When did Yates Stirling Jr. become an admiral?
34395955#0
Yates Stirling Jr. (April 30, 1872 – January 27, 1948) was a decorated and controversial rear admiral in the United States Navy whose 44-year career spanned from several years before the Spanish–American War to the mid-1930s. He was awarded the Navy Cross and French Legion of Honor for distinguished service during World War One. The elder son of Rear Admiral Yates Stirling, he was an outspoken advocate of American sea power as a strong deterrent to war and to protect and promote international commerce. During Stirling's naval career and following retirement, he was a frequent lecturer, newspaper columnist and author of numerous books and articles, including his memoirs, "Sea Duty: The Memoirs of a Fighting Admiral", published in 1939. Describing himself, Stirling wrote, "All my life I have been called a stormy petrel. I have never hesitated to use the pen to reveal what I considered should be brought to public attention, usually within the Navy, but often to a wider public. I seem to see some benefits that have come through those efforts. I have always believed that a naval man is disloyal to his country if he does not reveal acts that are doing harm to his service and show, if he can, how to remedy the fault. An efficient Navy cannot be run with 'yes men' only."
Yates Stirling Jr.
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On July 20, 1924, he became Captain of the Yard, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., with additional duty as Assistant Superintendent of the Naval Gun Factory. He was promoted to rear admiral on October 6, 1926 and in December that year Stirling was designated Chief of Staff to Admiral Charles F. Hughes, Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, based at San Pedro, California. At the October 27, 1927 Navy Day Ceremonies at San Pedro harbor, despite an all-day downpour, thousands of Southern Californians gathered for the festivities, including ships' tours, band performances of patriotic music and the key-note address given by Stirling, "Merchant Marine, the Navy and the Nation".
Yates Stirling Jr.
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Yates Stirling Jr. was born in Vallejo, California, in 1872 to Lieutenant Commander Yates Stirling Sr. (1843–1929) (United States Naval Academy Class of 1863) and his wife, Ellen Salisbury (née Hale) Stirling (1843–1929). At the time of Yates Jr.'s birth, his father was assigned to the , receiving ship at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. From an established Maryland family, Stirling was a great-grandson of Thomas Yates (1740–1815), Captain, Fourth Battalion, Maryland Regulars during the American Revolutionary War. When he was about four, Stirling's family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, the home of his father and grandfather. He was one of five children that survived to adulthood and the oldest of two boys, both of whom followed their father's footsteps to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. His younger brother, Commander Archibald G. Stirling (1884–1963) (United States Naval Academy Class of 1906) retired in 1933 but returned to active duty from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. The Yates Stirling family was the second in U.S. Naval history to have father and son flag officers (rear admirals) living at the same time. The first were Rear Admirals Thomas O. Selfridge Sr. and Jr.
Yates Stirling Jr.
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Rear Admiral Stirling died in his sleep on January 27, 1948, after three months’ illness in Baltimore, Maryland, his home for many years, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, two sons, Captain Yates Stirling, III, USN (Ret.) of Norfolk, Virginia, and Commander Harry E. Stirling USN; and three daughters, Katharine (Mrs. William R. Ilk) of Los Angeles, California and Misses Ellen and Adelaide Stirling of Baltimore. Also surviving was his younger brother, Commander Archibald G. Stirllng, USN (Ret.) of Newport, Rhode Island.Rear Admiral Yates Stirling Jr. was awarded these decorations and service awards:
Yates Stirling Jr.
34396165#1
Stirling was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on 6 May 1843, the son of Archibald Stirling and the former Elizabeth A. Walsh. He and his wife, Ellen (1843–1929), had seven children. Their elder son, Yates Stirling, Jr. (1872–1948), also became a rear admiral in the Navy, making them only the second family in the history of the U.S. Navy to have father and son rear admirals concurrently living. The first were Rear Admirals Thomas O. Selfridge, Sr. and Junior. Stirling's younger son, Archibald (1884-1963), was a captain in the Navy.
