWCDD as an installation tenant, however,

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528-554: The South Pacific Squadron from Rear Admiral George F. Pearson in 1867. When he was relieved of the squadron's command in 1868, he returned to the Washington Navy Yard , where he again served as chief of the Bureau of Ordnance until 1869, and then as commandant of the yard until his death on July 12, 1870, at age 60. He is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery , Section L50 to 54, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania . The Naval station in Dahlgren, Virginia , Dahlgren Hall at

572-701: The Standard missile used on modern United States Navy warships, and the warhead for the AIM-54 Phoenix . Current projects include the majority of US research into directed-energy weapons , railgun technology and weapons integration for the Littoral combat ship . NSWCDD scientists and engineers share their technological expertise by participating in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities to inspire students to pursue technical careers. NSWCDD mentors support summer academies, such as

616-668: The Tomahawk missile , which improved the Navy's capacity to perform attacks on land targets from a distance that decreased the risk to ships. Dahlgren also was critical in work to protect Navy ships from enemy missile and air attacks with programs such as the Standard missile and the Aegis Combat System . That work continues in 2017, along with the electromagnetic railgun , DDG 1000 , Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), and Chemical Biological and Radiological Defense . Because of

660-469: The U.S. Navy 's Ordnance Department; became an ordnance expert; developed a percussion lock; and wrote several books, including The System of Boat Armaments in the United States Navy , Shells and Shell Guns , and Naval Percussion Locks and Primers . Under his command, the U.S. Navy established its own foundry to manufacture new equipment. Its first product was the boat howitzer , designed for use aboard ships and in landings. His most famous contribution

704-896: The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland , several ships , Dahlgren, Illinois , and Dahlgren Township, Minnesota are all named for him Harvard Mark II The contract to build the Mark II was signed with Harvard in February 1945, after the successful demonstration of the Mark I in 1944. It was completed and debugged in 1947, and delivered to the US Navy Proving Ground at Dahlgren, Virginia in March 1948, becoming fully operational by

748-433: The 12-pounder and a larger 24-pounder. All conformed to the same basic shape, straight gun tubes with no adorning bands or clefts. Elevation was made via a screw-threaded into the knob at the breech. Instead of traditional trunnions, the guns were attached to the carriage by a loop under the barrel. The Dahlgren system also included mounting carriages that facilitated various employments of the guns. A single-axle metal carriage

792-547: The Confederate navy. President Abraham Lincoln wanted to name then- Commander Dahlgren to the post of commander of the Washington Navy Yard. By law, however, that position could only be held by an officer with a rank of captain or above. Lincoln successfully persuaded Congress to pass a special act legalizing Dahlgren's appointment to the yard. In July 1862, Dahlgren was promoted to captain and made chief of

836-411: The Mark II was actually composed of two sub-computers that could either work in tandem or operate on separate functions, to cross-check results and debug malfunctions. The Mark I and Mark II were not stored-program computers – they read instructions of the program one at a time from a tape and executed them. The Mark II had a peculiar programming method that was devised to ensure that the contents of

880-681: The NSWCDD include physicists Albert Einstein , Edward Teller , Carl Norden , and computer pioneers Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper . Engineering projects of historical or military significance developed at NSWCDD include the triggering device on the Hiroshima atomic bomb , the Norden Bombsight used on most American bombers such as the B-17 Flying Fortress , B-24 Liberator and B-29 Superfortress during World War II ,

924-491: The Naval Space Surveillance Center, which selected Dahlgren to be at the center of the laboratory's growing computer advances. It was around this time that Dahlgren became heavily involved with the development of Fleet Ballistic Missiles , later called Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles. In the 1970s and 1980s, Dahlgren was on the leading edge of naval surface weapons work with programs such as

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968-853: The Navy's arsenal. Most of the work was done at the Main Range Gun Line, which faces down the Potomac River. During the World War II years, Dahlgren became involved with new computational devices (computers) because of its ordnance requirements. Ground-breaking early computers were sent to Dahlgren to help with ballistic work and other directives, including the Aiken Relay Calculator and the Naval Ordnance Research Calculator (NORC). The computer and ordnance work going on attracted

