Admiral

Admiral (United States)

In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...

 Joseph Strauss (16 November 1861–30 December 1948) was an officer of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, who served in World War I, and later commanded the Asiatic Fleet.

Biography

Born in Mount Morris, New York

Mount Morris (town), New York

Mount Morris is a town in Livingston County, New York, United States. The population was 4,567 at the 2000 census. The town and village were named after Robert Morris, the financier of the American Revolution....

, Strauss was commissioned as an ensign

Ensign (rank)

Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....

 on 1 July 1887. He began a distinguished career as specialist in ordnance in June 1893 when he reported to the Bureau of Ordnance in Washington, D.C. During the Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

 he served in the sloop blockading the Cuban coast, then returned to the Bureau of Ordnance. He established the Naval Proving Ground at Indian Head, Maryland

Indian Head, Maryland

Indian Head is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,422 at the 2000 census. It has been the site of a naval base specializing in gun and rocket propellants since 1890. Production of nitrocellulose and smokeless powder began at the Indian Head Powder Factory in 1900...

, from 1900 to 1902; served on a Special Board of Naval Ordnance in 1906; and was a member of the Joint Army-Navy Board on Smokeless Powders the following year. He conducted experimental work with torpedoes while commanding the cruiser from 1909 to 1911; commanded the pre-dreadnought battleship  in 1912; then became Chief of Bureau of Ordnance

Bureau of Ordnance

The Bureau of Ordnance was the U.S. Navy's organization responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval ordnance, between the years 1862 and 1959.-History:...

 on 21 October 1913.

Strauss assumed command of the super-dreadnought  on 30 December 1916 and remained in command as the United States entered World War I. Detached from the battleship in February 1918, he was designated Commander, Mine Force, Atlantic Fleet. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal

Distinguished Service Medal (United States)

The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non-valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military which is issued for exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United...

 both for directing the laying of the North Sea Mine Barrage and for the hazardous task of clearing it after peace came.

In October 1919 he returned to the Navy Department to serve as a member of the General Board

General Board of the United States Navy

The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, effectively a naval general staff. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by John Davis Long. The order was officially recognized by Congress in 1916...

 until March 1921 when he became Commander in Chief of the Asiatic Fleet with the rank of Admiral. He resumed duty with the General Board in October 1922. The following year he also worked with Congress on the budget and appropriations. He transferred to the Retired List on 16 November 1925, but returned briefly to active duty from 8 October 1937 to 8 February 1938 to serve the Advisory Board on Battleship Plans.

He died on 30 December 1948 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

.

Other activities

Admiral Strauss was a founder of the Naval Historical Society and a long time financial adviser of the Navy Relief Society. Among his inventions were the superimposed system of mounting guns; the first spring recoil gun mount, the first disappearing mount for deck guns of submarines, and the 12-inch gun, the fore-runner of the mighty guns for capital ships' main batteries. He received a special letter of appreciation from Secretary of the Navy Charles F. Adams

Charles Francis Adams III

Charles Francis Adams III was the United States Secretary of the Navy under President Herbert Hoover and a well-known yachtsman.-Life:...

in 1929 for his work on safety devices of submarines and the salvaging of sunken submarines.