Early Career
Born in Springfield, Ohio to Orson Williams and Pamela Floyd, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1884 and was ordered to the sloop USS Hartford, flagship of the Pacific Squadron. He then served aboard the Coast Survey schooner Eagre from 1886 to 1887, aboard the sloop Ossipee patrolling the Gulf of Saint Lawrence from 1887 to 1889, and as instructor in mathematics at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1889 to 1893. From 1893 to 1896, he served as watch officer aboard the protected cruiser Charleston, which protected American interests and shipping in South America during the Brazilian Revolution and evacuated missionaries from the coast of China during the Sino-Japanese War. He returned to the Academy as an instructor of higher mathematics from 1896 to 1898.
During the Spanish-American War, he commanded the newly commissioned gunboat Gwin, which participated in the blockade of Cuba as a dispatch vessel. He was watch officer aboard the unarmored cruiser Marblehead from 1899 to 1900 and aboard the battleship Iowa from 1900 to 1901. He participated in a preliminary hydrographic survey of Midway Island for a cable station in 1901. From 1901 to 1903, he was an instructor of navigation at the Academy, then served as executive officer of the hospital ship Solace, as executive officer of the monitor Monterey, and as navigator of the training ship Prairie during 1903 and 1904. He was executive officer of Iowa from 1904 to 1905, navigator of the battleship Massachusetts in 1905, and executive officer of Iowa again from 1905 to 1907. He was a member of the Board of Inspection and Survey from 1911 to 1912.
He commanded the battleship Rhode Island from 1912 to 1915, including operations during the Mexican Campaign of 1914. During World War I, he served as chief of staff of the Battleship Force, Atlantic Fleet; as commander of Battleship Division 8, Atlantic Fleet; and as commander of Light Cruiser Division 1, Pacific Fleet, on detached duty in the South Atlantic. He served briefly as chief of staff of the Naval War College early in 1919, but was transferred in June to command Battleship Squadron 4, Pacific Fleet.
After the war, he reported to the Navy Department to organize the Office of War Plans as its first director. He was President of the Naval War College from November 3, 1922 to September 5, 1925.
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