1012-507: The U.S. Army but named after him. Dahlgren wrote: Paixhans had so far satisfied naval men of the power of shell guns as to obtain their admission on shipboard; but by unduly developing the explosive element, he had sacrificed accuracy and range. ... The difference between the system of Paixhans and my own was simply that Paixhans guns were strictly shell guns, and were not designed for shot, nor for great penetration or accuracy at long ranges. They were, therefore, auxiliary to, or associates of,

1056-570: The Virginia Demonstration Project, where they introduce robotics and basic engineering principles to area middle and high school students through hands-on activities. NSWCDD also has educational partnerships with several universities across the U.S. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which serves as the local school district for the base, has a K-8 school , Dahlgren Elementary Middle School. The school first opened in 1921. The school's principal facility

1100-611: The consolidations of naval laboratories into one headquarters center, it became the Dahlgren Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. NSWCDD conducts basic research in all systems-related areas and pursues scientific disciplines including biotechnology , chemistry , mathematics , laser and computer technology, chemical, mechanical, electrical and systems engineering , physics and computer science . Distinguished figures who have worked for

1144-455: The end of that year. The Mark II was constructed with high-speed electromagnetic relays instead of the electro-mechanical counters used in the Mark I, making it much faster than its predecessor. It weighed 25 short tons (23 t) and occupied over 4,000 square feet (370 m ) of floor space. Its addition time was 0.125 seconds (8 Hz) and the multiplication time was 0.750 seconds. This

1188-486: The highly specialized work force required, the Navy promised to supply housing, food and medical services, schools, recreation, and other socially needed infrastructure. In the 1920s and 1930s, Dahlgren was involved in testing bombsights, including the Norden bombsight , for the Navy's fledgling air forces. But, until World War II, much of the principal work at Dahlgren surrounded the proofing and testing of every major gun in

1232-603: The laboratory's broad-based growth in research and development and with its new missions, Dahlgren's name officially changed to the Naval Weapons Laboratory in 1959. It was later changed to the Naval Surface Weapons Center in 1974 with the merger of the former Naval Ordnance Laboratory at White Oak, Maryland. In 1987, the name was changed again to the Naval Surface Warfare Center as new and expanded missions were added. And, in 1992, with

1276-699: The name NSWCDD or NSWC is still commonly used to refer to the base. There are a few other major tenant commands on the base such as the Joint Warfare Analysis Center and the Aegis Training and Readiness Center (ATRC) involved in the training and development for the Aegis Combat System, and training and development for other future shipboard combat systems. NSF Dahlgren was also previously home to Naval Space Surveillance System Command ( NAVSPASUR ) before that function

1320-477: The rank of captain. However, he declined offers to continue in federal service after the war. Among other incidents, Charles Dahlgren commanded the siege battery of 9-inch Dahlgren shell-guns which destroyed the powerful Confederate batteries at the Battle of Vicksburg , and served under his father during the blockade of Charleston. Another of Dahlgren's sons, Colonel Ulric Dahlgren , was killed on March 2, 1864, in

1364-419: The second, and a transfer of data could be started in any of twelve periods of the second. Although this system worked, it made the programming complicated, and it reduced the efficiency of the machine somewhat. The Mark II is also known for being the computer with the first recorded instance of an actual bug (a moth) disrupting its operation. The insect was extracted from the machine's electronics and taped to

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1408-466: The shot-guns. This made a mixed armament, was objectionable as such, and never was adopted to any extent in France ... My idea was, to have a gun that should generally throw shells far and accurately, with the capacity to fire solid shot when needed. Also to compose the whole battery entirely of such guns. The U.S. Navy had equipped several ships with 8-inch Paixhans guns of 63 and 55 cwt. in 1845, and later

1452-442: The son of Bernhard Ulrik Dahlgren, a merchant and Swedish Consul in the city. Dahlgren joined the United States Navy in 1826 as a midshipman and was promoted to the coastal survey in 1834. By 1847, he was an ordnance officer, and at the Washington Navy Yard began to improve and systematize the procurement and supply system for weapons. He was assigned to the Washington Navy Yard in 1847. While there, Dahlgren established

1496-489: The territorial waters of the United States. The area from Machodoc Creek to Point Lookout on the Potomac River was selected because of its relative straight lines and accessibility. The climate and relative calm of the river were also factors as the Navy sought an ice and rapids free testing area. At the time of Dahlgren's establishment, the area was extremely remote and relatively unpopulated. Thus, to recruit and retain

