Biography
Born in New York, he was the grandson of Jacob Crowninshield (appointed Navy secretary under President Jefferson, but who died before taking up the office), and grandnephew of George Crowninshield Jr. (adventuring owner of Cleopatra's Barge, first yacht to cross the Atlantic) and Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, United States Secretary of the Navy. Some sources give his first name as Alton.
Arent graduated from the United States Naval Academy on 28 May 1863 and immediately went into action in the American Civil War, participating in the assault on Fort Fisher while serving on the steam sloop Ticonderoga.
After the war, he rose steadily through the ranks, becoming lieutenant on 10 November 1866, and commander on 25 March 1880.
He married Mary Bradford (1844-1913), daughter of the writer Sarah Hopkins Bradford, in Dresden, Germany on July 27, 1870. His wife became a published writer herself.
He commanded the training ship Portsmouth from 1878 to 1881, the school ship St. Mary's of the New York Nautical School from 1887 to 1891, and the sloop-of-war Kearsarge from February 1892 to November 1893.
Promoted to captain on 21 July 1894, he took command of the new battleship Maine at her commissioning in 1895, leaving in 1897 to become chief of the Bureau of Navigation with the rank of Rear Admiral.
During the 1898 Spanish-American War, Crowninshield was appointed to the Naval War Board, and had a large part in the United States Naval operations planning that resulted in resounding victories like the Battle of Manila Bay.
Rear Admiral Crowninshield died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 27 May 1908, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: Arent S. Crowninshield
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