George F. Brady, USN-- Part 2: Committed Suicide and Gravestone Didn't List His Medal of Honor

In addition to the Medal of Honor, he was promoted to the warrant officer rank of Gunner on June 27, 1898.  His first assignment at the new rank was on the armored cruiser USS New York (ACR-2).  Then, he was transferred to Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island, on 21 November 1900.

His old ship, the USS Winslow, on which he won his Medal of Honor, was stationed there from 1901 to 1904, so it is likely he was back on his old ship.

Sadly, he committed suicide while serving on the USS Monongahela at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, on November 6, 1903.  He stated shortly before his suicide that "the pain was unbearable", but it is unclear if his pain was physical or emotional.

He was buried in the Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island, where his wife and children lived.  As his tombstone did not indicate that he had received the Medal of Honor, this fact was not discovered until January 20 when Charles Mogayzel of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was able to find Brady's gravesite.

Representatives of the U.S. Navy and local veterans  organizations dedicated a Medal of Honor grave marker on Brady's grave on Memorial Day later that year.

His name in records pertaining to the Medal of Honor list his name as "George F. Brady" and the name on his tombstone is "George P. Brady."  The reason for this discrepancy is probably that his name was mis-transcribed when his Medal of Honor citation was written.

--Cooter

Admiral David W. Bagley-- Part 5: Commander Battleship Division 2, Based in Pearl Harbor

In May 1935,orders were sent to Bagley in Newport, Rhode Island, to attend the Naval War College.  Upon completing his senior course, he remained there as a staff member.  Next came duty as Commander, Destroyer Squadron 20, Destroyers, Scouting Fleet.  

From July 1937 to May 1938, he served as Commander, Minecraft, Battle Force.  While in that position, he was promoted to flag rank, to date from April 1, 1938.  In May of that year, now Rear Admiral David W. Bagley, began a 32-month tour of duty as Commandant, Mare Island Navy Yard on the West Coast.

At the beginning of 1941, he broke his flag on the USS Tennessee (BB-43), as Commander, Battleship Division 2.  And they were based at a little-known to many Americans, island base  out in the Pacific Ocean called Pearl Harbor.

--Cooter

John H. Russell, Jr., 16th USMC Commandant-- Part 2: Service All Over

Next, Russell had duty at Guam and several navy yards back in the United States.  Then Hawaii and the Panama Canal Zone.  From 1908 to 1910, he was at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Then, from 1910 to 1913, he was at the American  Legation in Peking, China.  During this time there were disturbances in China as the country moved from an empire to a republic.  Upon returning to the U.., her was assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence until 1917 with the exception of eight months commanding a Marine group at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1914.

From 1917 to 1918 he had several commands in Latin America.  During this time he made repeated requests to transfer to France for service in the war.  He finally got his wish, but delays in relieving him caused him to be able to do so until the Armistice was signed.

--Cooter

Charles V. Gridley-- Part 5: Service in Europe, Rhode Island, Training Ships and Lighthouses

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

Charles V. Gridley-- Part 1: Born in Indiana, Moved to Michigan, Appointed to USNA

I have been writing about this man in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog and this one as well.  This is a part of my Roadtripping Through History approach to these blogs.  

From the Spanish-American War Centennial website.

Charles V. Gridley was the commander of the USS Olympia, the flagship of Commodore George Dewey's Asiatic Squadron at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines.  Dewey was in command of the whole fleet, but was aboard the Olympia.  At the beginning of the battle, Dewey uttered the sentence that became one of the most famous statements in U.S. Naval history and which immortalized the Olympia's ailing commander (he died less than a month after thee battle.)

"You may fire when you are ready, Gridley."

Charles Vernon Gridley was born in Logansport, Indiana, on November 24, 1844.  But, when he was three months old, his family moved to Hillsdale, Michigan.

At the age of 16, Gridley received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.  However, within a year, the Civil War broke out.  The Naval Academy was in dire straits.  Many of its students went south to Fight for the Confederacy.

Those that remained stayed with the Union, including the young man who had somehow acquired the name of "Steve" Gridley.

The Academy was deep within the state of Maryland which had a lot of Confederate sympathizers which put it in danger, so, for the duration it was moved to Newport, Rhode Island.

--Cooter

Five Shipwrecks Waiting to Be Discovered-- Part 1: The Santa Maria and HMS Endeavor

From the April 29, 2021, History.com "5 famous shipwrecks still waiting to be discovered" by Evan Andrews.

Of course, it was always my plan that if I couldn't get some sort of a history job when I grew up, I'd start looking for sunken ships (and maybe treasure, who knows?).  Well, here are five shipwrecks still waiting to be found.

1.  SANTA MARIA

Columbus' flagship.  Sunk on a coral reef near present day Haiti on Christmas Day 1492.

2.  HMS ENDEAVOR

Carried James Cook around the world on his first voyage of discovery 1768-1771.  Once back in England,  sold o a private buyer and renamed the Lord Sandwich.  Used to ferry British troops to America during the Revolution.

While at Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, it was one of  13 vessels intentionally sunk to   to stop the approaching French fleet.

--CootWhere