1540-527: The war. However, despite Radical Republican associations, John Dahlgren's younger brother Charles G. Dahlgren (1811–1888), a banker and slave owner, became a Confederate brigadier general , commander of the 3rd Brigade, Army of Mississippi, which he personally recruited and funded, until his troops' integration into the regular Confederate army and removal by Jefferson Davis in 1862. Dahlgren had three sons from his first marriage to Mary Bunker (1839). Admiral Dahlgren's eldest son, Charles Bunker Dahlgren,

1584-559: The widow of Daniel Convers Goddard, first assistant secretary of the newly created U.S. Department of the Interior. Madeleine was a well-known author in her own right. Their children were John Vinton Dahlgren , who married Elizabeth Wharton Drexel ; Eric Bernard Dahlgren Sr., who married Lucy Wharton Drexel ; and Ulrica Dahlgren, who married Josiah Pierce, and was the grandmother of Romaine Dahlgren Pierce, wife of David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven . Dahlgren took command of

1628-497: The years immediately after the war, Dahlgren's work force was cut back. But the laboratory's strong computer and ordnance expertise kept the base open and Navy work flowing. Subsequently, the onset of the Cold War and Korea again placed demands for new offensive and defensive ship systems. In 1958, with the former Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik I, a space race began. Dahlgren opened its gates that year to its first tenant activity,

1672-539: Was a factor of 2.6 faster for addition and a factor of 8 faster for multiplication compared to the Mark I. It was the second machine (after the Bell Labs Relay Calculator) to have floating-point hardware. A unique feature of the Mark II is that it had built-in hardware for several functions such as the reciprocal, square root, logarithm, exponential, and some trigonometric functions. These took between five and twelve seconds to execute. Additionally,

1716-820: Was an engineer and captain in the Union Navy . After his father's death, he would write and present many technical papers on military weaponry, including the Dahlgren gun. Ulric Dahlgren (1842–1864) was a soldier in the Union Army and was killed in an unsuccessful mission to liberate Federal prisoners in Libby Prison and Belle Isle . Another son, Paul Dahlgren, also in the army, died in 1876 while serving as consul general in Rome. In 1865, Dahlgren married his second wife, Madeleine Vinton , daughter of Congressman Samuel Finley Vinton and Romaine Madeleine Bureau, and

1760-497: Was built during World War II . In 2011 a review of the building found that it was in "poor" shape. King George County Public Schools operates non-DoDEA public schools in King George County. Most off-post persons associated with NSF Dahlgren send their children to King George County schools. The King George County school Potomac Elementary School is in proximity to the entrance to NSWC Dahlgren. King George High School

1804-497: Was designed for shore use. A bed-type carriage was used on small boats, with a rail system to allow the gun to be trained fore, aft, and broadside. A similar mount was offered for shipboard use. The system of boat howitzers was used by the U.S. Navy well into the 1890s, with some examples used for ceremonial purposes into the 20th Century. In 1861, Dahlgren's superior at the Washington Navy Yard, Franklin Buchanan , resigned to join

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1848-545: Was named the Lower Station, Dahlgren Naval Proving Ground when it first opened. The location on the Potomac River was specifically chosen for the development of a long ballistic test range on the Potomac River, required for the testing of modern, high-powered munitions. The NSWCDD employs approximately 4,700 scientists, engineers and support personnel at the Dahlgren organization and more than 350 at NSWCDD DNA. Prior to 2007, Panama City Coastal Systems Station located at

1892-493: Was the Dahlgren gun , a cast-iron muzzle loading cannon. Dahlgren's meticulous research using gauges to measure pressure differences in the cannon barrel as it was fired resulted in a design that utilized slower-detonating gunpowder and merged characteristics of John Ericsson 's experimental 12-inch "Orator" (and Robert Stockton 's tragically executed imitation, the "Peacemaker") and the shell-guns adapted by French artillery officer Henri-Joseph Paixhans from their origination in

1936-543: Was transferred to the Air Force in 2004. In 2006, the installation's name was changed to its current iteration of Naval Support Facility Dahlgren when Naval District Washington merged it and Naval Support Activity Indian Head under the combined command of Naval Support Activity South Potomac . The base is recognized by the Census Bureau as a census designated place (CDP), Dahlgren Center. Its population as of

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