One of San Mateo County’s most distinguished citizens is George W. Dickie of San Mateo, marine architect and naval designer who drew the plans for the famous old battleship Oregon and a score of other vessels of the United States Navy.
Mr. Dickie is known the world over as a designer of fighting craft. Perhaps his most famous work was the Oregon, “the bulldog of the American navy,” which at the time it was commissioned, was the most notable warship afloat. Other vessels that were designed by Mr. Dickie are the battleships Wisconsin and Ohio, the armored cruisers Colorado, South Dakota and San Diego, the cruisers Olympia which was Admiral Dewey’s flag ship in the battle of Manila Bay, Charleston, Milwaukee and the destroyers Paul Jones, Preble and Perry and the gunboat Wheeling. Mr. Dickie also drew the plans for many of the large freighters and passenger boats on the Pacific among which is the Congress.
Another important work undertaken by Mr. Dickie was the designing of the machinery for the Comstock mine.
George William Dickie was born in Scotland on July 17, 1844. He studied engineering in his father’s shipyard. In 1869 he came to the United States making his home on the Pacific coast shortly after his arrival. He has been a resident of San Mateo for twenty years. Many honors have come to Mr. Dickie because of his notable engineering achievements. He was recently elected a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mr. Dickie is vice president of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
Mr. Dickie is the author of several books on marine engineering and articles by him have appeared in all the leading engineering journals.