Thomas Washington
Encyclopedia
Thomas Washington was an admiral
in the United States Navy
during World War I
.
, Washington was appointed to the United States Naval Academy
on 17 May 1883. He graduated on 10 June 1887 and, after the required two years of sea duty during which he served on the European Station in the sloops and , was commissioned ensign
in 1889. Over the ensuing three years, he briefly served in U.S. Coast Survey Ship Endeavor, followed by a tour in the gunboat to the far east. He was assigned to the office of the Navy's Judge Advocate General
in 1892.
Subsequently, after duty on several trial boards for general courts martial at the Norfolk and Washington Navy Yard
s, he was assigned to a succession of ships—, and —before joining the battleship
in early 1898. He was on this ship when she helped to defeat the Spanish Fleet under Admiral Cervera
on 3 July 1898 in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba
. His younger brother and naval cadet, Pope Washington, was one of the survivors of the explosion of the Maine
.
After a second tour of duty ashore in the office of the Judge Advocate General, Washington served on the General Board
. Ordered thence to the Asiatic Station, he joined the staff of Rear Admiral Robley D. "Fighting Bob" Evans
, the Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet, on 29 October 1902. Quartered on the battleship , the Asiatic Fleet's flagship
, he remained on Evans' staff until detached on 1 June 1904.
Special duty at the Bureau of Navigation
followed his return from the Orient and preceded his assuming command of dispatch boat , the vessel which was then serving as the Secretary of the Navy
's yacht. Washington next put in another tour with the Bureau of Navigation for duty before returning to sea in 1912 to command, in turn, the gunboat and cruiser
s and over the next two years.
less than four months after Washington assumed the Hydrographer's duties, depriving the United States of its external sources of oceanographic and hydrographic information. Washington and his small staff responded by independently gathering the necessary data for use by the United States Navy and Merchant Marine
.
Relieved as hydrographer on 23 June 1916, Washington was given command of the battleship . A few months after the United States entered the war in the spring of 1917, Florida crossed the Atlantic with Battleship Division Nine
to operate with the British Grand Fleet. The manner in which he carried out this assignment won Washington the Distinguished Service Medal
for "exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility."
Less than a year later, Washington received orders to duty as Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet (CINCAF). He broke his flag in armored cruiser
on 11 October 1923 and commanded the Fleet until 14 October 1925. During his tour, the Asiatic Fleet provided support for the United States Army
's round-the-world flight in the spring of 1924. Operating from the Kurils to Calcutta, the destroyer squadrons of the Fleet sailed on plane-guard stations, transported supplies and spare parts, and provided radio bearings and communications services for the planes, and thus contributed greatly to the success of the flight.
Relieved as CINCAF on 14 October 1925, Washington became Commandant of the Naval Operating Base, San Francisco, California
, on 19 November 1925, and filled the billet until his retirement on 6 June 1929.
, Bethesda, Maryland
on December 15, 1954.
He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia and his grave can be found in section 3, site 1738.
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Early life and career
Born at Goldsboro, North CarolinaGoldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro is a city in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 37,597 at the 2008 census estimate. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The nearby town of Waynesboro was founded in 1787 and Goldsboro was...
, Washington was appointed to the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
on 17 May 1883. He graduated on 10 June 1887 and, after the required two years of sea duty during which he served on the European Station in the sloops and , was commissioned ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
in 1889. Over the ensuing three years, he briefly served in U.S. Coast Survey Ship Endeavor, followed by a tour in the gunboat to the far east. He was assigned to the office of the Navy's Judge Advocate General
Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy
The Judge Advocate General's Corps also known as the "JAG Corps" or "JAG" is the legal arm of the United States Navy. Today, the corps consists of a worldwide organization of more than 730 Judge Advocates, 30 limited duty officers , 500 enlisted members and nearly 275 civilian personnel, serving...
in 1892.
Subsequently, after duty on several trial boards for general courts martial at the Norfolk and Washington Navy Yard
Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...
s, he was assigned to a succession of ships—, and —before joining the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
in early 1898. He was on this ship when she helped to defeat the Spanish Fleet under Admiral Cervera
Pascual Cervera y Topete
Pascual Cervera y Topete served as an admiral of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron during the Spanish-American War, and prior to this served his country in a variety of military and political roles....
on 3 July 1898 in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba
Battle of Santiago de Cuba
The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, fought between Spain and the United States on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron.-Spanish Fleet:...
