Donald Roebling
Donald Roebling (born November 15, 1908 in New York City , † August 29, 1959 in Boston , Massachusetts ) was an American eccentric , philanthropist and inventor of the amphibious vehicle Landing Vehicle Tracked . He was a great-grandson of the German-American John A. Roebling , the designer of the New York Brooklyn Bridge .
Life
Donald Roebling was born on November 15, 1908 to Margaret and John August Roebling II in New York City. He was the last son after Siegfried Roebling (1890–1936) and Paul Roebling (1893–1918).
The spirited and overweight boy spent his childhood with his wealthy parents in a luxurious mansion in Bernardsville , New Jersey . He was then sent to the Stuyvesant Prep School in Warrenton , Virginia , which he successfully completed despite a lack of academic enthusiasm. He did not comply with his parents' wish to attend an Ivy League university and instead enrolled at the Bliss Electrical Academy in Washington D.C. in August 1927 . Due to numerous differences with his professors, Donald was expelled from this training center in April of the following year.
After a few months at home, he moved in 1929 to live with his cousin Margaret MacIlrane in Clearwater , Florida . The following year he followed in his father's footsteps and founded the Roebling Construction Company , a construction company that specialized in the construction of luxury houses and villas . In 1930 he acquired a 7 acre (28,322 m² ) beachfront property, whereupon he built a villa on the advice of his then fiancée Florence Spottiswood Parker. The two-story house built in the Tudor style with 15 rooms, a large swimming pool and a large garden was for decades the largest and safest single-family home on the west coast of Florida. He named his estate Spottiswood after his wife Florence, who came from East Orange , New Jersey, and whom he married in October 1932. The red brick house was added to the US National Park Service 's National Register of Historic Places on December 19, 1979 and is now known as Donald Roebling Estate , Spotswood or Spottiswoode .
Donald Roebling spent the next few years with his wife in his estate, from where he managed his successful construction company and devoted himself to his hobbies . These included his stamp collection , amateur radio and handicrafts in his very well-equipped workshop, which was located on his property. In addition to his eccentricity, he was best known among the local population for his corpulent appearance. An avowed lover of sweets, he weighed over 400 pounds (about 180 kg), which led the local cinema to construct a special seat to accommodate his patron's abnormal buttocks .
In 1932 Donald Roebling was commissioned by his father to develop a vehicle that could move both on water and on land. One reason for this was the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, which claimed hundreds of lives in the Caribbean and Florida and left thousands homeless. The rescue teams were slow to penetrate the disaster region around Lake Okeechobee , as the roads were impassable for cars and the flooded areas were sometimes too shallow for boats. After two years of development, Donald Roebling was able to complete the first prototype called Alligator I , which in terms of appearance and driving performance, however, by no means corresponded to an emergency vehicle. Only after further improvements could his Alligator IV meet all expectations. In 1938 he had the drive concept patented , with which a sufficient driving speed could be achieved on water and on land.
The US military became aware of this vehicle in 1940 and commissioned Roebling to develop a military version. The Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT) called LVT-1 "Alligator" emerged from this tender . When the USA entered World War II on December 7, 1941, the development of the Landing Vehicle Tracked was steadily advanced, so that by the end of the war over 18,000 of these amphibious vehicles had been developed in eight different variants. Today the third generation of amphibious tanks called "Amtrac" is in service with the US Marine Corps .
Donald Roebling withdrew from LVT development to his Spottiswood estate before the end of the war. US President Harry Truman awarded him the Medal of Merit for his contribution to winning the war . This was given to Roebling on February 15, 1947 at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida, by Rear Admiral Ralph Davison . Nonetheless, his contribution and reputation were quickly forgotten.
In addition to pursuing his hobbies, Roebling developed into an influential financier in the greater Clearwater area. He donated the expansion of the local hospital named after him ( Roebling Wing ) and an event hall for the Peace Memorial Presbyterian Church ( Roebling Hall ). He also supported the local Boy Scouts of America group and financed the education of children from needy families.
Donald Roebling died of complications from gallbladder surgery on August 29, 1959 at Lahey Clinic Hospital in Boston , Massachusetts . He was married twice and had no children. His first marriage to Florence Spottiswood Parker failed in 1936. His marriage to Helen Price Roebling was also divorced after a few years.
See also
Web links
- Roebling's Amphibian, The Origin Of The Assault Amphibian (English)
- Story about Clearwater (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Roebling, Donald |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American eccentric, philanthropist, and inventor of the Landing Vehicle Tracked amphibious vehicle |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 15, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 29, 1959 |
| Place of death | Boston , Massachusetts |