| Notes |
William Lawrence Saunders became the first president of the company. Saunders, an engineer, had developed a compressed-air drilling apparatus for subaqueous use while in his 20s. The widely used invention made development of Russia's Baku oil fields possible. Saunders had inspected an underwater rock drilling and blasting project himself, diving down to it so he could design a subaqueous drill appropriate for the job. Saunders moved to the board of directors in 1913 and was replaced as president by George Doubleday.
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