The ships Charles V. Gridley served upon ran the whole history of the U.S. Navy from 1860 (actually back to 1798) to 1898. A lot of years.
The ships went from wooden to steel, sails to steam.
USS Constitution (USNA)
USS Oneida
USS Brooklyn (This ship was at the Battle of Mobile Bay and the Battles of Fort Fisher. Gridley served on it after the war.)
USS Kearsarge
USS Michigan (1871)
USS Monongahela (1873)
USS Trenton
USS Marion (his first actual command 1892)
USS Olympia
--Cooter
Charles Gridley's next duty was one of the naval service's epitomes. He was assigned to duty with the European Squadron aboard the USS Trenton. Basically the duty involved sailing from port to port, showing the U.S. flag and attending dinners and ceremonies. Unfortunately, the U.S. Navy by then was at its lowest ebb, with its vessels considered to be antiques by most nations.
(The USS Trenton, however, was a very new ship, having been commissioned in 1877. It was wrecked in a huge storm at Apia, Samoa, in 1889.)
After a wait of 14 years, Charles "Steve" Gridley finally received his next promotion. On March 10, 1882, he was appointed commander, and was immediately sent to Newport, Rhode Island, to study at the torpedo school for three months. Torpedoes were one of the highly-vaunted new weapons of the age, and though the United States did not yet have a torpedo boat, the advance in technology was noted.
After this stint, Gridley was assigned as navigation officer at the Boston Navy Yard, and then to Cruising Training Squadron. He was the commanding officer of the USTS (United States Training Ship) Jamestown and the USTS Portsmouth. This duty was extended from 1884 to 1886.
Beginning in 1887, Commander Gridley began serving as Inspector of the 10th Lighthouse District, which included the 114 miles of the St. Lawrence River as well as Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and the Niagara River. He held this post until 1891. This duty brought him close to his family, a luxury for a naval officer. Luckily for him, his in-laws had political connections that would allow him to again gain this position later in life.
--Cooter
