Charles E . Vreeland Charles E . Vreeland ( March 10 , 1852 – September 27 , 1916 ) was an officer of the United States Navy who reached the rank of rear admiral . Early life . Born in Newark , New Jersey , Vreeland enlisted in the Navy as a naval apprentice early in 1866 . After a brief service in the he was given a presidential appointment soon afterwards to enter the U . S . Naval Academy on July 27 , 1866 , graduating from that institution on June 7 , 1870 as a passed midshipman . He received his commission as an ensign in November 1873 after a series of cruises onboard screw sloops . Naval career . Vreeland was further promoted to master and then lieutenant after successive tours of duty on board the screw steamer , the gunboat and the sloop - of - war . He was then assigned to the Nautical Almanac Office of the US Naval Observatory in November 1881 after a brief period ashore awaiting orders . In March 1884 , Lt . Vreeland began a three - year tour at sea aboard the sloop - of - war , after which he was assigned for two years at the Bureau of Navigation . He was then assigned briefly ( from July to September 1889 ) with the Office of Naval Intelligence and reported to the Coast Survey late in October , a posting he took until the spring of 1893 , when Vreeland was assigned a series of tours as naval attaché — first in Rome , Vienna and finally in Berlin . After returning home in late 1896 , Lt . Vreeland was posted to the battleship in mid - January 1897 , and served aboard her until he was transferred to the gunboat at the end of June , whereupon he served through most of the Spanish – American War on blockade duty off the port of Manzanillo until the end of July 1898 , even though he was named executive officer of the cruiser in April of that year . He did not actually assume those duties until August 24 . He was detached from the " Dolphin " to serve aboard the on November 6 that same year , but was ordered to the instead on December 30 due to change in orders . Vreeland was promoted to lieutenant commander , and served aboard various vessels in the Asiatic Squadron . He returned home on board the hospital ship in March 1900 . From April 1900 to before August 1902 he was a member of the Board of Inspection and Survey , during which time he was promoted to full commander in mid - August 1901 . After his duty in the Board , he supervised the fitting out of the new monitor ( later renamed the " Ozark " ) and assumed command upon her commissioning on October 28 of that year . Two years later , Vreeland relinquished command of the " Ozark " and served on shore a series of special assignments for the Department of the Navy for the next few years , during which he received his promotion to captain on April 13 , 1906 . After finishing his on - shore assignments in Washington , D . C . on April 17 , 1907 , Capt . Vreeland went to New York Ship in Camden , New Jersey the next day to commission the new . He commanded the battleship for the next two years , which was an auspicious time , for the " Kansas " was picked to be part of the " Great White Fleet " that sailed around the world . Soon after the Fleet returned to Hampton Roads on February 22 , 1909 he gave up his command of the " Kansas " and returned home to await orders . On May 10 , he succeeded Captain Raymond P . Rodgers as Chief Intelligence Officer , the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence until December 8 , when he was succeeded by Captain Templin M . Potts . As his promotion to rear admiral was becoming imminent , he broke his flag in the as Commander , 4th Division , Atlantic Fleet . On December 27 , he became Rear Admiral Charles Vreeland . On April 19 , 1911 he reported ashore for further duty in Washington . In the newly devised aide system for managing the Navy , Vreeland became one of the four principal advisors of the Secretary of the Navy , George von Lengerke Meyer . As Aide for Inspections , he reached the pinnacle of naval command . During his tenure , he represented the Navy at the coronation of George V of the United Kingdom , as well as heading the so - called " Vreeland Board " which reinvestigated the sinking of the in 1898 , the controversial report of which — now widely regarded as erroneous — concluded that an external explosion sank the " Maine " . On December 12 , Rear Admiral Vreeland ended his tour of duty as Aide for Inspections and succeeded Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright as the second Aide for Operations . While in that position , Vreeland struggled to improve the defenses in the Philippine Islands , agitated for increased naval construction , particularly of battle cruisers , and supported the development of U . S . naval aviation . It was also during his tenure that naval aviation found a permanent home in Pensacola , Florida . On February 11 , 1903 he was succeeded by Bradley A . Fiske as Aide for Operations , and Vreeland finished out his naval career as member of both the General and Joint Boards . He retired on March 10 , 1914 . Rear Admiral Charles E . Vreeland died in Atlantic City , New Jersey after a brief retirement marked by illness . Namesake . The was named after him .