This Military Service Page was created/owned by
John Dupee (Pilot), BMC
to remember
Dahlgren, John Adolphus, RADM.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Last Address Philadelphia
Date of Passing Jul 12, 1870
Location of Interment Laurel Hill Cemetery - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren founded the Navy's Ordnance Department and launched significant advances in gunnery.
Dahlgren devised a smoothbore howitzer, adaptable for many sizes of craft and shore installations. He then introduced a cast-iron muzzle-loading cannon with vastly increased range and accuracy, known as the Dahlgren gun, that became the U.S. Navy's standard armament.
In the Civil War, Dahlgren was made commander of the Washington Navy Yard, where he established the Bureau of Ordnance. In 1863, he took command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at the rank of rear admiral. He helped William Tecumseh Sherman secure Savannah, Georgia.
Other Comments:
Three ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Dahlgren for John A. Dahlgren.
USS Dahlgren (DD-187), was a Clemson-class destroyer commissioned in 1920, served in World War II and decommissioned in 1945.
USS Dahlgren (DDG-43), was a Farragut-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1961 and decommissioned in 1992.
Born in Philadelphia on November 13, 1809, John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren was the son of the Swedish consul in that city. Starting his service in the U.S. Navy in 1826, he joined the navy as a midshipman.
Thanks to his skill as a mathematician, Dahlgren was sent to work for the Coastal Survey from 1834 to 1837. In 1836, Dahlgren was almost blinded as a result of observing a solar eclipse. He was assigned to the Washington Navy Yard in 1847. While there, Dahlgren established the U.S. Navy's Ordnance Department; became an ordnance expert; developed a percussion lock; and wrote a number of books, including The System of Boat Armaments in the United States Navy, Shells and Shell Guns, and Naval Percussion Locks and Primers.
Under his direction, the navy established its own foundry to manufacture new equipment, and Dahlgren invented the Dahlgren gun, a more potent class of smoothbore cannon manufactured using iron-casting techniques to produce massive guns. Made in a variety of sizes, the Dahlgren gun became the standard weapon on Union naval vessels after 1856.
In 1861, Dahlgren's commander at the Navy Yard resigned to join the Confederate navy, and President Abraham Lincoln wanted to name Lieutenant Dahlgren to the post of Commander of the Washington Navy Yard. By law, however, that position could only be held by an officer with the rank of captain or above.
Lincoln successfully persuaded Congress to pass a special act legalizing Dahlgren's appointment to the yard, and, in July 1862, Dahlgren was promoted to the rank of captain and made chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. Then, in February 1863, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.
After almost 20 years on land, Dahlgren applied for sea duty, and in July 1863 he was given command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. While overseeing operations against Charleston, South Carolina, Dahlgren was able to see his guns in action against Fort Wagner and Fort Sumter. He was instrumental in securing Charleston's harbor, and he aided General William Tecumseh Sherman's capture of Savannah in 1864.
Also in 1864, Dahlgren's son, Ulric Dahlgren, was killed while serving the Union in a controversial raid on Richmond. After the Civil War, Dahlgren remained in the navy, serving in the Pacific before going back to the Bureau of Ordnance. He returned to the Washington Navy Yard in 1869 and, once again, served as its commander until his death on July 12, 1870.
Sources:
The Civil War Society. Encyclopedia of the Civil War. New York: Portland House, 1997.
Library of Congress Civil War Section
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Schneller, Robert. "A Quest for Glory: A Biography of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren." In Technology and Culture, July 1997.
Washington Navy Yard Historic District Office Web Site
Other Memories In 1842 he resumed duty, and in 1843 went to the Mediterranean in the frigate " Cumberland," returning late in 1845 to the United States, the cruise having been shortened by the prospect of a war with Mexico.
