View source for Louis R. de Steiguer

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{{Infobox military person
|name=Louis R. de Steiguer
|birth_date=March 18, 1867
|death_date={{death date and age|1947|4|20|1867|3|18}}
|image=Sponsor and party at launching of USS S-10.jpg
|caption=As Commandant of Portsmouth Navy Yard, at launching of submarine {{USS|S-10|SS-115|2}}, December 9, 1920.
|nickname=
|birth_place=[[Athens, Ohio]]
|death_place=[[Washington, D.C.]]
|placeofburial=[[Arlington National Cemetery]]
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|allegiance={{USA}}
|branch=[[File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg|25px]] [[United States Navy]]
|serviceyears=1889–1932
|rank=[[File:US-O10 insignia.svg|35px]] [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]]
|unit=
|commands=U.S. [[Battle Fleet]]
|battles=[[Spanish–American War]]<br />[[World War I]]
|awards=[[Navy Distinguished Service Medal|Distinguished Service Medal]]
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
[[Admiral]] '''Louis Rodolph de Steiguer''' (March 18, 1867 – April 20, 1947) was an officer in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]]. He was Commander of the [[Battle Fleet|U.S. Battle Fleet]] from 1927 to 1928.

==Early career==
Born in [[Athens, Ohio]], on March 18, 1867, to Judge Rodolph de Steiguer and Mary Carpenter de Steiguer, he was descended from Judge Silvanus Ames, a prominent citizen of southern Ohio.<ref name=ames>[http://www.progenealogist.com/athens/amestownship.htm Ames Township] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009023053/http://www.progenealogist.com/athens/amestownship.htm |date=2007-10-09 }}</ref> He was appointed to the [[United States Naval Academy|U.S. Naval Academy]] from Ohio in 1885.<ref name=register>{{citation
| title = Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and of the Marine Corps to January 1, 1903
| publisher = Government Printing Office
| place = Washington, D.C.
| year = 1903
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0M1eMpPtLgcC&q=%22de+steiguer%22+navy&pg=RA2-PA206
| author1 = Bureau Of Naval Personnel, United States
| author2 = Navy Dept, United States
| author3 = Bureau Of Navigation, United States }}</ref> Graduating in 1889, he served his naval cadet cruise aboard the new steel cruiser {{USS|Atlanta|1884|2}}, which sailed with the [[Squadron of Evolution]] to Europe, the Mediterranean and Brazil, before returning to New York in 1890.<ref name=wheeler>{{citation
| first = Gerald E. | last = Wheeler
| title = Admiral William Veazie Pratt, US Navy
| publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office (Naval History Division, Department of the Navy)
| place = Washington D.C.
| year = 1974
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=paggAAAAMAAJ&q=william+pratt+wheeler }}</ref>
He was commissioned ensign on July 1, 1891, and served in various assignments ashore and afloat, including tours aboard the {{USS|Vulcan|1884|2}} and aboard the {{USS|Montgomery|C-9|2}} during the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name=register1899>{{citation
| title = Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps to January 1, 1899
| publisher = Government Printing Office
| place = Washington D.C.
| year = 1899
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UNR4PX6MeSQC&q=steiguer+training&pg=PA24
| author1 = Bureau Of Naval Personnel, United States
| author2 = Navy Dept, United States
| author3 = Bureau Of Navigation, United States }}</ref> Promoted to lieutenant commander in 1905, he was Supervisor of New York Harbor from December 9, 1905, to August 30, 1906; was in charge of the Fifth Lighthouse District in 1911; commanded the {{USS|Panther|1889|2}} through 1913; was acting commandant of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard from September 25, 1914, to January 4, 1915; and commanded the battleship {{USS|Kearsarge|BB-5|2}} in 1916.<ref name=nns>[http://www.nnsy1.navy.mil/History/SYCOMM.HTM Norfolk Naval Shipyard former commanders] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302111840/http://www.nnsy1.navy.mil/History/SYCOMM.HTM |date=2008-03-02 }}</ref><ref name=heaton>{{citation
| first = Dean R. | last = Heaton
| title = Four Stars: The Super Stars of United States Military History
| place = Baltimore
| publisher = Gateway Press
| year = 1995 }}</ref>

[[File:Louis Rodolph de Steiguer.JPG|thumb|left|175px|Lieutenant Louis R. de Steiguer]]

During [[World War I]] he served as chief of staff of the Third Naval District before reporting as captain of the battleship {{USS|Arkansas|BB-33|2}}, which was stationed with the [[United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I)|American dreadnought squadron]] operating with the [[British Grand Fleet]].<ref name = page>{{citation
| title = The Victory At Sea XI: Transporting Two Million Americans to France
| first = Rear-Admiral William Sowden | last = Sims
| periodical = The World's Work
| volume = XL
| date = July 1920
| page = 305
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=smGvFSfe_FoC&q=%22lr+de+steiguer%22&pg=PA305
| publisher = Doubleday, Page & Co.
| issue = 3 }}</ref> After the war, de Steiguer was Hydrographer of the Navy from July 1921 to December 1921. Promoted to rear admiral, he was commander of the First Naval District, including the Portsmouth Navy Yard, from June 1923 to 1925.<ref name=first>[http://www.history.navy.mil/library/guides/rosters/first%20naval%20district.htm First Naval District commanders]</ref>

