WILSON, Theodore Delavan, naval constructor, born in Brooklyn, New York, 11 May, 1840. He served an apprenticeship as a shipwright at the Brooklyn navy-yard, and at the beginning of the civil war was a non-commissioned officer in the 13th New York militia regiment for three months. Upon his return he was appointed a carpenter in the navy, 3 August, 1861, and he served in the steamer "Cambridge," of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, in 1861-'4, and with Rear-Admiral Gregory as inspector of vessels in the private establishments near New York city. After passing the required examination he was commissioned as an assistant naval constructor, 17 May, 1866. He served at the Pensacola navy-yard in 1866-'7 and at Philadelphia in 1867-'9, and was instructor in naval architecture and ship-building at the United States naval academy in 1869-'73. He was commissioned naval constructor, 1 July, 1873, and served at the Portsmouth navy-yard in 1873-'82. He was elected a member of the Institute of naval architects of England, being the first American member of that scientific body. He was appointed chief of the bureau of construction and repair, 3 March, 1872, and reappointed for a second term of four years, 15 Dee, 1886. In 1870 he received a patent for "air-ports," which have been adopted in the naval service and merchant-ships, and in 1880 he patented a bolt-extractor, which is in general use. While chief of the bureau of construction and repair he has designed several of the modern ships that have been recently built and are now building. He designed the "Chicago," "Boston," and "Atlanta," to meet the requirements of the advisory board, and the cruisers "Newark," " San Francisco," "Concord," "Yorktown," " Bennington," "Petrel," and "Maine," the latter of which is shown in the illustration. He is the author of "Ship-Building, Theoretical and Practical," which is used as a text-book at the naval academy and by the profession generally (New York, 1873).