Austin M. Knight
| Austin M. Knight | |
|---|---|
Admiral Austin M. Knight
|
|
| Born |
December 16, 1854 Ware, Massachusetts |
| Died | February 26, 1927 (aged 72) Washington, D.C. |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Years of service | 1873–1918 |
| Rank |
 Admiral
|
| Commands held | US Asiatic Fleet |
| Battles/wars |
Spanish–American War World War I Siberian Intervention |
| Awards |
Navy Distinguished Service Medal Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun |
Austin Melvin Knight (December 16, 1854 – February 26, 1927) was an admiral in the United States Navy. He was commander in chief of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet from 1917 to 1918. His 1901 textbook Modern Seamanship was a standard reference for over eight decades.
Born in Ware, Massachusetts to future American Civil War veteran Charles Sanford Knight and Cordelia Cutter Knight, Austin Melvin Knight was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy from Florida on June 30, 1869, graduating in 1873. After service as a passed midshipman, he was commissioned ensign on July 16, 1874. He served in various sea and shore assignments over the next two decades, including tours at the Naval Academy, and in Tuscarora, Constellation, Chicago, Monongahela, and Lancaster.
During the Spanish–American War Knight served as navigator aboard the new monitor Puritan, participating in the blockade of Cuba and the taking of Puerto Rico in 1898. After attending the Naval War College at Newport in 1901, he commanded the armed yacht Yankton off the Cuban coast from 1901 to 1903, and the gunboat Castine in the Atlantic from 1903 to 1904. During the next three years, he presided over a naval ordnance board and a joint Army-Navy board on smokeless powder. Knight was promoted to captain in 1907 and given command of the armored cruiser Washington in the Pacific. He resumed the presidency of the naval ordnance board in 1909.
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Wikipedia