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Washington Lee Capps was born on January 31, 1864 in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States; the son of Washington Tazewell and Frances (Bernard) Capps. On his father's side he was descended from a family long settled in the coastal region of southeast Virginia.
Appointed cadet engineer on October 1, 1880, Capps graduated at the Naval Academy in June 1884, third in a class of forty-six. As a naval cadet he served on board the flagship Tennessee and on the staffs of Rear Admirals S. B. Luce and J. E. Jouett and assisted in the preparation of a report on the Panama Canal, 1884-86. On attaining the rank of ensign, August 1886, Capps was sent to Glasgow University, Scotland, to study naval architecture, and there in 1888 he was graduated bachelor of science.
Commissioned assistant naval constructor in 1888 and naval constructor in 1895, Washington was for a decade employed in construction work at the New York navy yard, at the Bureau of Construction and Repair, Washington, D. C. , and at private shipyards. The famous battleship Oregon was built under his supervision at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, 1896-98. In July 1898 Capps joined the staff of Admiral Dewey in Manila Bay and was on the bridge of the Olympia during the joint army and naval battle that resulted in the surrender of Manila, August 13, 1898. Gen. Wesley Merritt commended him for his services in the campaign. Subsequently he supervised the raising and repairing of three sunken Spanish ships. On returning to the United States Capps served on the Board of Inspection and Survey, 1899-1901, and as head of the department of construction and repair, New York navy yard, 1901-03. In October 1903 he returned to Washington and under appointment by President Roosevelt became chief constructor and chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, with the rank of rear admiral, offices that he held for seven years. Among the vessels designed and constructed during this period were the first American dreadnoughts Michigan, South Carolina, Delaware, and North Carolina. Important improvements were made in battleship design and in the mounting and arrangement of guns. Capps was responsible for the all-big-gun ship and the skeleton mast. On his resignation as chief of bureau, he received, October 1, 1910, a permanent commission as chief constructor, with the rank of rear admiral, and was shortly sent to the Philippine Islands to inspect the naval stations there. Capps now entered upon a long period of service as chairman of administrative boards dealing with intricate professional problems, and lasting beyond his retirement, January 31, 1928, until his death. This work, while not spectacular, was of great utility and received the special commendation of his superiors, including Presidents Wilson and Coolidge.
He was one of the American commissioners at the International Conference on Safety of Life at Sea, held in London, 1913, and served as chairman of the Conference Committee on Safety Construction. In 1915 at the International Engineering Conference, held at San Francisco, he was chairman of the section on naval architecture and marine engineering.
He died in Washington, D. C. , of thrombosis, and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.
He was one of the founders of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. The famous battleship Oregon was built under his supervision. One of the founders of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, Capps became its first secretary, 1893-95 (serving again, 1901 - 03), and its sixth president, 1919-21. For his services during the World War he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
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He was appointed senior member of All Boards on Hull Changes on the Atlantic Coast, 1911; senior member of the Navy Compensation Board, 1917; and president of the Naval War Claims Board, 1925. For several months in 1917 he was manager of the Emergency Fleet Corporation.
His marriage to Edna Ward, daughter of Rear Admiral Aaron Ward, occurred at Roslyn, Long Island, December 28, 1911. There were no children.