. His younger brother and naval cadet, Pope Washington, was one of the survivors of the explosion of the Maine
USS Maine (ACR-1)
USS Maine was the United States Navy's second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship, although she was originally classified as an armored cruiser. She is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana harbor. Maine had been sent to Havana, Cuba to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt...
.
After a second tour of duty ashore in the office of the Judge Advocate General, Washington served on the General Board
General Board of the United States Navy
The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, effectively a naval general staff. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by John Davis Long. The order was officially recognized by Congress in 1916...
. Ordered thence to the Asiatic Station, he joined the staff of Rear Admiral Robley D. "Fighting Bob" Evans
Robley Dunglison Evans
Robley Dunglison Evans was born in Floyd County, Virginia served in the United States Navy from the American Civil War to the Spanish-American War, attaining the rank of rear admiral...
, the Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet, on 29 October 1902. Quartered on the battleship , the Asiatic Fleet's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, he remained on Evans' staff until detached on 1 June 1904.
Special duty at the Bureau of Navigation
Bureau of Navigation
The Bureau of Navigation was an agency of the U.S. government established in 1884 to enforce laws relating to the construction, equipment, operation, inspection, safety, and documentation of merchant vessels. The Bureau of Navigation was an agency of the U.S. government established in 1884 to...
followed his return from the Orient and preceded his assuming command of dispatch boat , the vessel which was then serving as the Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
's yacht. Washington next put in another tour with the Bureau of Navigation for duty before returning to sea in 1912 to command, in turn, the gunboat and cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s and over the next two years.
World War I
On 20 April 1914, Washington—by then a captain—assumed the duties of Hydrographer of the Navy. World War I broke out in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
less than four months after Washington assumed the Hydrographer's duties, depriving the United States of its external sources of oceanographic and hydrographic information. Washington and his small staff responded by independently gathering the necessary data for use by the United States Navy and Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marine
The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of U.S. civilian-owned merchant vessels, operated by either the government or the private sector, that engage in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The Merchant Marine is...
.
Relieved as hydrographer on 23 June 1916, Washington was given command of the battleship . A few months after the United States entered the war in the spring of 1917, Florida crossed the Atlantic with Battleship Division Nine
United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I)
United States Battleship Division Nine was a division of four, later five, dreadnought battleships of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet that constituted the American contribution to the British Grand Fleet during World War I. Although the U.S. entered the war on 6 April 1917, hesitation among...
to operate with the British Grand Fleet. The manner in which he carried out this assignment won Washington the Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non-valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military which is issued for exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United...
for "exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility."
Post-war service
On 22 November 1918, eleven days after the Armistice, he assumed command of Flagship Division 3, Battleship Force 1, Atlantic Fleet, flying his "flag" alternately in yachts and . He subsequently commanded Divisions 2 and 4, successively, of the Atlantic Fleet. Detached from this duty on 9 August, he assumed the post of Chief of the Bureau of Navigation on 11 August, with the accompanying rank of rear admiral.Less than a year later, Washington received orders to duty as Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet (CINCAF). He broke his flag in armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
on 11 October 1923 and commanded the Fleet until 14 October 1925. During his tour, the Asiatic Fleet provided support for the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's round-the-world flight in the spring of 1924. Operating from the Kurils to Calcutta, the destroyer squadrons of the Fleet sailed on plane-guard stations, transported supplies and spare parts, and provided radio bearings and communications services for the planes, and thus contributed greatly to the success of the flight.
Relieved as CINCAF on 14 October 1925, Washington became Commandant of the Naval Operating Base, San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, on 19 November 1925, and filled the billet until his retirement on 6 June 1929.
Last years and legacy
In the 1930s Washington was the Governor of the Philadelphia Naval Home. Advanced on the retired list to the full rank of admiral on 16 July 1942, Washington died at the Bethesda Naval HospitalNational Naval Medical Center
The National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, USA — commonly known as the Bethesda Naval Hospital — was for decades the flagship of the United States Navy's system of medical centers. A federal institution, it conducted medical and dental research as well as providing health care for...
, Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
on December 15, 1954.
He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
Arlington, Virginia and his grave can be found in section 3, site 1738.
Namesake
- The oceanographic research ship was named for him.