Frank B . Upham Frank Brooks Upham ( 7 September 1872 - 15 September 1939 ) was an admiral in the United States Navy during the Spanish American War and World War I . Biography . Born at Fort Apache , Arizona , Upham was appointed to the United States Naval Academy on 6 September 1889 and graduated on 2 June 1893 . Following the completion of the two required years of postgraduate sea duty — which he served with the Pacific Squadron in protected cruiser " Philadelphia " — Upham was commissioned an ensign on 1 July 1895 and joined " Olympia " ( Cruiser No . 6 ) on 18 July before she sailed for the Far East to become the flagship of the Asiatic Squadron . At the time of the Spanish - American War , Upham was on the staff of the Commander in Chief , Asiatic Squadron , Commodore George Dewey ; and the young officer received his baptism of fire during the Battle of Manila Bay . He advanced up the officer ranks of the Navy , eventually attaining flag rank in 1927 . During the years before World War I , Upham ' s sea duty embraced tours in " Oregon " ( Battleship No . 3 ) , " New Jersey " ( Battleship No . 16 ) , and " South Dakota " ( Armored Cruiser No . 9 ) ; he also commanded " Olympia " and the yacht " Scorpion " . He served tours of duty ashore at Newport , Rhode Island , at the Naval War College and in Washington at the Bureau of Ordnance . His overseas shore duty began in the summer of 1911 when he took up the duties of Assistant Naval Attache at Tokyo and Peking , shortly before the outbreak of the Chinese Revolution in October of that year . During World War I , Upham commanded " Columbia " ( Cruiser No . 12 ) and " Pueblo " ( Armored Cruiser No . 7 ) and earned the Navy Cross for leading the latter during the " difficult , exacting , and hazardous " convoy escort missions across the Atlantic . In the years following the armistice , Capt . Upham was Chief of Staff to the Commander , Battleship Force , Atlantic Fleet — Rear Admiral Hilary P . Jones — before serving successive tours of shore duty : in Paris as naval attache and in Washington assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence . He commanded " Tennessee " ( BB - 43 ) from September 1924 to March 1926 and subsequently filled the billet of commandant of the naval air station at Pensacola , Florida . He capitalized on this assignment to earn his naval aviation observer ' s wings . Reaching flag rank in June 1927 , Upham successively commanded Battleship Division 3 and Submarine Divisions , Control Force , and served as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation . Given the temporary rank of admiral on 18 August 1933 , Upham returned to the Far East as Commander in Chief , Asiatic Fleet , and broke his flag in cruiser " Augusta " ( CA - 31 ) commanded by Capt . ( later Fleet Admiral ) Chester W . Nimitz . Relieved by Admiral Orin G . Murfin in October 1935 , Upham returned to the United States to serve as chairman of the General Board from 20 December 1935 to 30 September 1936 . Placed on the retired list on 1 October 1936 , Rear Admiral Upham died in San Francisco , California . Namesake . During World War II , the U . S . Navy destroyer escort USS " Upham " ( DE - 283 ) was named for Admiral Upham . She was converted during construction into the high - speed transport USS " Upham " ( APD - 99 ) and was in commission as such from 1945 to 1946 .