Carl Theodore Vogelgesang Carl Theodore Vogelgesang ( January 11 , 1869 – February 16 , 1927 ) was a United States Navy rear admiral and Navy Cross recipient . He was the first U . S . Navy flag officer from California . Early life . Vogelgesang was born at North Branch , California , on 11 January 1869 , one of ten children ( six boys and four girls ) born to John Henry Vogelgesang and his wife , Anna Elizabeth ( maiden name Vennigerholz ) . The youngest of the six sons , he received his education in the public schools of Stockton , California . United States Naval Academy . While in his senior year of high school he was given an opportunity to enter a competitive examination for entrance into the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis , Maryland . He won the appointment , and went on to Washington , D . C . , where he was the protégé of Congressman James A . Louttit of Stockton . In order to reach Annapolis in time , he was granted his high school diploma in advance . He passed the final examination at Annapolis in June 1886 , was appointed a naval cadet — the term then applied to young men studying at the Naval Academy — on 6 September 1886 , and graduated on 6 June 1890 . Graduates at that time were given the privilege of remaining in the Navy or retiring . In answer to a letter asking his mother ' s advice , she said , " My son , as long as the government has given you your education , you should repay with your service " . Vogelgesang followed her advice , and never regretted his decision . Marriage and family . Vogelgesang married Miss Zenaide Shepard , daughter of Admiral Shepard , and their children were a son , Shepard , and a daughter , Zenaide . Early service . Upon graduation from the Naval Academy , Vogelgesang began active duty as a passed naval cadet aboard the gunboat USS " Alliance " . At the completion of his requisite two years of sea duty before final graduation , he was commissioned as an ensign on 14 July 1892 to date from 1 July 1892 . Successive tours of duty on board screw sloop USS " Adams " and sloop of war USS " Mohican " occupied his time until 1895 when he was ordered to Washington , D . C . , for duty in the Bureau of Navigation . Detached from that post on 29 August 1896 , Ensign Vogelgesang reported to the gunboat USS " Bancroft " on 3 September 1896 . Spanish - American and Philippine - American Wars . " Bancroft " remained Vogelgesangs home through the Spanish - American War of 1898 . During that war , Vogelgesang served in her during convoy escort missions and on blockade duty off Havana , Cuba , and near the Isle of Pines . Vogelgesang received the Spanish Campaign Medal for this service . A tour of duty in the stores ship USS " Celtic " followed during which " Celtic " supported operations in the Philippine - American War ; Vogelgesang received the Philippine Campaign Medal in 1899 for this service . Peacetime service , 1900 - 1914 . He then served at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn , New York , in conjunction with the fitting out of battleship s USS " Kentucky " ( Battleship No . 6 ) and USS " Wisconsin " ( Battleship No . 9 ) followed . On 6 June 1904 , Vogelgesang returned to the Bureau of Navigation for a two - year tour of duty , during which he attained the rank of lieutenant commander on 1 July 1905 . A fifteen - month assignment as navigator on board battleship USS " Louisiana " ( Battleship No . 19 ) followed from June 1906 to September 1907 , during which he was awarded the Army of Cuban Pacification Medal in 1906 . This was followed by his first command , the Presidential yacht USS " Mayflower " during the latter part of the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt . That tour of duty ended in March 1908 when he transferred to the battleship USS " Wisconsin " as navigator . In May 1909 , Lieutenant Commander Vogelgesang reported for duty ashore once more , this time to study at the Naval War College at Newport , Rhode Island . where he taught the Science of War . In this assignment he was instrumental in working out a course of study which was adopted and remains in use . On 2 May 1911 , near the end of his assignment at the War College , Vogelgesang was promoted to full commander . On 2 May 1912 , Vogelgesang transferred to the battleship USS " Wyoming " ( Battleship No . 32 ) to fit her out . When she was commissioned , he assumed duty as her executive officer . Veracruz . In late January 1914 , Commander Vogelgesang was ordered to protected cruiser USS " Des Moines " ( Cruiser No . 15 ) to serve as her commanding officer . During his tour aboard " Des Moines " , he was awarded the Mexican Campaign Medal for his service in quelling the uprising at Veracruz , Mexico , during the United States occupation of Veracruz . He commanded " Des Moines " until 23 October 1914 . Naval War College , World War I , and Navy Cross . On 21 November 1914 , Vogelgesang reported for duty at the Naval War College and remained there until the beginning of 1917 , when he became Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief , United States Asiatic Fleet . Just after assuming the duties of that office , he received his promotion to captain , to date from 29 August 1916 . During his tour of duty with the Asiatic Fleet he received the Navy Cross , with the following citation : " For exceptionally meritorious service in duty of great responsibility as Chief of Staff to Commander - in - Chief , U . S . Asiatic Fleet . " In January 1918 , Captain Vogelgesang relinquished his position as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet , and reported to Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , as senior officer of the American naval commission . During his tour in Brazil , he worked with the Brazilian Naval College . In 1919 , Captain Vogelgesang received the World War I Victory Medal . Post - World War I service . On 9 January 1919 , Captain Vogelgesang reported to the New York Shipbuilding Company as Naval Inspector of Machinery and took charge of the fitting out of battleship USS " Idaho " ( Battleship No . 