Joseph Henry Appointed to Permanent Commission of the Navy
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Date: February 20, 1863
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Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry is appointed to the newly-established Permanent Commission of the Navy Department. This three-member board is charged with reviewing proposals sent to the Navy for warship designs, signalling systems, torpedoes, underwater guns, and other ordnance. Established in the midst of the Civil War, the commission meets more than 100 times and up to three times a week over the next two years, often at the Smithsonian Institution Building. They evaluate more than 300 inventions and proposals and issue more than 250 reports.
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
United States