Born in Washington, D.C., December 20, 1849. His parents were Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers and Julia Slidell Rodgers. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1868 and married Gertrude Stuyvesant. Appointed Ensign, USN, 1869 and was promoted through the grades to rear admiral on July 4, 1908.
He served as Executive Officer of USS Iowa in the Spanish-American War and was advanced five numbers in grade for “imminent and conspicious conduct” in the battle which destroyed Cevera’s squadron off Santiago, Cuba. He is also the brother of Thomas Slidell Rodgers.
He died on December 28, 1925 and is buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.
Lieutenant Raymond Perry Rodgers, who succeeded Mason as Chief Intelligence Officer in April 1885, strengthened ties between naval intelligence and the State Department, as they shared a mutual interest in Panama, Samoa, and Hawaii.
Rodgers also involved ONI in cryptography, and the office took on the task of finding useful inventions for the Navy, receiving a flood of letters detailing all manner of odd devices. Rodgers’ command was among the best in ONI history, as young, vigorous officers flocked to the office, setting the tone for ONI operations throughout the rest of the century, as naval attaches in Europe searched out advances in naval technology, while in Latin America ONI kept a close watch over European colonial interests. Despite this new drive, a transfer of ONI from the Bureau of Navigation to the Office of the Secretary of the Navy in 1890 increased the demand on ONI for more information, and a weakness in intelligence-gathering would be revealed by the Spanish-American War.
RAYMOND RODGERS, REAR ADMIRAL, DIES
End Comes In Monte Carlo, Where Retired U. S. Naval Officer Made His Home
Was In Santiago Battle
Father, Who Fought In Civil War, And Two Sons Servived Their Country As Rear Admirals
December 29, 1925 – Word was received here last night of the death yesterday at Monte Carlo of Rear Admiral Raymond Perry Rodgers, U.S.N., retired, former President of the Naval War College, who for several years had been living abroad with his wife, formerly Miss Gertrude Stuyvesant of New York. TheAdmiral was 76 years old and had been out of active service for fourteen years.
A native of Washington, D.C., Raymond Perry Rodgers came of a family that had given other distinguished officers to the American Navy. His father, the late Rear Admiral Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers, was Fleet Captain in the attack on Charleston in the Civil War and was, for five years, Superintendent of the Naval Academy. Rear Admiral Thomas Slidell Rodgers, U.S.N., retired, is a brother of the officer who just died in Monte Carlo. Their mother was Julia Slidell Rodgers.
After graduating from Annapolis in 1858, Admiral Rodgers reached the rank of Commander in 1899, Captain in 1903 and Rear Admiral in 1908. Of this forty years of continuous service to his country, he spent the four years from 1894 to 1898 as Naval Attache in France and Russia. Throughout the war with Spain he was Executive Officer of the battleship Iowa, and for most of the war was stationed off Santiago de Cuba. He was advanced five numbers for eminent and conspicious conduct in the battle which destroyed Cerver’s squadson.
While in command of the Nashville from 1899 t0 1901, Admiral Rodgers, then ranking as a Commander, served in the West Indies and the Philippines, and in China during the Boxer troubles. For the next two years he was Captain of the battleship Kearsarge of the Atlantic Fleet and then for three years was Chief Intelligence Officer with theNavy Department. In October 1909, he became Preident of the Naval War College and Commandant of the Naval Station at Narragansett Nay. He was a memebr of the University Club of New York and the Metropolitan of Washington.
May 28, 1920 – Miss Julia Stuyvesant Rodgers, daughter of the late Rear Admiral Raymond Perry Rodgers, died yesterday in Doctors Hospital after a brief illness. A member of a socially prominent family, she resided at the Sulgrave Hotel, 60 East Sixty-seventh Street. Miss Rodgers had spent a major part of her life abroad, returning to this country about fifteen years ago.
RODGERS, RAYMOND P
- R/ADM US NAVY
- VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
- DATE OF DEATH: 12/28/1925
- DATE OF INTERMENT: Unknown
- BURIED AT: SECTION EW SITE 958
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
RODGERS, GERTRUDE STUYVESANT
- DATE OF DEATH: 11/20/1933
- DATE OF INTERMENT: 11/24/1933
- BURIED AT: SECTION EAST SITE 958
- ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
- WIFE OF RAYMOND P. ROGERS
REAR ADMIRAL, USN
RODGERS, JULIA S D/O RAYMOND P
- DATE OF DEATH: 05/27/1950
- DATE OF INTERMENT: 07/01/1950
- BURIED AT: SECTION 2 SITE 958 C L
- ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
- DAUGHTER OF RAYMOND P. RODGERS
- REAR ADMIRAL, USN
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard