Editing Thomas Washington

{{about|the U.S. Navy admiral|the American journalist and columnist|Thomas Washington (writer)}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Thomas Washington
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1865|6|6}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1954|12|15|1865|6|6}}
|image=Washington, Admiral Thomas LOC hec.14640-cropped.jpg
|caption=Thomas Washington as Rear Admiral
|nickname=
|birth_place= [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], US
|death_place= [[Bethesda Naval Hospital]], Maryland, US
|placeofburial=[[Arlington National Cemetery]]
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|allegiance= [[United States|United States of America]]
|branch= [[United States Navy]]
|serviceyears=1889–1929
|rank= [[File:US-O10 insignia.svg|35px]] [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]]
|unit=
|commands= {{USS|Dolphin|PG-24|2}}<br/>{{USS|Yorktown|1888|2}}<br/>{{USS|Charleston|C-22|2}}<br/>{{USS|Denver|C-14|2}}<br/>{{USS|Florida|BB-30|2}}<br/>Division 3, Battleship Force 1, [[United States Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]]<br/>Division 2, Atlantic Fleet<br/>Division 4, Atlantic Fleet<br/>[[Asiatic Fleet]]
|battles= [[Spanish–American War]]<br/>[[World War I]]
|awards= [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
'''Thomas Washington''' (6 June 1865 – 15 December 1954) was an [[Admiral (United States)|admiral]] in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War I]].

==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.

==World War I==
On 20 April 1914, Washington—by then a captain—assumed the duties of [[Hydrographer of the Navy (US)|Hydrographer of the Navy]]. World War I broke out in [[Europe]] less than four months after Washington assumed the Hydrographer's duties, depriving the United States of its external sources of oceanographic and hydrographic information. Washington and his small staff responded by independently gathering the necessary data for use by the United States Navy and [[United States Merchant Marine|Merchant Marine]].

Relieved as hydrographer on 23 June 1916, Washington was given command of the battleship {{USS|Florida|BB-30|3}}. A few months after the United States entered the war in the spring of 1917, ''Florida'' crossed the Atlantic with [[United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I)|Battleship Division Nine]] to operate with the British [[Grand Fleet]]. The manner in which he carried out this assignment won Washington the [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal|Distinguished Service Medal]] for "exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility."

==Post-war service==
On 22 November 1918, eleven days after the [[Armistice with Germany|Armistice]], he assumed command of Flagship Division 3, Battleship Force 1, [[United States Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]], flying his "flag" alternately in yachts {{USS|Aramis|SP-418|3}} and {{USS|Nokomis|SP-609|3}}. He subsequently commanded Divisions 2 and 4, successively, of the Atlantic Fleet. Detached from this duty on 9 August, he assumed the post of Chief of the [[Bureau of Navigation (U.S. Navy)|Bureau of Navigation]] on 11 August, with the accompanying rank of rear admiral.

Less than a year later, Washington received orders to duty as Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet (CINCAF). He broke his flag in [[armored cruiser]] {{USS|Huron|CA-9|3}} on 11 October 1923 and commanded the Fleet until 14 October 1925. During his tour, the Asiatic Fleet provided support for the [[United States Army]]'s round-the-world flight in the spring of 1924. Operating from the [[Kurils]] to [[Calcutta]], the destroyer squadrons of the Fleet sailed on plane-guard stations, transported supplies and spare parts, and provided radio bearings and communications services for the planes, and thus contributed greatly to the success of the flight.

Relieved as CINCAF on 14 October 1925, Washington became Commandant of the Naval Operating Base, [[San Francisco, California]], on 19 November 1925, and filled the billet until his retirement on 6 June 1929.

==Last years and legacy==
In the 1930s Washington was the Governor of the [[Philadelphia Naval Home]]. Advanced on the retired list to the full rank of admiral on 16 July 1942, Washington died at the [[National Naval Medical Center|Bethesda Naval Hospital]], [[Bethesda, Maryland]] on December 15, 1954.

He was buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] in [[Arlington, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/Cgp3YXNoaW5ndG9uEgZ0aG9tYXM-/|accessdate=December 1, 2023|website=ANC Explorer|title=Burial detail: Washington, Thomas}}</ref>

==Namesake==
* The [[oceanographic research ship]] {{USNS|Thomas Washington|T-AGOR-10}} was named for him.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[List of United States Navy four-star admirals]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/t5/thomas_washington.htm}}
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-ZKmY1V3ssC&dq=admiral+thomas+washington&pg=PA959 Naval Investigation]
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/04/10/96881544.pdf Warns of Desertion]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Thomas Washington}}
*{{Hall of Valor|16901|accessdate=March 17, 2011}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-mil}}
{{succession box|title=Commander-in-Chief, [[United States Asiatic Fleet]]|before=[[Edwin Anderson, Jr.]]|after=[[Clarence S. Williams]]|years=11 October 1923–14 October 1925}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Thomas}}
[[Category:1865 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Goldsboro, North Carolina]]
[[Category:United States Naval Academy alumni]]
[[Category:American military personnel of the Spanish–American War]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Navy admirals]]
[[Category:United States Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]