Aaron Ward

Rear Admiral Aaron Ward (October 10, 1851 – July 5, 1918) was an officer in the United States Navy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He served during the Spanish–American War.

Early years Aaron Ward was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Brigadier General Ward B. Burnett who had served as the colonel of 2nd New York Volunteers during the Mexican War and also served as a brigadier general in the New York militia during the Civil War. Ward took the name of his maternal grandfather Major General Aaron Ward of the New York Militia.

Ward entered the United States Naval Academy with the rank of midshipman on September 28, 1867, graduating on June 6, 1871.

Career He was ordered to the steam frigate California on the Pacific Squadron,

He was a member of the General Society of Colonial Wars and a hereditary member of the Aztec Club of 1847.

Death Admiral Ward died on July 5, 1918, and is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York City. His two daughters who reached maturity were artist Hilda Ward and Edna Ward Capps the wife of Rear Admiral Washington Lee Capps.

Awards Sampson Medal Spanish Campaign Medal Philippine Campaign Medal Medal of Merit (Austria-Hungary)

Legacy Three United States Navy ships have been named after Admiral Aaron Ward -

, served between 1919 and 1940 and then became HMS Castleton. , served between 1942 and her sinking by Japanese bombers in 1943. , was a destroyer minelayer that served in 1944 and 1945.