Philip H. Cooper | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cooperc. 1892 | |
| Born | (1844-08-05)5 August 1844 Camden, New York, US |
| Died | 29 December 1912(1912-12-29) (aged 68) |
| Buried | Evergreen Cemetery, Morristown, New Jersey |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1863–1904 |
| Rank |  Rear Admiral |
| Commands |
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| Battles / wars | |
| Signature | .png) |
Rear AdmiralPhilip Henry Cooper (5 August 1844 – 29 December 1912) was anofficer in theUnited States Navy. He fought in theAmerican Civil War and served asSuperintendent of the United States Naval Academy and as commander-in-chief of theUnited States Asiatic Fleet.
Cooper was born inCamden,New York, on 5 August 1844, the son of Hiram H. and Delia A. Cooper. He was appointed as an actingmidshipman fromNew York's 20th congressional district on 28 September 1860 and entered theUnited States Naval Academy inAnnapolis,Maryland, as a member of the class of 1864; the Academy moved toNewport,Rhode Island, after theAmerican Civil War broke out in April 1861. On 16 July 1862, the rank of acting midshipman was abolished, and Cooper's rank changed to midshipman. On 21 November 1862, Cooper,Henry Glass, and Charles McGregor were appointed acting assistant professors ofmathematics at the Naval Academy while all three were still Academy students. Cooper wascommissioned as an actingensign on 28 May 1863 and was assigned to thesloop-of-warUSS Macedonian, serving as an academytraining ship, the same day.[1][2][3]
Due to the wartime requirement for officers in the rapidly expanding fleet, Cooper – ranked fifth in his graduating class – was detached early from the Naval Academy on 1 October 1863 and assigned to thesteamsloop-of-warUSS Richmond in theWest Gulf Blockading Squadron in theGulf of Mexico for the rest of the Civil War.
AboardRichmond, he saw action in theUnion blockade of theConfederate States of America and in theBattle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864.[1][2][3]
After the conclusion of the Civil War, Cooper was assigned to thesidewheelsteam frigateUSS Powhatan in theSouth Pacific Squadron on 28 July 1865. While aboardPowhatan, he was promoted tomaster on 10 November 1865 and tolieutenant on 10 November 1866. On 31 December 1867 he was transferred to the staff of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was assistant to theCommandant of Midshipmen and assistant instructor inseamanship andnaval tactics and was promoted tolieutenant commander on 12 March 1868. He then returned to sea, being assigned to thesailing frigateUSS Sabine on 30 April 1869 while she was serving as atraining ship, and made a midshipman cruise toEurope and theMediterranean aboard her. On 9 September 1870, he became a member of theTehauntepec and Nicaragua Surveying Expedition.[1][2][3][4]
On 31 May 1871, Cooper detached from the expedition and reported for duty at theNew York Navy Yard inBrooklyn, New York, where he performed duty as equipment officer. He transferred to the screw sloop-of-warUSS Congress on 20 September 1871. Cooper next returned to duty on the staff of the Naval Academy, assigned there on 10 July 1872. On 19 July 1875, he was ordered to theNaval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island, fortorpedo instruction, then was transferred on 17 August 1875 to theNaval Experimental Battery at Annapolis, Maryland. An assignment as assistanthydrographic inspector in theUnited States Coast Survey office followed, beginning on 28 June 1878.[1][2][3]
Cooper detached from the Coast Survey on 7 November 1878 to take up special duty in theBureau of Navigation and was promoted tocommander on 1 November 1879. He left the bureau on 7 March 1881 to becomecommanding officer of thescrewgunboatUSS Alliance whileAlliance was under repair. He returned to the Bureau of Navigation on 1 October 1881 for a brief period of special duty before taking command of the screw sloop-of-warUSS Swatara in theAsiatic Squadron on 17 October 1881. He leftSwatara on 20 May 1884 and had duty at theNorfolk Navy Yard inPortsmouth,Virginia, from 1 April 1886 until 1888. While there, he was appointed on 18 February 1887 as senior member of a board to survey all stores and materials at the navy yard. He served on several generalcourts-martial during 1889.[1][2][3]
