James Dexter Adams

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Rear Admiral James Dexter Adams (4 May, 1848 – 19 February, 1922) served in the United States Navy.

Life & Career

Adams was born in Albany, New York but was appointed to the Naval Academy from Mississippi in 1864.[1]

Adams was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 15 September 1873.[2] In 1892 he served as Executive Officer of the sloop Constellation.[3]

His next tour was at the Naval Academy, during which time Adams was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander on 7 September, 1894. By 1895 he was the Acting Head of the Department of Seamanship, Naval Construction, and Naval Tactics.[4]

From 1895 to 1897 Adams served as the first Executive Officer of Amphitrite.[5] During the Spanish-American War, he interrupted an extended tour at the Hydrographic Office with duty as the first commanding officer of the converted yacht Yankton,[6] remaining in command at least through late August.[7]

Adams was promoted to the rank of Commander on 3 March, 1899.[8] In 1900 he briefly commanded the gunboat Machias before that ship decommissioned for refit, and immediately transferred to the recommissioned gunboat Bancroft.[9]

By early 1902, Adams was appointed to command the training ship Alert.[10]

Adams was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1903.[11] In July, 1905 he assumed command of the protected cruiser Olympia, then serving as flagship of the Third Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet,[12] and remained in command into 1906.[13]

In 1906 Adams was appointed as the first commanding officer of the armoured cruiser Washington.[14] He then served as Captain of the Yard at the New York Navy Yard from mid-1907 and was relieved of this assignment on 30 November, 1908.[15]

Adams was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral on 25 October, 1908.[16] His only service as a flag officer was as Commandant of the Charleston Navy Yard, with additional duty commanding the Sixth Naval District,[17] from 2 January 1909 until his retirement due to age on 4 May 1910.[18]

There is no evidence Adams was recalled to active duty in World War I. Adams died in Washington, DC on 19 February, 1922.[19]


See Also

Bibliography

Service Records

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of U.S.S. Yankton
3 May, 1898[20] – after 23 Aug, 1898[21]
Succeeded by
George L. Dyer
Preceded by
Harrison G. O. Colby
Captain of U.S.S. Olympia
7 Jun, 1905[22] – after 1 Jan, 1906[23]
Succeeded by
Thomas B. Howard
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of U.S.S. Washington
7 Aug, 1906[24] – 7 Oct, 1907[Inference]
Succeeded by
Austin M. Knight
Preceded by
William H. Reeder
Captain, Navy Yard, New York
1907[25] – 30 Nov, 1908[26]
Succeeded by
Ten Eyck De Witt Veeder
Preceded by
George L. Dyer
Commandant, Navy Yard, Charleston
2 Jan, 1909[27] – 15 Apr, 1910[Inference]
Succeeded by
Charles E. Fox

Footnotes

  1. Register of Officers, 1900. pp. 14-15.
  2. Register of Officers, 1879. pp. 30-31.
  3. Baltimore Sun 11 March, 1892 p. 4
  4. Register of Officers, 1895. pp. 14-15, 75.
  5. Register of Officers, 1898. pp. 12-13.
  6. DANFS
  7. Baltimore Sun 23 August, 1898 p. 1.
  8. Register of Officers, 1900. pp. 14-15.
  9. Boston Evening Transcript 15 August, 1900 p. 3.
  10. Register of Officers, 1902. pp. 12-13, 161.
  11. Register of Officers, 1904. pp. 10-11.
  12. Register of Officers, 1906. pp. 8-9, 184.
  13. Register of Officers, 1907. pp. 8-9.
  14. Register of Officers, 1907. pp. 8-9.
  15. Brooklyn Daily Eagle 30 November, 1908 p. 16.
  16. Register of Officers, 1909. pp. 6-7.
  17. Register of Officers, 1909. pp. 6-7.
  18. Register of Officers, 1911. pp. 136, 203.
  19. Washington Herald 21 February, 1922 p. 3.
  20. List and Station, July 1898. p. 8.
  21. Baltimore Sun 23 August, 1898 p. 1.
  22. Register of Officers, 1906. p. 8.
  23. Register of Officers, 1907. pp. 8-9.
  24. Register of Officers, 1907. p. 8.
  25. Register of Officers, 1908. pp. 8-9, 221.
  26. Brooklyn Daily Eagle 30 November, 1908 p. 16.
  27. Register of Officers, 1909. p. 6.