Wilson Durward Leggett, Jr.
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Wilson Durward Leggett, Jr. was born on 18 March 1901 in Tarboro, NC.

Leggett graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1920 and later obtained a Master's Degree in Engineering from Columbia University. In 1931, after serving on battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines, Leggett, now a Captain, began duties at the Navy's Bureau of Engineering where he was responsible for instituting a program of diesel engine development. The program provided the Navy with diesel propulsion that was successfully utilized during World War II.

During World War II, he held the positions of Repair Superintendent at Mare Island Naval Shipyard and Seventh Fleet Maintenance Officer. In 1947, he assumed command of the Navy's Engineering Equipment Station, where he was responsible for six research laboratories and projects pertaining to mechanical, chemical, and electoral engineering, internal combustion engines, acoustics and vibration, and metallurgy and welding.

He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Ships in 1951 and served as Chief of that Bureau from 1953-55. He was considered the Navy's top expert on internal combustion engines.

Death and Burial

Rear Admiral Wilson Durward Leggett, Jr. died on 1 January 1977 in Solano County, CA. He is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, MD.