Benjamin F . Sands Rear Admiral Benjamin F . Sands ( February 11 , 1811 – June 30 , 1883 ) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican - American War and the American Civil War . U . S . Navy career . Born in Baltimore , Maryland , Sands was appointed Midshipman in the United States Navy on April 1 , 1828 . By 1834 , he had served on the Brazil Station and in the West Indies and Mediterranean squadrons . From 1834 to 1841 , he was engaged in coastal survey work and during the mid - 40 ' s was attached to the Bureau ( Depot ) of Charts and Instruments at the Naval Observatory . During hostilities between the United States and Mexico , he was attached to the Home Squadron and served off Tabasco and Tuxpan on the brig USS " Washington " . In the 1850s , he commanded the steamer " Walker " in the Gulf of Mexico on coast survey duty and invented a deep sea sounding apparatus and other hydrographic instruments . In 1861 , Sands served on west coast survey duty as commander of the " Active " . Commissioned captain in 1862 , he joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron as commander of " Dacotah " in 1863 . In February of that year , Sands participated in the engagement at Fort Caswell . He remained off the Carolinas for another two years , commanding the steamer " Fort Jackson " during the attacks on Fort Fisher . In February 1865 , he was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron and assigned to duty off the Texas coast . Through the end of the American Civil War , he commanded a division off that coast ; and , on June 2 , 1865 , took formal possession of Galveston , Texas for the Union . After the war , Sands , appointed Commodore in July 1866 , served at the Boston Navy Yard until returning to Washington , D . C . as Superintendent of the Naval Observatory . Commissioned Rear Admiral on April 27 , 1871 , he remained at the Observatory until he retired in 1874 . Family . Rear Admiral Sands belonged to a prominent military family . His uncle , Lt . Col . James Harvey Hook ( 1791 – 1841 ) , served in War of 1812 and was later Assistant Commissary General of the U . S . Army . In 1836 , Sands married Henrietta French ( 1817 – 1893 ) , the sister of General William H . French . Their son , James H . Sands , also achieved the rank of Rear Admiral in the U . S . Navy and served as Superintendent of the Naval Academy , while another son , George Henry Sands ( 1855 – 1920 ) , was a colonel in the US Army and served in Cuba during the Spanish American War . Two other sons , William F . and Francis P . B . , also served in the Navy . A daughter , Marion , married Rear Admiral Samuel Rhoads Franklin . Sands ' eldest brother , Lewis Hook Sands ( b . 1805 ) , was a colonel in the US Army and served as an Indian agent in the Midwest . A nephew , James Hook Sands , was a captain in the Indiana Cavalry during the Civil War who later served in the regular army during the Indian Wars . A grandson , Alfred Lawrence Pearson Sands ( 1882 – 1960 ) , the son of George Henry , was a colonel in the Army while another grandson , William Franklin Sands ( 1874 – 1946 ) , was a U . S . diplomat who served in Korea , Japan , Central America and Russia . Admiral Sands ' uncle , Maj . Richard Martin Sands ( 1791 – 1836 ) , died during the Seminole War , and his cousin , Robert Martin Sands ( 1825 – 1903 ) , was a lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Alabama Reg . , Army of Northern Virginia , CSA . Honored in ship naming . Two ships were named USS " Sands " for him and his son , James H . Sands :