Charles Harding Loring (December 26, 1828 – February 5, 1907) was a U.S. Navy admiral and chief engineer.
Early life
Loring was born on December 26, 1828, and is descended from two Pilgrim forefathers. His father was William Price Loring, who was born in Boston in 1795, and who was in early life a silversmith, and afterwards served as an officer of the customs. He was also an early California pioneer, where he remained until within a few years of his death, which occurred in Boston in 1878. His mother, whose maiden name was Eliza Harding, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1800 and bore her husband four daughters and two sons.
Navy career
As his educational period was before the day of technical schools, he followed the usual course of preparation for mechanical engineering and served a regular apprenticeship in the machine shop with Jabez Coney. At its close, in 1851, he entered the United States Navy as a third assistant engineer, attaining, by competitive examination, the highest place in a class of 14.
His entrance was just too late to give him an opportunity for participation in the Mexican–American War, and by the time the American Civil War broke out he had passed through all the junior grades and had become a chief engineer. During his service in junior grades he had been laying the foundation for his more important work when an older man and in higher positions, a portion of his shore duty having been as assistant to the engineer-in-chief of the Navy, in which capacity he had charge of the experimental work and tests of engineering devices coming before that office. While engaged in this duty he made a test of the first injector which came to this country.
Civil War
During the Civil War he was in active service the whole time, and during the first 18 months was fleet engineer of the North Atlantic Squadron, being attached to the steamer . He was on board this ship during the attacks of the on the Northern fleet in the battle of Hampton Roads on March 8–9, 1862, when was sunk and burned, and when the Minnesota also was attacked.
A little later he was detached from sea duty and sent to Cincinnati, Ohio, to supervise the construction of three river and harbor monitors and also of some light-draught sea monitors building there. Subsequently, he was made general inspector of all the iron-clad steamers building west of the Allegheny Mountains, having in charge at one time 11 monitors building at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis.
During the Civil War a number of excellent engines had been accumulated for hulls which were in process of construction, but with the close of the war all work was stopped, and after a time a board was appointed to recommend the best disposition of these engines which were stored in the various navy yards. It was about this time that the compound engine was coming into general use, and the same board was directed to make a study of the compound engine with a view to its introduction in naval vessels. Of this board, Loring was senior member, and associated with him was Chief Engineer Charles Hinckley Baker.
Study of compound engines
After a very exhaustive study of the subject, they recommended the introduction of compound engines and the abandonment of the simple form, and the conversion of a number of the engines which were on hand into compound engines. Four sets of these simple engines were so converted and were fitted to the , , , and . The tests of these engines were very satisfactory and showed a coal economy for short runs of not much over two pounds of coal per horsepower hour.
This study of the compound engine made it natural that Loring should be selected as the representative of the Navy Department when, in 1874, he and Charles E. Emery made an elaborate series of trials of the engines of the revenue cutters , , , and , to determine by actual test the relative economies of compound and simple engines, designed for the same work in similar hulls, and also to secure reliable and authoritative data with respect to the economy of steam jacketing. These tests were the first of the kind conducted under circumstances of entire reliability, with the result that the report of the trials was republished all over the world and is still quoted in all the text books on steam engineering.