| William W. Wood | |
| Successor: | William Henry Shock |
| Birth Name: | William Willis Wiley Wood |
| Birth Date: | 30 May 1818 |
| Resting Place: | Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Spouse: | Fanny Henderson |
| Children: | 8 |
| Branch Label: | Branch |
| Serviceyears Label: | Years of service |
| Serviceyears: | 1845–1880 |
| Rank: | Engineer-in-chief |
| Battles Label: | Conflict |
| Battles: | American Civil War |
William Willis Wiley Wood (May 30, 1818 – August 31, 1882) was an engineer of the United States Navy, who served as Engineer-in-Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering from 1873 until 1877.
Wood was born in Wake County, North Carolina, and after graduation obtained a position at the West Point Foundry.[1]
He was appointed to the Navy from New York on March 15, 1845, with the rank of chief engineer.[2] [3] He spent his first two years in the navy stationed at the Pensacola Navy Yard, Florida.[2] He briefly did special duty at Boston, and then from 1850 to 1853, served on the paddle-sloop in the Home Squadron.[2]
From 1854 to 1857, Wood superintended the constructions of the engines of the screw-frigate at Cold Spring, New York.[2] His next appointment was for two years serving in the screw-sloop on the Pacific Squadron.[2] From 1862 to 1866, Wood spent most of his time on special duty in Philadelphia, New York and Boston.[2] Wood was assigned to the United States Naval Academy from 1866 to 1867.[2] Wood was Inspector of Machinery Afloat in New York from 1870 to 1872.[2]
Wood was promoted to engineer-in-chief in 1872,[2] and was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering on March 20, 1873,[3] [4] his successor was appointed on March 3, 1877.[3] Wood was assigned to special duty in 1878,[2] and was placed on the retired list on May 31, 1880.[3]
On August 31, 1882, Wood was drowned in a boating accident off Point Lookout, Maryland.[2] He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[5]
At the time of his death, Wood was married and had six children:
Two more, William Willis Wood and Charles Gillespie Wood, had died young.