Captain Adolphus Andrews
Posted by Gabe Shuffield on July 23, 2024
Battleship Texas had 28 commanding officers – “captains” – over her career in the Navy. Captain Adolphus Andrews was the first of these men who was actually from the state of Texas. Born in Galveston, Texas on October 7th, 1879, raised in Fort Worth, and with a year at the University of Texas before his appointment to the Naval Academy, Captain Andrews was a Texan through and through.
Adolphus Andrews graduated from the Naval Academy in 1901, then served two years at sea to earn his commission in 1903 on USS Maine (Battleship No. 10). After his commissioning, Ensign Andrews served on the Secretary of the Navy’s yacht, USS Dolphin (an old gunboat commissioned 1885) until 1906. The press at the time reported rumors that Andrews had run afoul of Senator Stephen B. Elkins of West Virginia while courting his daughter, leading to his reassignment to the captured Spanish gunboat USS Villalobos in East Asia.
Lieutenant Andrews spent 1908 – 1910 on shore duty, including 10 months in his home state at the Navy Recruiting Station in Dallas. Andrews was in charge of a naval exhibit for the 25th Texas State Fair showcasing models of experimental 16” guns, torpedoes, and “the finest vessels in the navy”. Moving pictures of the North Atlantic squadron executing maneuvers made the exhibit “realistic in the extreme”, according to a Navy press release.
After a good showing at the State Fair, Andrews was assigned as the executive officer on USS Mayflower, the presidential yacht for President Taft. Eight months later he returned to shore duty for three years at the Naval Academy, then finally made his return to battleships in 1914. Andrews served as gunnery officer on USS Michigan and USS Utah, then became a plank owner (original crew of a newly commissioned ship) on USS Oklahoma as her navigator and (now Commander Andrews) became a plank owner again on USS Mississippi as her first executive officer, where he served most of World War One.
Andrews held a string of interesting assignments after WWI, including Naval Aide to Prince Axel of Denmark during his months-long visit to the United States in 1918, and Naval Aide to President Harding from 1922 until his death in 1923, then President Coolidge until 1926. He became a close associate of Harding and Coolidge – Captain Andrews helped to plan and organize the funeral of President Harding, attended to Mr. and Mrs. Coolidge during the funeral of their son, Calvin Coolidge, Jr., and frequently attended ceremonial and social functions with both presidents.
In 1926 and 1927, Captain Andrews was sent to represent the United States in the Geneva Naval Conference. The Geneva Naval Conference sought to limit the construction of cruisers and other ships besides battleships, but failed due to mistrust between the United States and Britain and the absence of France and Italy from the conference.
On July 9th, 1929, Captain Andrews took command of Battleship Texas. At this time, Texas served as flagship to Admiral William V. Pratt, Commander-in-Chief, US Fleet (CINCUS). Commanding a battleship has always been a prestigious position in the Navy, but the bar is certainly higher when that ship is the flagship of the entire US Fleet.
In January 1930, Admiral Pratt temporarily left Battleship Texas to assist in negotiations at the London Naval Conference – largely a second attempt at the Geneva Naval Conference. This time a deal was struck and the US Senate was asked to ratify the London Naval Treaty. In May, while still commanding Battleship Texas, Captain Andrews was called before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to answer questions on technical aspects of the treaty alongside Navy Brass. The treaty was contentious at the time but was ultimately ratified.
Battleship Texas was Captain Andrews’ last command before being promoted to Rear Admiral – a fitting capstone on this phase of this Texan’s Navy career. Rear Admiral Andrews held various commands in the 1930s, then in March 1941 served as Commander of the North Atlantic Naval Coastal Frontier. In this command he oversaw much of the Neutrality Patrol operations, including the New York – Newfoundland – Iceland route that Battleship Texas frequented. In February 1942, several Naval Coastal Frontiers were combined into the Eastern Sea Frontier, which then Vice Admiral Andrews commanded. Vice Admiral Andrews become a major player in the Battle of the Atlantic, now responsible for keeping the Atlantic coast free of German submarines from Newfoundland to Florida. In November 1943 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, with the following citation:
For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service to the Government of the United States in a position of great responsibility as Commander Eastern Sea Frontier. During a period of intense enemy submarine activities, Vice Admiral Andrews displayed the highest qualities of leadership, judgment, and planning, and initiated and put into effect the anti-submarine organization of this Sea Frontier which proved to be highly effective in driving German submarines from our coastal waters and which became the model for the anti-submarine organization of other sea frontiers.
Vice Admiral Andrews continued serving on active duty until his retirement in the summer of 1945. Andrews returned to his home state of Texas, where he lived until his passing in June 1948.
Acknowledgements
This article drew heavily from The Navy Department Library’s Modern Biographical Files for basic information regarding Captain Andrew’s service history. Thank you to The Navy Department Library and Naval History & Heritage Command for the collection and publication of these biographies.