David B . Macomb Rear Admiral David B . Macomb , USN ( 27 February 1827 – 27 January 1911 ) was an admiral and engineering officer of the United States Navy . He served on blockade duty during the Civil War , and was also a noted inventor . Family background and early life . Macomb ' s father , David Betton Macomb , came from a well - known family that had sided with the Crown during the American Revolution , but whose loyalties from the beginning of the 19th century had lain with the United States ; David B . ' s grandfather was William Macomb ( a merchant at Detroit and member of the first parliament of Upper Canada ) , his grandfather ' s brother was Alexander Macomb the land speculator , and his father ' s first cousin was Maj . Gen . Alexander Macomb , the commanding general of the U . S . Army from 1828 to 1841 . David Betton ( for clarity , referred to in this article as " David Sr . " ) Macomb was born at Detroit when it was still under British rule , and his mother would move the family to New York after his father ' s death in 1796 . ( By this time , uncle Alexander had made the family name notorious with his financial manipulations , and Sarah Macomb would choose to settle in Belleville , New Jersey , where she provided a home for at least three generations of her husband ' s family . ) At some point during or shortly after the War of 1812 , David Sr . made his way to Ohio , where his family name , and the heroism of his cousin , provided ideal introductions to local society . Against the wishes of her family , in March 1816 David Sr . wed Mary Tiffin Worthington , daughter of Thomas Worthington , governor of Ohio . Although assisted by his wife ' s family and neighbors in Chillicothe , David Sr . ' s business ventures repeatedly failed , and he struck out to make a new life in the Florida Territory in 1824 , sending for his family the next year . The Macombs settled near Tallahassee , Florida , on a plantation that they called " Ben Venue " ; David B . Macomb , their final child , was born there on 27 February 1827 . David Sr . ' s efforts in commerce and law were no more successful in Florida than they had been in Ohio , and he left for Texas in the summer of 1835 , where he quickly rose to a position of trust in the affairs of the revolutionary government , becoming a confidant of Stephen F . Austin and Sam Houston . The family stayed in Florida until about June 1836 , when David Sr . , who had returned to the States seeking munitions and other support , took the family to Texas , where David Sr . had bought property near the San Jacinto , close to present - day Houston . Mary Macomb took ill on the journey and died shortly after arriving in Texas , in October 1836 . David Sr . committed suicide by slashing his throat in February 1837 . David and Mary Macomb left five children , some of whom stayed in Texas after their parents ' deaths , although at least two of the three youngest — Louis ( age 16 in 1837 ) , Mary ( 13 ) , and David ( 10 ) — were sent to their maternal grandmother in Ohio . Both Louis and Mary appear to have returned to Texas at the first opportunity . Oldest daughter Eleanor married , but died without surviving children in 1839 ; Both Mary and Tom , the oldest son , had surviving children at their deaths and may have living descendants . Louis is recorded as having died in either 1839 or 1889 , in Houston . Early naval career . Macomb was appointed into the Navy as a third assistant engineer from Pennsylvania in January 1849 , and was promoted to second assistant engineer in February 1851 , on duty with the Coast Survey aboard . He next served with the Ringgold Expedition which explored the North Pacific , the China seas and the Sea of Japan from 1853 to 1855 , aboard the , initially under the command of his cousin , Lt . John Rodgers . After returning to the States , he was promoted to first assistant engineer in June 1856 and assigned to the Home Squadron flagship , then was transferred to of the Pacific Squadron in 1858 . In September 1861 he was promoted to chief engineer aboard , which was detailed to escort the Japanese ambassadors during their return to Edo at the end of 1860 . " Niagara " returned to American waters in April 1861 , in time to be ordered as the first vessel to blockade Charleston , South Carolina following the outbreak of armed rebellion . Civil War service . After the start of hostilities in 1861 , he took part in the blockade of Charleston , and the bombardment of the Pensacola Navy Yard , aboard " Niagara " . He was detached from " Niagara " in early 1862 and detailed to Boston as superintendent of the building and fitting out of the monitor s , and . He subsequently served as chief engineer on " Canonicus " with the James River flotilla and later , the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron . Aboard " Canonicus " , he was present for the battle of Dutch Gap and the second clash at Deep Bottom in August 1864 ; later that year , " Canonicus " was ordered to Fort Fisher , North Carolina and was there for the siege , reduction and surrender of that fort on January 15 , 1865 . That night , " Canonicus " and were ordered to Charleston for similar duty ; " Canonicus " would throw the last hostile shot at the rebels on Sullivan ' s Island , who were retreating in the early morning of February 18 . Following the surrender of Charleston , " Canonicus " and the rest of the squadron were sent in pursuit of the ironclad ram CSS " Stonewall " ; this brought " Canonicus " to Havana , where she became the first American ironclad to enter a foreign port . " Canonicus " returned to the States on 26 June 1865 . Legacy , later years and family . Following the war , Macomb was on inspection duty at the then - new Philadelphia Navy Yard at League Island , assigned to laying up the bulk of the Union ironclad fleet . He was assigned in 1866 to the Pensacola Navy Yard , then in 1868 to the Portsmouth Navy Yard . He was assigned in 1871 to , and was named Fleet Engineer of the North Atlantic Fleet , where he served from 1871 to 1873 . He returned to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in 1879 , and in 1882 he was named president of a board ordered by Congress to survey and appraise the Navy ' s surplus inventory , much of it dating to the Civil War . He remained in that duty until 1883 , and then was assigned to the Boston Navy Yard , ( the old Charlestown Navy Yard ) where he remained until his retirement at the mandatory age of 62 . Macomb contributed several inventions to the Navy , and the greater maritime community , including the Macomb bilge strainer and the hydraulic lift used in the turret s of ironclad s . He built and installed the first fresh - water maker in any U . S . Navy vessel . Macomb retired February 27 , 1889 , with the relative rank of commodore . He was later promoted to rear admiral . Macomb married Augusta H . Pope in Kittery , Maine in 1858 . They had three children ; a son who died in infancy , and two daughters , one of whom died unmarried . Macomb ' s retirement home was in North Cambridge , Massachusetts , and he died 27 January 1911 in New York City . Namesake . In 1941 , the destroyer was named in honor of Rear Admiral Macomb and his cousin , Commodore William H . Macomb ( 1811 – 1872 ) . ( They were simultaneously first and second cousins ; William H . Macomb ' s mother Catherine and David Betton Macomb being brother and sister , while William H . ' s father Alexander was David Betton Macomb ' s first cousin . )