Thomas S . Rodgers Rear Admiral Thomas Slidell Rodgers ( 18 August 1858 – 28 February 1931 ) was an officer in the United States Navy who served during the Spanish - American War and World War I . Biography . Born at Morristown , New Jersey , Rodgers was a scion of one of the most famous naval families in American history . His great - uncle , Commodore John Rodgers , had commanded American forces during the First Barbary War and was the senior officer in the United States Navy at the outbreak of the War of 1812 . His maternal great - grandfather was Captain Christopher Raymond Perry , who fought in the Quasi - War with France and was the father of naval heroes Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry . Thomas Rodgers ' s father was Rear Admiral Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers , and his older brother , Raymond Perry Rodgers , would also reach the rank of Rear Admiral . At one point or another during the first 25 years of the 20th century , five members of the Rodgers family were active flag officer s in the U . S . Navy . Following in the family footsteps , therefore , Rodgers attended the United States Naval Academy , from which he graduated in 1878 . Details of his service during the first twenty years of his career are slim . It is known from sources , however , that he had achieved the rank of Lieutenant no later than 1894 , when he served aboard . During and after the Spanish - American War , Rodgers served aboard . It is likely that this service included participation in the annexation of Wake Island on January 17 , 1899 . Promoted rapidly through the ranks following the end of the War , Rodgers served as executive officer of the battleship , with the rank of Commander , from 1902 to 1905 . Varied service ashore and afloat led to promotion to the rank of Captain , and in 1910 , Rodgers was given command of the battleship , the last pre - dreadnought built for the U . S . Navy . In 1911 , he was appointed to the post of Supervisor of New York Harbor , and in 1912 , Rodgers succeeded Captain Templin M . Potts to become Director of Naval Intelligence , a position largely developed by his older brother Raymond Perry Rodgers , the second holder of that office . In 1913 , Rodgers was given command of the U . S . Navy ' s newest and most powerful dreadnought battleship , . Shortly after bringing her into commission on April 15 , 1914 , Rodgers took the " New York " south to the Gulf of Mexico , where she served as the flagship for Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher ' s squadron blockading Veracruz , Mexico . In 1915 , Rodgers served as flag captain of Battleship Division One of the Atlantic Fleet , commanded by Rear Admiral Henry T . Mayo . On June 13 , 1916 , Rodgers was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and served briefly with the Atlantic Fleet before going ashore to study at the Naval War College , where he would remain through 1917 . World War I . On April 6 , 1917 , the United States declared war on Germany , entering World War I on the side of the Allies . As more and more American troops began to cross the Atlantic in 1918 for service on the Western Front , the Navy Department became increasingly worried about the threat posed by large German surface raiders breaking out into the Atlantic . Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William S . Benson , in particular , worried that if one or more of the German battlecruisers were to catch a weakly protected troop convoy , potentially thousands of American doughboy s would be slaughtered . In response to this threat , the Navy Department decided to send a division of battleships to Berehaven , Ireland , to act as a guard force against the possibility of a battlecruiser raid . Rear Admiral Rodgers , then in command of Battleship Division Six of the Atlantic Fleet , was selected for this assignment . The division departed for Ireland on August 12 , 1918 . On October 14 , 1918 , Rodgers received word that German cruisers might have escaped into the Atlantic . At the time , two troop convoys were approaching European waters . Battleship Division Six put to sea without delay and escorted both convoys out of the danger zone . Despite the prompt action of Admiral Rodgers and the ships under his command , no German warships had been in the Atlantic , and the convoys were never in any danger . This false - alarm was the only raider - warning issued during Battleship Division Six ' s service in the warzone . At the end of the war , Admiral Rodgers returned to service in the Atlantic Fleet , commanding Battleship Division Seven . He retired from the Navy in July , 1919 , after 41 years of service . Death . Admiral Rodgers died on February 28 , 1931 , at the Polyclinic Hospital in New York City . According to the " New York Times " , Rodgers died suddenly , mere moments after being admitted . A lifelong bachelor , he was survived by his brother , Colonel Alexander Rodgers , and a sister , identified by the " New York Times " as " Mrs . Louis Nielsen . " Admiral Rodgers was interred at Arlington National Cemetery .