Yates Stirling
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On 23 February 1900 he joined the , and on November 21 of the same year, reported for duty to his father, then a captain and the commandant of the Naval Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Following his father's promotion to rear admiral in June 1902, the elder Stirling was named commandant of the Puget Sound Navy Yard, where Yates Jr. joined him shortly thereafter as an officer of the yard. The elder Stirling was commander-in-chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet from 11 July 1904 to 23 March 1905 before retiring from the Navy on 6 May 1905 at the mandatory age of 62. During the time he commanded the Asiatic Fleet, his flag was on the and Yates Jr. served as his flag lieutenant. While he was with the Asiatic Fleet, Stirling also had staff duty on the . In mid-April 1905, Stirling, his father and their wives returned to the United States from Yokohama, Japan aboard the steamship "S.S. Korea" after the elder Stirling detached from command of the Asiatic Fleet. In 1905–1906, Stirling remained at sea in the and later, . In the rank of Lieutenant Commander he reported on October 1, 1906 to the Naval Academy and while on duty there made a cruise on the in the summer of 1907. Detached from the Naval Academy in June 1908 he next served on the , flagship of Admiral Charles S. Sperry Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet as gunnery officer. Stirling joined "Connecticut", at San Francisco, where it was then en route as flagship of the Great White Fleet on a global circumnavigation. Following refit at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the fleet stood out on the next leg of the voyage on 7 July, reaching Hawaii on 16 July. Sailing from Hawaii, the fleet made ports of call at Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Manila, Philippines; Yokohama, Japan; Colombo, Ceylon; arriving at Suez, Egypt, on 3 January 1909.
Yates Stirling Jr.
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When Stirling was nearly fifteen, his father was given command of the old sloop-of-war , the receiving ship at the Washington Navy Yard. CDR Stirling moved his family from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., where the family set up comfortable, but cramped living quarters on the "Dale". Stirling was delighted with the change, and when he wasn't at school, enjoyed sailing on the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers in a boat that the "Dale's" sailors had rigged for him. Thrown in with the sons of naval officers at the Navy Yard, he soon realized that like himself, most aspired to naval careers. When Yates Jr. was fifteen, his father had taken him to the White House for the purpose of meeting President Grover Cleveland and requesting an appointment to Annapolis for his son. Dressed in shorts, that Stirling later regretted wearing since they accentuated his youthful looks, he recalled Cleveland telling his father, "Why, Commander, your son looks too young to go to Annapolis this year. Maybe next, it will be possible. Shall I have his name put down for an appointment then?"
Yates Stirling Jr.
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Stirling married the former Adelaide Egbert, daughter of Brigadier General Harry C. Egbert, in 1903 when he was 31. They had five children, two boys and three girls. His eldest son, Yates Stirling, III became a captain in the Navy. His younger son, Harry, also served in the Navy and attained the rank of commander.
Yates Stirling Jr.
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As a boy living in Baltimore's upper west side, Stirling attended public schools where despite a professed dislike of physical combat, he had a reputation of being a fighter. While his father was at sea for as long as three years at a time, Stirling had a happy home life with a mother that instilled a love for reading and provided private teachers that enabled him to skip grades at school, though Stirling admitted he was not a good student. During his father's cruise absences, the family's only knowledge of his well-being came in bulky packets of letters arriving in bunches over long intervals that Stirling's mother, Ellen, would read aloud to her children. The exciting details of life on a warship—"gales, tropical coral reefs, savage people, hunting, and yellow fever"—influenced Stirling's desire for the naval life. But he saw that it was not without sacrifice. A younger brother was about three when Stirling's father left Baltimore for a long cruise. A few months later, the boy contracted diphtheria and died. Another younger brother, Archie, was born shortly after that. Yates Stirling Jr. wondered how his father must have felt when he returned home and saw a new son that was nearly the same age as the one he had lost.
Yates Stirling Jr.
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Stirling had duty as a lighthouse inspector from December 1892 to December 1894 and was promoted to captain on 16 September 1894. He awaited orders from December 1894 until May 1895, then was commanding officer of the protected cruiser from May 1895 to July 1896 and of the screw sloop-of-war from July 1896 to June 1897. He was commander of the South Atlantic Squadron from July to December 1897. After duty as a member of the Lighthouse Board from 31 March 1898 to 1 July 1900, he became commandant of Naval Station San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 21 November 1900, serving in that capacity into 1902. In May 1900, while commandant at San Juan, Captain Stirling rescued the Lloyd's agent there, a man named Butler who had jumped off the municipal pier that had caught fire. Stirling was promoted to rear admiral on 8 June 1902. Following his promotion, he was named commandant of the Puget Sound Navy Yard, where his son, Yates, Jr. joined him shortly thereafter as an officer of the yard.
Yates Stirling