William Ledyard Rodgers | |
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| Born | (1860-02-04)4 February 1860 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | 7 May 1944(1944-05-07) (aged 84) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Buried | Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1878–1924 |
| Rank | Vice Admiral |
| Commands | |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Navy Cross |
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| Other work |
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William Ledyard Rodgers (February 4, 1860 – May 7, 1944) was avice admiral of theUnited States Navy. His career included service in theSpanish–American War andWorld War I, and a tour asPresident of the Naval War College. Rodgers was also a noted historian on military and naval topics, particularly relating to ancient naval warfare.
He was the third generation in a well-known family of able naval officers. He was the son ofRear AdmiralJohn Rodgers (1812–1882), who fought in theSecond Seminole War (1839–1842) and theAmerican Civil War (1861–1865), and the grandson ofCommodoreJohn Rodgers (1772–1838), who fought in theWar of 1812 (1812–1814). Rodgers's nephew,John Rodgers, born in 1881, was a pioneering early aviator, reaching the rank ofcommander before dying in a plane crash in 1926.
Born on 4 February 1860 inWashington, D.C.,[1] the son ofJohn Rodgers and Ann Elizabeth Hodge Rodgers, William Ledyard Rodgers entered theUnited States Naval Academy on 11 June 1874 and graduated in 1878. He served aboard thesteamerUSS Pensacola from 1878 to 1879 and at theUnited States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., from 1880 to 1881, and was promoted tomidshipman on 4 June 1880. He served aboard thecorvetteUSS Quinnebaug on theEuropean Station from 1881 to 1884 and was promoted toensign on 1 April 1882.[2][3]
Rodgers was on special duty at theUnited States Department of the Navy in Washington, D.C., from 1884 to 1885, then received instruction intorpedo service during 1886. He was assigned to theOffice of Naval Intelligence from 1886 to 1888, then to special duty aboard theprotected cruiserUSS Atlanta from 1889 to 1892, being promoted tolieutenant, junior grade, on 4 May 1889 while aboardAtlanta. From December 1892 until 1895, he served at theWashington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., and was promoted tolieutenant in February 1894.[4] In October 1895, Rodgers reported for duty aboard thescrewgunboatUSS Alliance, which operated as atraining ship during his tour. LeavingAlliance, he was assigned in May 1897 to theColumbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Company, which was engaged in ship construction for the U.S. Navy inBaltimore,Maryland.[5]
In January 1898, Rodgers took command of thetorpedo boatUSS Foote,[6][7] leading her into combat when theSpanish–American War broke out in April 1898.Foote assisted in theblockade ofCuba, patrolling the coast closely, and fought the first battle of the war on 23[8] or 25 April 1898 (sources vary), when she approached the harbor atCárdenas, Cuba, to scout shipping andexchanged fire with theSpanish NavygunboatLigera. Spanish sources claim thatFoote was badly damaged and forced to withdraw,[9] but U.S. sources state that she simply withdrew.[10]Foote also bombardedMorro Island on 29 April 1898, and during the summer carried mail, dispatches, and supplies fromKey West,Florida, to the blockadingsquadron off Cuba until the end of the war in August 1898.[11]
Rodgers returned to duty at the Washington Navy Yard on 3 November 1898.[12] On 15 May 1900, he reported aboard the screwsloop-of-warUSS Lancaster, which was in service with theTraining Squadron, and was aboard her until 1901, being promoted tolieutenant commander on 19 February 1901.[13] He was assigned to thebattleshipUSS Kentucky before moving on to a tour on theNaval War College staff atNewport,Rhode Island. After that, he wasexecutive officer of the battleshipUSS Wisconsin in theUnited States Asiatic Fleet before becoming commanding officer of the Asiatic FleetgunboatUSS Wilmington in 1906.[14][15]
Relinquishing command ofWilmington, Rodgers attended theUnited States Army War College inCarlisle,Pennsylvania, in 1907–1908.[16] While there, he learned about the "applicability system" or "estimate of the situation," requiring that war planning be developed through a four-step process involving "statement of mission, assessment of enemy forces and intentions, assessment of own forces, and evaluation of possible courses of action."[17] He suggested toRaymond P. Rodgers, who served asPresident of the Naval War College from 1909 to 1911, that the Navy adopt a similar approach. Raymond P. Rodgers introduced it into war planning at the college during his presidency, and it has remained a part of Navy war planning ever since.[18]
In 1909, William Ledyard Rodgers assumed command of the battleshipUSS Georgia. He then relieved Raymond P. Rodgers as President of the Naval War College on 20 November 1911, serving as president until 15 December 1913.[19][20] He next took command of the new battleshipUSS Delaware, then in 1915 became a member of theGeneral Board of the United States Navy in Washington, D.C.[21]
In 1916, Rodgers was promoted torear admiral and given command of theUnited States Atlantic Fleet'sTraining and Service Force, the command he continued to hold after theUnited States enteredWorld War I in April 1917. In this capacity, he oversaw the training of Atlantic Fleet personnel and the repair and replenishment of its ships through the end of the war in November 1918, using first therepair shipUSS Vestal and later thestore shipUSS Supply as hisflagship. He received theNavy Cross for superior performance in this position.[22]
In December 1918, Rodgers was promoted tovice admiral and on 7 December 1918 he took command of theUnited States Asiatic Fleet, a position he held until 1 September 1919. In 1920, he returned to the U.S. Navy's General Board in Washington, D.C., to serve as its Senior Member, the position he held until his retirement in 1924. During this tour, he also served on the Advisory Commission to theConference on the Limitation of Armaments in 1921–1922, and as a technical adviser to theCommittee of Jurists on the Laws of War atThe Hague in theNetherlands in 1923.[23][24]
Rodgers had a lifelong love ofmilitary andnaval history. Throughout his life, he consistently showed an interest in actual hands-on testing and physical examination of history. He wrote many articles on various historical subjects, such as the rate of fire of theWelsh longbow, which were published in various military journals and magazines of the time,[25] and in 1907 published a book titledA Study of Attacks Upon Fortified Harbors (Artillery Notes), published by Artillery School Press.
In retirement, Rodgers continued to pursue his passion for military and naval history. He wrote the introduction toCaptainDudley W. Knox's classicA History of the United States Navy, published in 1936. He served as president of theNaval Historical Foundation from 1927 to 1943,[26] and donated much of his father's book collection as well as volumes of his own collection to theUnited States Department of the Navy.
Rodgers' most enduring legacy are two classic works onnaval warfare he wrote in retirement, titledGreek and Roman Naval Warfare: A Study of Strategy, Tactics and Ship Design from Salamis (480 B.C.) to Actium, published in 1937, andNaval Warfare Under Oars, 4th to 16th Centuries: A Study of Strategy, Tactics and Ship Design, published in 1939.[27] While the former work focuses on theancientGreek andRoman world of theMediterranean Sea, the latter work also contains chapters on such rare topics asViking andmedieval naval warfare. Rodgers was primarily a military historian who describedbattles andtactics, but his works also derive principles ofnaval warfare in the ancient and medieval worlds, and contain some detailed descriptions ofarcheological finds and commentary on the limitations of materials and the design of ancient and medieval naval vessels.
Rodgers died at theNational Naval Medical Center inBethesda,Maryland, on 7 May 1944, at the age of 84. He is buried atOak Hill Cemetery in theGeorgetown section of Washington, D.C.[28]
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| Preceded by | President of the Naval War College 20 November 1911 – 15 December 1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet 7 December 1918 – 1 September 1919 | Succeeded by |
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