42 ) at Camden , New Jersey . He assumed command of " Idaho " when she was placed in commission on 24 March 1919 . He commanded " Idaho " until June 1920 when he became the Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief , United States Atlantic Fleet . In June 1921 , Captain Vogelgesang became Commandant , 3rd Naval District , at New York City , headquartered at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn . Naval Commissioner to Brazil . In 1922 , the President of Brazil sent a request to President Warren G . Harding asking that Admiral Vogelgesang be detached from the 3rd Naval District and sent to Brazil to aid in the reconstruction and reorganization of the Brazilian Navy . At first the United States Government did not heed the request , because under Admiral Vogelgesang the New York Navy Yard had been free from strikes and had enjoyed its best financial status in years ; consequently , the Governor of New York , senator s , and other prominent New Yorkers protested that Rear Admiral Vogelgesang should be retained at the New York Navy Yard . When a second Brazilian request came asking for Rear Admiral Vogelgesang along with a statement that if he could not be spared Brazil would have to make a selection from the British Royal Navy , the United States decided that the value of establishing a good relations with Brazil merited sending Vogelgesang there . Vogelgesang was ordered to form a commission , and , with 35 other selected U . S . Navy officers , proceeded to Rio de Janeiro . Having a basic knowledge of French and Spanish , he was able in six weeks ' time to absorb the Portuguese language sufficiently to conduct his lectures to the Brazilian officers in their native tongue . During his two years ' service in Brazil as Naval Commissioner in the Diplomatic Service , he was instrumental in planting the first seeds of friendship between Brazil and the United States . As a mark of esteem for his excellent service , the Brazilian Government sent an envoy to place a commemorative plaque in the Mahan Library at the United States Naval Academy in his honor . Early in his Brazilian assignment , Vogelgesang was promoted to rear admiral , to date from 16 October 1922 , the first person from California to become a flag officer . Final years . Rear Admiral Vogelgesang completed his mission in Brazil in January 1925 and returned to the United States on 7 February 1925 . He took up duties at OpNav at the Department of the Navy in Washington , D . C . On 3 April 1925 , he broke his flag in battleship USS " New York " ( BB - 34 ) and became Commander , Battleship Division 2 of the Scouting Fleet ; once of his first duties during this tour was to command the 1925 Midshipman Summer Cruise , which took him to the Pacific . In June 1926 , he was detached from command of Battleship Division 2 and took command of the Light Cruiser Division , Scouting Fleet , with light cruiser USS " Trenton " ( CL - 11 ) as his flagship . Death . Rear Admiral Vogelgeangs tour of duty in the Light Cruiser Division was abbreviated when he entered the Naval Hospital , Washington , D . C . , for treatment of a kidney ailment . He died there on 16 February 1927 . Vogelgesang had so endeared himself to the Brazilian people that the entire Brazilian Legation was present at his burial services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington , Virginia . A year later , to commemorate the day , the Brazilian Legation once more gathered there . Namesakes . During World War II , the U . S . Navy destroyer escort USS " Vogelgesang " ( DE - 284 ) was named for Rear Admiral Vogelgesang . Her construction was cancelled in March 1944 before she could be launched . However , in New York City on 3 August 1944 , work began at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation shipyard at Staten Island on a new destroyer , to which the name " Vogelgesang " had been transferred . She was christened USS " Vogelgesang " ( DD - 862 ) on 15 January 1945 , by Vogelgesangs daughter Zenaide ( by then Mrs . Walter Bradley of Whitefield , New Hampshire ) . The christening party also included his widow and daughter - in - law , Mrs . Shepard Vogelgesang , Mrs . Gregory Davison , Mr . and Mrs . George Moulson , Barbara Jane Sullivan , T . Sp . 1 / c [ name missing ] , Lieutenant Bill Vogelgesang , USNR , and Lieutenant Commander Woodson P . Vogelgesang , USNR , the last three named being on active duty with the Navy in that area . USS " Vogelgesang " was commissioned on 28 April 1945 , and served in the U . S . Navy until decommissioned in 1982 ; she then served in the Mexican Navy from 1982 to 2002 under the name " Quetzalcoatl " , and finally was scuttled as an artificial reef in 2006 .