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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] William Thomas Sampson Biography SAMPSON,
William Thomas (1840-1902). An American naval officer, born Feb. 9, 1840, at
Palmyra, N. Y. He graduated at the United States Naval Academy in 1861 and
during the following three years was an instructor at the academy. In June,
1864, he became executive officer of the ironclad Patapsco
of the Charleston blockading squadron and was on board when that vessel was
destroyed by a submarine torpedo, although he himself escaped unhurt. The 10
years immediately after the Civil War were spent by him partly at sea and partly
as an instructor at the Naval Academy. From 1879 to 1882 he commanded the Swatara on the Asiatic Station, was then for a period in charge of
the Naval Observatory, and from 1886 to 1890 was superintendent of the Naval
Academy, which under his direction reached a higher standard of efficiency than
ever before. When, in 1890, the San
Francisco, the first modern steel cruiser of the new navy, was put in
commission, Sampson, who had reached the grade of captain in the preceding year,
was assigned to her command, retaining it until 1892. From January, 1893, until
May, 1897, he was chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, played a conspicuous part in
the building up of the new navy, and came to be recognized as one of the world's
greatest authorities on ordnance. To him more than to any one else was due the
adoption of the superimposed turret. After the destruction of the battleship Maine
in Havana harbor on Feb. 15, 1898, he was appointed president of the naval court
of inquiry to investigate the occurrence. Soon afterward Sampson was appointed,
as acting rear admiral, to the command of the North Atlantic squadron. He
attained the rank of commodore in regular line of promotion on July 3, 1898. On
the same day Admiral Cervera's Spanish squadron was destroyed off Santiago by
the ships under Sampson's command. After the engagement of July 2 General
Shafter regarded the army's position as untenable and requested Admiral Sampson
to confer with him as soon as possible. On the morning of July 3, about an hour
before the Spanish ships were sighted coming out, Sampson started eastward to
meet Shafter, intending to land at a point 5 or 6 miles from his usual
blockading position. Just after disembarking from his flagship (the New
York), the first firing at the Spanish ships was seen and heard. Sampson
hastily returned on board and started to rejoin his squadron, but before he
arrived within battle range three of the Spanish ships had been driven ashore.
He continued, in company with the Brooklyn,
Oregon, and Texas, in
chase of the Colón, which was overhauled and surrendered about two hours and a
half later. The battle was fought upon the plans devised by Sampson, and,
although out of range, he was within signal distance of his nearer ships during
the greater part of the time. No signals were necessary, however, and he made
none, nor did Commodore Schley. After the war he served as a Cuban commissioner,
was promoted rear admiral on March 3, 1899, and until September, 1901, was in
command of the Boston (Charlestown) Navy Yard. He was retired from active
service Feb. 9, 1902, and died May 6 of that year. The closing years of his life
had been clouded by the controversy between his friends and the supporters of
Admiral Schley over the question of the command of the fleet during the battle
of Santiago, the friends of the latter asserting that in Sampson's absence the
credit of the victory belonged to Schley (q.v.). |