Thomas Washington Thomas Washington ( 6 June 1865 - 15 December 1954 ) was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War I . Early life and career . Born at Goldsboro , North Carolina , Washington was appointed to the United States Naval Academy on 17 May 1883 . He graduated on 10 June 1887 and , after the required two years of sea duty during which he served on the European Station in the sloops and , was commissioned ensign in 1889 . Over the ensuing three years , he briefly served in U . S . Coast Survey Ship " Endeavor " , followed by a tour in the gunboat to the far east . He was assigned to the office of the Navy ' s Judge Advocate General in 1892 . Subsequently , after duty on several trial boards for general courts martial at the Norfolk and Washington Navy Yard s , he was assigned to a succession of ships — , and — before joining the battleship in early 1898 . He was on this ship when she helped to defeat the Spanish Fleet under Admiral Cervera on 3 July 1898 in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba . His younger brother and naval cadet , Pope Washington , was one of the survivors of the explosion of the " Maine " . After a second tour of duty ashore in the office of the Judge Advocate General , Washington served on the General Board . Ordered thence to the Asiatic Station , he joined the staff of Rear Admiral Robley D . " Fighting Bob " Evans , the Commander - in - Chief , Asiatic Fleet , on 29 October 1902 . Quartered on the battleship , the Asiatic Fleet ' s flagship , he remained on Evans ' staff until detached on 1 June 1904 . Special duty at the Bureau of Navigation followed his return from the Orient and preceded his assuming command of dispatch boat , the vessel which was then serving as the Secretary of the Navy ' s yacht . Washington next put in another tour with the Bureau of Navigation for duty before returning to sea in 1912 to command , in turn , the gunboat and cruiser s and over the next two years . World War I . On 20 April 1914 , Washington — by then a captain — assumed the duties of Hydrographer of the Navy . World War I broke out in Europe less than four months after Washington assumed the Hydrographer ' s duties , depriving the United States of its external sources of oceanographic and hydrographic information . Washington and his small staff responded by independently gathering the necessary data for use by the United States Navy and Merchant Marine . Relieved as hydrographer on 23 June 1916 , Washington was given command of the battleship . A few months after the United States entered the war in the spring of 1917 , " Florida " crossed the Atlantic with Battleship Division Nine to operate with the British Grand Fleet . The manner in which he carried out this assignment won Washington the Distinguished Service Medal for " exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility . " Post - war service . On 22 November 1918 , eleven days after the Armistice , he assumed command of Flagship Division 3 , Battleship Force 1 , Atlantic Fleet , flying his " flag " alternately in yachts and . He subsequently commanded Divisions 2 and 4 , successively , of the Atlantic Fleet . Detached from this duty on 9 August , he assumed the post of Chief of the Bureau of Navigation on 11 August , with the accompanying rank of rear admiral . Less than a year later , Washington received orders to duty as Commander - in - Chief , Asiatic Fleet ( CINCAF ) . He broke his flag in armored cruiser on 11 October 1923 and commanded the Fleet until 14 October 1925 . During his tour , the Asiatic Fleet provided support for the United States Army ' s round - the - world flight in the spring of 1924 . Operating from the Kurils to Calcutta , the destroyer squadrons of the Fleet sailed on plane - guard stations , transported supplies and spare parts , and provided radio bearings and communications services for the planes , and thus contributed greatly to the success of the flight . Relieved as CINCAF on 14 October 1925 , Washington became Commandant of the Naval Operating Base , San Francisco , California , on 19 November 1925 , and filled the billet until his retirement on 6 June 1929 . Last years and legacy . In the 1930s Washington was the Governor of the Philadelphia Naval Home . Advanced on the retired list to the full rank of admiral on 16 July 1942 , Washington died at the Bethesda Naval Hospital , Bethesda , Maryland on December 15 , 1954 . He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery Arlington , Virginia and his grave can be found in section 3 , site 1738 .