Raymond P . Rodgers Rear Admiral Raymond Perry Rodgers ( December 20 , 1849 - December 28 , 1925 ) was an officer in the United States Navy . He served as the second head of the Office of Naval Intelligence and as the 12th President of the Naval War College and fought in the Spanish - American War . Rodgers father was Rear Admiral Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers ( 1819 - 1892 ) , and he was the brother of Rear Admiral Thomas S . Rodgers ( 1858 - 1931 ) . He was also the grandnephew to two renowned U . S . Navy commodores , Matthew C . Perry ( 1794 - 1858 ) and Oliver Hazard Perry ( 1785 - 1819 ) . Naval career . Rodgers was born in Washington , D . C . on 20 December 1849 , the son of Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers and the former Julia Slidell . He entered the United States Naval Academy on 25 July 1864 and graduated in 1868 . He served aboard the frigate , flagship of the South Atlantic Squadron , from 1868 to 1869 , was appointed as an ensign in 1869 , and then served aboard the screw frigate , flagship of the European Station , from 1869 to 1871 . He was promoted to master in 1870 while aboard " Franklin " . His next assignment was from 1871 to 1872 aboard the sloop - of - war , and he was promoted to lieutenant in 1872 . Rodgers returned to the U . S . Naval Academy as an instructor from 1873 to 1876 . He then went back to sea , serving aboard the flagship of the Pacific Squadron , the screw steamer , from 1876 to 1879 . He performed another tour as a Naval Academy instructor from 1879 to 1882 , teaching astronomy and navigation , then served in the North Atlantic Squadron aboard the screw frigate from 1882 to 1884 . He then began an assignment in the Bureau of Navigation . Rodgers succeeded Lieutenant Theodorus B . M . Mason in April 1885 as the second Chief Intelligence Officer of the Office of Naval Intelligence ( ONI ) , and while serving in that capacity he fostered closer ties between ONI and the United States Department of State , as they shared a mutual interest in Panama , Samoa , and the Kingdom of Hawaii . His tenure was also marked by ONIs first forays in cryptography , and he further encouraged research into new advances in naval technology through U . S . naval attaché s , as well as keeping a close watch over European colonial interests in South America . In 1890 , the year after his departure from ONI , the Navy transferred ONI from the Bureau of Navigation to the office of the United States Secretary of the Navy , which increased the demand on ONI for information , and despite Rodgerss efforts to make improvements during his tour , a weakness in its gathering of intelligence would be revealed in the Spanish - American War of 1898 . After leaving ONI in 1889 , Rodgers served until 1892 aboard the protected cruiser , which at the time was the flagship of the Squadron of Evolution . From October 1892 until 1897 , he served consecutively as U . S . naval attaché to France in Paris , to the Russian Empire in Saint Petersburg , and to Spain in Madrid , and was promoted to lieutenant commander in July 1894 . Rodgers reported aboard the battleship in June 1897 as her executive officer . Aboard " Iowa " , he saw action in the Spanish - American War of 1898 , participating in the bombardment of San Juan , Puerto Rico , on 12 May 1898 and the blockade of the Cuban port of Santiago de Cuba . For his " imminent and conspicuous conduct " in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba , in which U . S . Navy forces destroyed the Spanish Navy squadron of Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete on 3 July 1898 , he advanced five numbers in grade . Rodgers was promoted to commander on 3 March 1899 . He commanded the gunboat from 1899 to 1900 , operating in the West Indies and the Philippine Islands – where " Nashville " provided gunfire support to American troops fighting against Filipino insurgents during the Philippine - American War – and off China during the Boxer Rebellion . In 1901 , he became aide to Admiral George Dewey , who was serving as President of the General Board of the United States Navy at the time . Late in 1901 , Rodgers assumed duties at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn , New York . Promoted to captain in 1903 , Rodgers spent two years as commanding officer of the battleship in the North Atlantic Fleet . Rodgers was reappointed Chief Intelligence Officer and returned to ONI in April 1906 , succeeding Commander Seaton Schroeder , and was promoted to rear admiral on 4 July 1908 . Rodgers in turn was succeeded at ONI by Captain Charles E . Vreeland in May 1909 . He then spent the summer of 1909 in Europe , visiting the United Kingdom , the German Empire , France , and Italy to study their navies organizational concepts and methods of operation and bring home information that could support anticipated United States Navy reforms in those areas . On 6 October 1909 , Rodgers became President of the Naval War College in Newport , Rhode Island ; he also became Commandant of Naval Station Narragansett Bay , Rhode Island , that month . At the time , the college participated actively in U . S . Navy war planning . Acting on a suggestion by Captain William Ledyard Rodgers – who had learned it at the United States Army War College – Raymond P . Rodgers introduced the " applicability system " or " estimate of the situation " into Navy war planning , requiring that planning be developed through a four - step process involving " statement of mission , assessment of enemy forces and intentions , assessment of own forces , and evaluation of possible courses of action , " which has remained fixed in Navy war planning ever since . Toward the end of Rodgers tour , the United States Secretary of the Navy , George von Lengerke Meyer , removed war planning functions from the college , which favored more cautious approaches in plans for war with Japan , placing all planning responsibilities in the more aggressive General Board of the United States Navy . Rodgers retired from the Navy upon the conclusion of his college presidency on 20 November 1911 . Personal life and retirement . Rodgers was married to the former Gertrude Stuyvesant ( d . 20 November 1933 ) and had one daughter , Julia S . Rodgers ( d . 27 May 1950 ) . He was a member of the University Club of New York and of the Metropolitan Club of Washington , D . C . In retirement , Rodgers lived abroad , and died in Monte Carlo , Monaco , where he made his home at the time , on 28 December 1925 . He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington , Virginia . His wife and daughter also are buried there .