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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] George Dewey DEWEY, George (1837–[1917] ). An American naval officer, born in Montpelier, Vt. He graduated at the United States Naval Academy in 1858 and began active service on the Mediterranean station. In 1862, under Farragut, he was present at the passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the lower Mississippi and in 1864–65 participated in the attack on Fort Fisher. He became lieutenant commander in 1865, commander in 1872, captain in 1884, and commodore in 1896. In 1898, at the outbreak of the war with Spain, he was appointed to the command of the Asiatic station and on May 1 entirely destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay without the loss of a man in his own fleet. In recognition of this achievement he was immediately appointed rear admiral and was especially honored by Congress. He aided General Merritt in the capture of the city of Manila (Aug. 13, 1898) and subsequently was a member of the Schurman Philippine Commission. His reception in the United States on his return in 1899 was an enthusiastic ovation. The same year he was made admiral of the navy and is the only officer who has ever held that rank, Farragut and Porter having been admirals but not "admirals of the navy." Admiral Dewey has served on the Lighthouse Board, as Chief of the Bureau of Equipment, and as President of the Board of Inspection and Survey. In the months preceding the presidential campaign of 1900 his name was prominently before the country for a time, but his candidacy from a political standpoint was not seriously considered. In 1901 Admiral Dewey served as president of the Schley Court of Inquiry. (See Schley.) He signed the unanimous report delivered by the court to the Secretary of the Navy on December 13, but further submitted a minority report in which he dissented from certain specifications of the principal document. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. VI (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 749. |