Charles Dwight Sigsbee

Charles Dwight Sigsbee 1845-1923, American naval officer, b. Albany, N.Y. He saw service in the Gulf of Mexico in the Civil War, was subsequently stationed with the Asian squadron, taught at Annapolis, and served (1873-88) in the Hydrographic Office and the Coast Survey. There Sigsbee invented several marine instruments that revolutionized deep-sea exploration. He also made the first complete deepwater survey of the Gulf of Mexico. In 1897 he achieved the rank of captain and commanded the Maine until it was destroyed in Havana harbor. He was commended for his conduct pending investigation of the incident. While in command of the St. Paul in the Spanish-American War, Sigsbee defeated the destroyer Terror and the cruiser Isabella II. Commissioned as rear admiral (1903), he commanded the Caribbean squadron and then a squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. He wrote Deep-Sea Sounding and Dredging (1880) and The Maine: an Account of Her Destruction in Havana Harbor (1899).

Sigsbee, Charles Dwight ˈsigzbē (1845–1923) Union naval officer, born in New York. Sigsbee graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in1863, in the middle of the Civil War. He was assigned to a series of squadron ships and performed capably in the battle of Mobile Bay (1864). He taught at Annapolis from 1869 to 1871 and became an expert in marine science, charting the ocean floor and performing coastal surveys. He discovered the deepest spot in the Gulf of Mexico, which was named the Sigsbee Deep in his honor, and invented technology for naval exploration. In 1897 he was promoted to captain and given command of the USS Maine. The ship was anchored at Havana Harbor, as a show of strength as relations between the United States and Spain deteriorated, and on February 15, 1898, it was rocked by an explosion that killed 260 men, although Sigsbee escaped unharmed. The ship sank, and “Remember the Maine!” became the battle cry of the Spanish-American War, which rapidly followed. Sigsbee was transferred to another command and was hailed as a hero, both in the United States and in Europe; he served in a number of important posts in the navy; in 1906 he commanded the Second Squadron, North Atlantic Fleet.