Editing Thomas Washington (section)

==Early life and career==
Thomas Washington and his brother Richard were twins of Virginia and her farmer husband R.A. Washington, both born at [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]].<ref>1870 U.S. Federal Census for Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina p. 66 of 98</ref> On May 17, 1883, Thomas Washington accepted an appointment to the [[United States Naval Academy]]. He traveled to Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated on 10 June 1887. After the required two years of sea duty during which he served on the [[European Station]] in the sloops {{USS|Enterprise|1874|2}} and {{USS|Lancaster|1858|2}}, he was commissioned [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] in 1889. Over the ensuing three years, he briefly served aboard the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]] ship ''Endeavor'', followed by a tour in the gunboat {{USS|Alliance|1877|2}} to the [[Far East]]. He was assigned to the office of the Navy's [[Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Navy|Judge Advocate General]] in 1892.

Subsequently, after duty on several trial boards for general courts martial at the [[Norfolk Navy Yard|Norfolk]] and [[Washington Navy Yard]]s, he was assigned to a succession of ships—{{USS|Montgomery|C-9|3}}, {{USS|Terror|BM-4|3}} and {{USS|Patterson|DD-36|3}}—before joining the [[battleship]] {{USS|Indiana|BB-1|3}} in early 1898. He was on this ship when she helped to defeat the Spanish Fleet under Admiral [[Pascual Cervera y Topete|Cervera]] on 3 July 1898 in the [[Battle of Santiago de Cuba]]. His younger brother and naval cadet, Pope Washington, was one of the survivors of the [[USS Maine (ACR-1)|explosion of the ''Maine'']].

After a second tour of duty ashore in the office of the Judge Advocate General, Washington served on the [[General Board of the United States Navy|General Board]]. Ordered thence to the [[Asiatic Station]], he joined the staff of Rear Admiral [[Robley D. Evans (admiral)|Robley D. "Fighting Bob" Evans]], the Commander-in-Chief, [[Asiatic Fleet]], on 29 October 1902. Quartered on the battleship {{USS|Illinois|BB-7|3}}, the Asiatic Fleet's [[flagship]], he remained on Evans' staff until detached on 1 June 1904.

Special duty at the [[Bureau of Navigation]] followed his return from the Orient and preceded his assuming command of dispatch boat {{USS|Dolphin|PG-24|3}}, the vessel which was then serving as the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]]'s yacht. Washington next put in another tour with the Bureau of Navigation for duty before returning to sea in 1912 to command, in turn, the gunboat {{USS|Yorktown|1888|2}} and [[cruiser]]s {{USS|Charleston|C-22|3}} and {{USS|Denver|C-14|3}} over the next two years.