Thomas Washington (6 June 1865 – 15 December 1954) was an admiral in the

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during

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Early life and career

Thomas Washington and his brother Richard were twin of Virginia and her farmer husband R.A. Washington, both born at Goldsboro, North Carolina.1870 U.S. Federal Census for Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina p. 66 of 98 On May 17, 1883, Thomas Washington accepted an appointment to the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

. He traveled to Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated on 10 June 1887. After the required two years of sea duty during which he served on the

European Station The European Squadron, also known as the European Station, was a part of the United States Navy in the late 19th century and the early 1900s. The squadron was originally named the Mediterranean Squadron and renamed following the American Civil Wa ...

in the sloops and , he was commissioned

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in 1889. Over the ensuing three years, he briefly served aboard the

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ship ''Endeavor'', followed by a tour in the gunboat to the

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. 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

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and

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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

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on 3 July 1898 in the

Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a decisive naval engagement that occurred on July 3, 1898 between an American fleet, led by William T. Sampson and Winfield Scott Schley, against a Spanish fleet led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, which occurre ...

. 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

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. Ordered thence to the

Asiatic Station The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navy warships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century. It was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded. Vessels of the squadron were primarily inv ...

, 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

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followed his return from the Orient and preceded his assuming command of dispatch boat , the vessel which was then serving as the

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'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 cruisers 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

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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 Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...

. The manner in which he carried out this assignment won Washington the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

for "exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility."

Post-war service

On 22 November 1918, eleven days after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

, 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

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 The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

on 11 October 1923 and commanded the Fleet until 14 October 1925. During his tour, the Asiatic Fleet provided support for the

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's round-the-world flight in the spring of 1924. Operating from the Kurils to

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, 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 (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, 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 Hospital The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), formerly known as the National Naval Medical Center and colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed, or Navy Med, is a United States' tri-service military medi ...

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on December 15, 1954. He was buried at

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and his grave can be found in section 3, site 1738.

Namesake

* The

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was named for him.

References

*
Naval InvestigationWarns of Desertion

External links

* *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Thomas 1865 births 1954 deaths People from Goldsboro, North Carolina United States Naval Academy alumni American military personnel of the Spanish–American War United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Burials at Arlington National Cemetery