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John Rodgers
John Rodgers 1773–1838, American naval officer, b. Harford co., Md. He had seen years of merchant service before he became (1798) a lieutenant in the new U.S. navy. He served in the Tripolitan War , securing senior command in 1805. In 1811, Rodgers, in command of the President, was ordered to cruise off the U.S. coast to stop the impressment of American sailors by the British frigate Guerrière. He encountered a British ship, which he apparently took to be the Guerrière, and gave chase. Accounts of what happened vary, but a battle took place, and the British ship, the Little Belt, was defeated and cut to bits. The incident was one of those leading up to the War of 1812. Rodgers, at the outbreak of that war, at once set out to pursue British ships and captured several British merchantmen. In a battle with the frigate Belvidera he was wounded by an explosion of a gun on his own vessel. He later participated in the naval defense of Baltimore. After the war he was president of the board of naval commissioners (1815–24, 1827–37) and acting secretary of the navy in 1823.
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"John Rodgers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "John Rodgers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-RodgersJ1.html "John Rodgers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-RodgersJ1.html |
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Rodgers, John
Rodgers, John (1881–1926) naval officer and naval aviator, born in Washington, D.C. Son of John Rodgers, a Union admiral. In 1911 Rodgers trained with Orville Wright and became the second man to qualify as a naval aviator; in 1912 he took the first aerial photograph for the navy. During World War I he served aboard navy submarines, but in 1925, despite his marginal piloting skills, he was selected to pilot the navy's first trans-Pacific flight, from San Francisco to Hawaii. The plane ran out of fuel and was forced to land at sea; after some improvising, Rodgers and his crew were picked up by a submarine, only fifteen miles from Kauai. The 400-mile flight brought Rodgers national acclaim. After only a few weeks as assistant chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, in Washington, D.C., Rodgers transferred out to take command of an experimental squadron of seaplanes. While he was flying to Philadelphia to take on his new position, his plane crashed, and Rodgers died of his injuries.
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"Rodgers, John." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Rodgers, John." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-RodgersJohn1.html "Rodgers, John." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-RodgersJohn1.html |
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John Rodgers
John Rodgers 1812–82, American naval officer, b. Harford co., Md.; son of John Rodgers. He became (1828) a midshipman and saw varied service. He conducted (1852–56) exploring expeditions in the N Pacific, off the coast of China, and in the Arctic. In the Civil War he served on the Atlantic coast, taking part in the bombardment of Fort Darling (1862), the attack on Fort Sumter (1863), and the capture of the ironclad Atlanta. He commanded the Asiatic fleet (1870–72). Later he was in charge of the Mare Island navy yard (1873–77) and superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory (1877–82).
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Cite this article
"John Rodgers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "John Rodgers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-E-RodgersJ2.html "John Rodgers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-E-RodgersJ2.html |
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