John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren

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John Adolph Dahlgren
John Adolph Dahlgren with a Dahlgren gun

John A. Dahlgren , (* 13. November 1809 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ; † 12. July 1870 in Washington, DC ) was Rear Admiral ( Rear Admiral (uh) RADM ) of the US Navy .

Life

Dahlgren was born the son of the Swedish consul Bernhard Ulrik Dahlgren. John Dahlgren became a midshipman in 1826 , a lieutenant in the sea in 1837 and a commander in 1855. Between 1847 and 1857 he was particularly busy in the art of the fleet. First he was entrusted with the organization of the production of the new Hale missiles in the Washington Navy Yard . The missiles were then used in the simultaneously raging Mexican-American War .

He is the inventor of the heavy cast-iron ship guns named after him ( Dahlgrenkanone ), which did not prove themselves well in the Civil War , bursting 32 heavy tubes. He also introduced the 12 and 24 pound bronze howitzer in the American fleet.

When the Civil War broke out, he became the commander of the naval base in Washington (DC) and, in July 1862, appointed captain, chief of gunnery. Promoted to Rear Admiral, he led the sea blockade against the Confederates (Union blockade) in the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico . In 1863, Dahlgren was a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences .

After the end of the war, he led several squadrons, for example the one in the South Pacific between 1866 and 1868 , and in 1869 again took command of the Washington naval base.

John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren died on July 12, 1870 in Washington, DC

additional

His younger brother Charles Gustavus Ulrich Dahlgren (August 13, 1811 - December 18, 1888) fought as a staunch supporter of slavery on the side of the Confederation in the rank of brigadier general. He commanded the Third Brigade of the Army of Mississippi before falling out with Jefferson Davis . In the 20th century, three US Navy warships were named after Dahlgren, most recently the USS Dahlgren (DDG-43) , which was decommissioned in 1992. Are named after him; Dahlgren, Illinois ( Hamilton County Township ) and Dahlgren Township, Carver County Minnesota .

Publications

  • Report on the 32 pounders of 32 cwt. (1850)
  • System of boat armament in the United States navy. (1852)
  • Naval percussion locks and primers. (1852)
  • Shells and shell guns. (1856) ISBN 1418123447
  • Memoir of Ulric Dahlgren: By His Father, Rear-Admiral Dahlgren. ISBN 141812334X

literature

  • Robert J. Schneller: A Quest for Glory. A Biography of Rear Adm. John A. Dahlgren. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD 1996, ISBN 1-557-50762-7 .

Web links

Commons : John A. Dahlgren  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David K. Allison: John A. Dahlgren: Innovator in Uniform in Captains of the Old Steam Navy: Makers of the American Naval Tradition 1840-1880 , Naval Institute Press, 2013, ISBN 9781591140542 , p. 30 [1]
  2. ↑ Dahlgrēn . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . 6th edition. Volume 4, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1906, pp.  416–417 .
personal data
SURNAME Dahlgren, John Adolphus Bernard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American admiral
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH July 12, 1870
Place of death Washington, DC