Commission and early career Upon graduation in 1905, Bowen was assigned to and then to in 1906. He received his commission as ensign upon passing his final examinations as a midshipman in the spring of 1907, after which he was assigned to during the first leg of the
Great White Fleet. He transferred to in the spring of 1908 and eventually became the Chief Engineer's first assistant. , receiving the Medal of honor for actions aboard , (ex -). Captain Bowen is pictured, second from left as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Engineering, and former Chief Engineer of
Tennessee. In 1910, Bowen's request for a transfer to as the
executive officer was granted. Aboard
Hopkins he learned a great deal about engineering due to the poor condition of the ship and eventually became the engineering officer as well as the executive officer, with only two officers aboard.
Hopkins suffered a boiler accident and two sailors were killed, but Bowen was away from the ship that day taking a promotions exam. After the commanding officer departed, Bowen was the only officer left on
Hopkins and became
commanding officer as a lieutenant. Bowen went on to serve as Chief Engineer on several ships and was attached to in 1914, followed by (ex-
Pennsylvania) in late 1915 and in late 1918. Bowen spent three years ashore ending July 1922, part of it as a shop superintendent and later as Engineer officer of the
Mare Island Navy Yard. He became Assistant Fleet Engineer under Admiral
Edward Walter Eberle, Commander of the
Battle Fleet, embarked on . He was later the Fleet Materiel Officer for the Battle Fleet under Admiral
Samuel Robison, aboard . Bowen returned to shore as Production Manager of
Puget Sound Navy Yard, prior to 1930.
Bureau of Engineering Bowen was the Assistant Chief of the
Bureau of Engineering from 1931 to 1935 and then the Chief of the Bureau of engineering from 1935 to 1939. While there Bowen was a champion for
research and development (R&D) of high pressure, high temperature
steam propulsion, This technology was said radically to have changed maritime steam turbine operation, increasing the speed and range of Navy ships in World War II.
Later career In 1942, Bowen was made Special Assistant to the
Under Secretary of the Navy,
James V. Forrestal (1942–1944) and after Secretary Knox's death, Bowen became Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy, Forrestal (1944–1947). In 1946, Forrestal made Bowen the first leader of the Office of Research and Invention (ORI) which would eventually become the
Office of Naval Research. In January 1947, Bowen made a six-point policy proposal to Navy leadership pushing for comprehensive R&D into nuclear propulsion, munitions, nuclear medicine and nuclear science, but he failed and those activities went to the Bureau of Ships under Admiral Rickover instead of Bowen's ORI. ==Death==