Ellsworth P. Bertholf

Ellsworth P. Bertholf
Bertholf in the late 1910s
Birth name	Ellsworth Price Bertholf
Born	(1866-04-07)7 April 1866 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	11 November 1921(1921-11-11) (aged 55) New York City, New York, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	U.S. Revenue Cutter Service  United States Coast Guard
Years of service	1887–1919
Rank	Commodore
Commands held	Commandant of the Coast Guard
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal awarded for Overland Relief Expedition

Ellsworth Price Bertholf (7 April 1866 – 11 November 1921) was a Congressional Gold Medal recipient who later served as the fourth Captain-Commandant of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and because of the change in the name of the agency, the fourth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. His leadership during his tenure as Commandant was critical to the U.S. Coast Guard's survival at a time when outside agencies wanted to either take it over or split its missions up among several agencies.

Bertholf was born in New York City to John J. Bertholf, an accountant, and Annie Frances Price Bertholf. When he was four, his family moved to Hackensack, New Jersey where he spent his school years. When he was sixteen, he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy but was court-martialed and dismissed for allegedly participating in a hazing incident at the beginning of his second year. A year after his expulsion from the Naval Academy, he was appointed as a cadet at the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction at New Bedford, Massachusetts. He graduated from the School of Instruction on 18 October 1887 and was assigned to USRC Levi Woodbury on 15 December 1887. He was commissioned as a Third Lieutenant while serving on Woodbury on 12 June 1889.

On 15 April 1890, Bertholf was transferred to USRC William H. Seward, an American Civil War-era side-wheeler that was homeported in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.Seward patrolled the mouth of the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, removing hazards to navigation and watching for smuggling activity. In May 1891, he was assigned to the newer iron-hulled USRC Forward, which was based in Mobile, Alabama. While serving on Forward, Bertholf was promoted to second lieutenant on 31 October 1892. In June 1893, Bertholf reported aboard USRC Hamilton, which was undergoing an overhaul at Reeder and Sons Shipyard, Baltimore After overhaul, Hamilton returned to her homeport of Philadelphia for customs duty in the harbor and Delaware Bay. Returning to Forward on 5 May 1894, after only one year of service on Hamilton, he spent just a year assigned to Forward when he received orders to report 1 June 1895 to the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island as a student. He gained valuable experience in naval tactics and interacting with Navy officers and became the first Revenue Cutter Service officer to graduate from the Naval War College He graduated in October 1895 and was temporarily assigned as the executive officer on USRC Manhattan, a harbor tug in New York City. Bertholf reported aboard USRC Salmon P. Chase in late November, 1895 as the executive officer of Chase and the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction. Chase was undergoing a major modifications in Baltimore to accommodate twice the cadets that it had in the past. After refit, Chase returned to duty as a training ship and spent most of the training year at sea, with only occasional visits in port for reprovisioning and repairs.