==Fleet command==
In June 1925, de Steiguer returned to sea as Commander Battleship Division Four (COMBATDIV 4), with flagship {{USS|New Mexico|BB-40|2}}, and the following summer he was promoted to temporary vice admiral as Commander Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet (COMBATDIVS), with flagship {{USS|West Virginia|BB-48|2}}.<ref name=reynolds>{{citation
| first = Clark G. | last = Reynolds
| title = Famous American Admirals
| place = Annapolis
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| year = 1978 }}</ref> On September 10, 1927, de Steiguer assumed the temporary rank of full admiral as Commander in Chief Battle Fleet, United States Fleet, with the flagship {{USS|California|BB-44|2}}.<ref name=annualreport>{{citation
| title = Annual Reports of the Navy Department: Report of the Secretary of the Navy for the Fiscal Year 1927
| publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office
| year = 1928
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Eb3EBxuJmbEC&q=%22September+10%22
| author1 = Navy Dept, United States
| author2 = Bureau Of Navigation, United States. Navy Dept }}</ref>

Following his tour as Battle Fleet commander, de Steiguer "fleeted down" to his permanent rank of rear admiral and served as commandant, [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]] from July 2, 1928, to March 18, 1931.<ref name=brooklyn>[http://www.columbia.edu/~jrs9/Navy-Yard-Org.html Brooklyn Navy Yard former commanders]</ref> He retired in 1932.

==Legacy==
[[File:de Steiguer Laning Nimitz.png|thumb|right|350px|de Steiguer (far left) as Commander in Chief, Battle Fleet, on inspection tour of Naval ROTC Unit at [[U.C. Berkeley]], 1927. CAPT Chester W. Nimitz, USN is at extreme right.]]

He was awarded the [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal|Distinguished Service Medal]] for his World War I service as chief of staff of the Third Naval District and as captain of the ''Arkansas''.<ref name=dsm>{{citation
| title = The Navy Book of Distinguished Service
| first = Harry R. | last = Stringer
| publisher = Fassett Publishing Company
| place = Washington, D.C.
| year = 1921
| page = 24
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qsoLAAAAYAAJ&q=desteiguer&pg=PA24 }}</ref> The oceanographic research ship {{Ship|USNS|De Steiguer|T-AGOR-12|6}} is named for him.<ref name=agor12>{{NVR url|id=AGOR12|title=De Steiguer (AGOR 12)}}</ref> He became a member of the [[Ohio University]] chapter of [[Phi Delta Theta]] in 1887.<ref name=speers>{{citation
| first = Leland Coppock | last = Speers
| title = The Fighting Phis
| periodical = The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta
| volume = XXXIV
| pages = 439–450
| date = May 1910
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uQUTAAAAIAAJ&q=%22steigeur%22+navy&pg=RA1-PA442
| publisher = Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.
| issue = 5 }}</ref>

De Steiguer was a legendary disciplinarian and martinet.<ref name=key>{{citation
| title = Admiral Jerauld Wright: Warrior Among Diplomats
| first = David M. Jr. | last = Key
| page = 88
| publisher = Sunflower University Press
| place = Manhattan, Kansas
| year = 2001 }}</ref> His flag secretary, future four-star admiral and [[Chief of Naval Operations|chief of naval operations]] [[Robert B. Carney]], described de Steiguer as a tremendously ambitious man with a "lousy disposition". Captains of other ships in the division would consult Carney to gauge de Steiguer's mood before approaching him. Carney recalled his own association with de Steiguer as fraught with "constant pressure, irascibility, criticism, and unpleasantness". Carney eventually marched into de Steiguer's cabin, snapped, "Admiral, I just want to tell you I think you are a goddamn rotten son of a bitch," and stormed out. After failing to retrieve Carney via Marine orderly, de Steiguer visited Carney's cabin in person, said, "Sonny, you've been working too hard. You and I are going ashore," and took Carney on an epic drinking binge. Carney ultimately concluded that his three years with de Steiguer had been a valuable experience, but not one he would have chosen to repeat.<ref name=taussig>{{citation
| first = Betty Carney | last = Taussig
| title = A Warrior for Freedom
| publisher = Sunflower University Press
| place = Manhattan, Kansas
| pages = 42–43
| year = 1995 }}</ref>

De Steiguer died in Washington, D.C., on April 20, 1947. He is buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]] with his wife, the former Katharine Constable.<ref name=heaton/> They had no children. His funeral instructions made two requests of his former flag secretary: that Carney lead the funeral cortege, and that he have de Steiguer buried with his hindquarters facing the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]]. Carney honored both requests.<ref name=taussig/>

==Dates of rank==
* [[Midshipman]] – March 17, 1885
* [[Passed Midshipman]] – 1889
* [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] – July 1, 1891
* [[Lieutenant (junior grade)]] – November 22, 1898
* [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] – March 3, 1899
* [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant-Commander]] – July 1, 1905
* [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] –
* [[Captain (United States O-6)|Captain]] –
* [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] –
* [[Vice admiral (United States)|Vice Admiral]] – summer 1926
* [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] – September 10, 1927

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box
| before=[[Richard H. Jackson]]
| title=Commander in Chief, [[Battle Fleet]], [[United States Fleet]]
| after=[[William V. Pratt]]
| years=September 10, 1927 – June 26, 1928}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiguer, Louis R.}}
[[Category:United States Navy admirals]]
[[Category:United States Naval Academy alumni]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:von Steiger family|Louis]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Ohio]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of the Spanish–American War]]
[[Category:Phi Delta Theta members]]