Roger Welles (1862–1932) was a U. S. naval officer, the first commander of USS ''Oklahoma'' and appointed the first "Navy Mayor" of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. Welles gave 33 years service to the navy in a variety of placements, eventually being promoted to Rear-Admiral. As an ensign he was engaged in surveys in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, where he made a study of native peoples culture and language in his spare time. He served two years in the post of Special Counsel to the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in Chicago, and was awarded by its board for research on Orinoco River Indians. A former commander of the Naval Training Center in Newport, his command of the ''Oklahoma'' was a short period of time mainly involving the command as a training ship. This was because the oil-fired boilers that she used were not able to be fueled in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, as German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s had drained their supply.Phister-Hone-Goodyear p. 31 After he gave command over to Rear Admiral Spencer K. Wood, he was appointed Director of the

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serves ...

(April 1917 – January 1919). He then became Commandant of the 11th Naval District, during which period he took the final measures to establish the San Diego Naval Base. Welles married Harriet Deen Gardner on 17 October 1908, who followed her husband's ship to Asia and later published accounts of journeys in ''

Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ' ...

'' and the popular book ''Anchors Aweigh''. He was entered on the Navy's Retired List on 7 December 1926, upon attaining the age of 64, and died in New York on 26 April 1932.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Welles, Roger Mayors of San Diego 1862 births 1932 deaths Directors of the Office of Naval Intelligence