James H. Sands

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Rear Admiral James H. Sands (12 July 1845 – 27 October 1911) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

Son of Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Sands, he was born in Washington, D.C.. Sands was appointed Acting Midshipman in the United States Navy on 25 November 1859. During the Civil War, he served in Tuscarora, Juniata, and Shenandoah and, in the years which followed, in Hartford and Richmond.

Ordered to the Naval Observatory in 1869, he returned to sea duty, on the Asiatic Station, a year and a half later. From October 1873 to April 1875, he served in the Hydrographic Office. Duty in Minnesota and Iroquois followed; and, in 1884, he returned to Washington, D.C., for duty at the Washington Navy Yard.

During the 1890s, he commanded Monongahela; served as equipment officer at the Boston Navy Yard; commanded Columbia and Minneapolis; and served as Governor of the Naval Home at Philadelphia. Detached from the latter in 1901, he became a member of the Retirement Board and assumed its presidency in 1902. Commissioned Rear Admiral the same year, he served as Commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, League Island, Philadelphia, from May 1902 to April 1903; commanded the Coast Squadron until 1905; then assumed duty as Superintendent of the Naval Academy. Further duty on the Retirement Board and as President, Naval Examining Board, followed; and, in July 1907, he transferred to the Retired List.

Rear Admiral Sands died in Washington, D.C.

Two ships have been named USS Sands for him and his father.

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