Royal R. Ingersoll

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Rear Admiral Royal Rodney Ingersoll (4 December 1847 - 21 April 1931) was a United States Navy officer whose career extended from the late 1860s through World War I.

Ingersoll was born in Niles, Michigan and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1868. He served in various ships of the fleet on the European and Asiatic Squadrons until 1876 when he was assigned to the Naval Academy.

He taught and wrote about ordnance subjects during several tours at the Academy, and in the early years of the 20th century commanded such ships as Bennington (PG-4), New Orleans (CL-22), and Maryland (ACR-8).

Ingersoll was Chief of Staff of the Atlantic Fleet during the first part of its famous cruise around the world, and served in 1908 a member of the General Board.

Rear Admiral Ingersoll retired in 1909, but was called back to duty during World War I as President of the Naval Ordnance Board. In 1919 he returned to his home in Laporte, Indiana, where he was active in public affairs until his death at age 83.

In 1942, the destroyer USS Ingersoll (DD-652) was named in honor of Adm. Ingersoll and his grandson, Lieutenant Royal R. Ingersoll, II (1913 – 1942) who had died in the Battle of Midway, just weeks before the ship's christening.

[edit] Reference

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.