On 22 January 1890, Cooper was ordered back toSwatara for a second tour as her commanding officer, and he took command of her in March 1890. On 30 January 1891, he received orders to detach fromSwatara on 7 February 1891. He then served on several courts martial andcourts of inquiry during 1891 before being ordered on 18 November 1891 to special duty on theBoard on Navy Yard Reorganization.[1][3]
Cooper's next duty was as a member of theBoard of Inspection and Survey, to which he was assigned on 3 June 1892. While on the board, he served on several courts martial, oversaw thesea trials of the screw steamerUSS Essex, thearmored cruiserUSS New York, theprotected cruisersUSS Detroit,USS Montgomery, andUSS Columbia, and the gunboatUSS Bancroft, and was promoted tocaptain on 11 April 1894.[1][2][3]
Leaving the board, Cooper received command of the protected cruiserUSS San Francisco on 18 July 1894. On 7 November 1894 he detached fromSan Francisco with orders to becomeSuperintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, effective 15 November 1894. He remained superintendent until detached from the Academy on 5 July 1898.[3][5]
On 7 July 1898, Cooper reported to the protected cruiserUSS Chicago to oversee herfitting out after a lengthy overhaul, and he became her commanding officer when she wasrecommissioned on 1 December 1898. After detaching fromChicago on 5 October 1899, he took aleave of absence, then received orders on 5 May 1900 to report aboard thebattleshipUSS Iowa as her commanding officer, effective 9 June 1900. He detached fromIowa on 5 March 1901 and awaited orders until his assignment on 7 October 1901 to serve on a court martial atTutuila in the Tutuila Islands (laterAmerican Samoa).[3][6]
Promoted to rear admiral on 9 February 1902, Cooper became the president of a general court martial atPort Royal,South Carolina, on 10 April 1902. In 1902 he was responsible for the defense of theUnited States East Coast fromBarnegat,New Jersey, north to the border withCanada and in July 1902 took part in combined U.S. Navy-United States Army maneuvers with his headquarters at theNaval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and using the gunboatUSS Hist as hisflagship.[3][7][8]
Cooper reported for duty on 6 February 1903 as Senior Squadron Commander in the Asiatic Fleet. On 1 March 1903, he assumed command of the fleet's Southern Squadron and on 2 July 1903 of itsCruiser Squadron. On 21 March 1904, he assumed command of the entire Asiatic Fleet. However, his health went into decline, and on 1[3] or 11[9] July 1904 (sources vary), Cooper detached from the Asiatic Fleet. On 5 August 1904, he retired from the Navy.[3]
Cooper's first wife was the former Addie Lou Paine. He married his second wife, Sarah Lawrence Stuart (1851–1881), on 3 October 1871. After she died, he married his third wife, Katherine J. Foote Saltus (1853–1937) on 24 June 1884. He fathered six children, Gerald Cooper (died 1887), Geraldine Cooper (died 1885), Stuart Cooper (1873–1924), Philip Benson Cooper (1877–1956), Dorothy Bradford Cooper Patterson (1889–1972), and Leslie B. Cooper (1894–1944);[citation needed] the latter became a nationally recognizedhelicopter expert and aUnited States Army Air Forceslieutenant colonel before dying in the crash of a U.S. Army Air Forces training plane inPennsville, New Jersey in October 1944.[10]
Cooper apparently contracted chronicmalaria while inNicaragua in 1870 and 1871 on thesurveying expedition. Repeated bouts of malaria took a toll on his health, which became poor enough in 1904 to force him to relinquish command of the Asiatic Fleet and retire. He returned to the United States but never completely recovered, and died atMorristown, New Jersey, on 29 December 1912 of interstitialmyocarditis and generalarteriosclerosis.
Cooper is buried atEvergreen Cemetery in Morristown.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Superintendent of United States Naval Academy 15 November 1894-5 July 1898 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief,United States Asiatic Fleet 21 March 1904–1 or 11 July 1904 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
