Spencer S. Wood

Rear Admiral Spencer Shepard Wood (7 August 1861 – 30 July 1940) was a United States Navy officer. His career included service in the Spanish–American War and World War I, command of battleships and cruisers, and duty as an aide to a number of senior naval leaders.

Early life Wood was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 7 August 1861. His family moved to New York City—politically separate from Brooklyn at the time—while he was an infant, and he lived there until the age of 11. He then moved with his grandparents to Flushing, New York, where he attended the Flushing Institute.

In June 1877, Wood applied to take the competitive examination for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, but was turned away for being too young. In 1878, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, from the 1st Congressional District of New York by Congressman James W. Covert. He passed the entrance examination and entered the Naval Academy as a cadet midshipman on 28 June 1878.

Naval career

1882–1898 Wood graduated from the Naval Academy second in his class in 1882. His first assignment was aboard the sloop-of-war at Hampton Roads, Virginia. After about a year, he transferred in 1883 to duty as an aide on the staff of Rear Admiral George H. Cooper, commander of the Home Squadron, aboard the screw frigate , during which duty he accompanied Cooper on a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, to attend the unveiling of a statue of George Washington there. and by the beginning of 1904 he had transferred to the protected cruiser . Leaving that duty in October 1904, he became aide to Admiral of the Navy George Dewey on 20 October 1904, and served in that capacity until 1908. He took command of the armored cruiser USS New York on 1 April 1908 and, after leaving her in March 1910, became a member and the secretary of the General Board of the United States Navy on 5 March 1910. In 1912, he was the plaintiff in a case before the United States Supreme Court, Spencer Wood v. United States, over pay he believed was owed to him while serving as Deweys aide; the court ruled against him on 1 April 1912.

Wood took command of the battleship on 20 February 1912. After leaving her in January 1914, he attended the Naval War College, from which he graduated in late 1914. He again became a member of the General Board of the United States Navy on 28 December 1914, serving in that capacity until 1917.

World War I After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Wood became the second commanding officer of the battleship in the United States Atlantic Fleet on 6 June 1917. On 24 December 1917, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels announced the promotion of twelve captains to a temporary rank of rear admiral for World War I service, and Wood was among them. He remained aboard Oklahoma until 1 February 1918, involved primarily in the training of her crew and a refit of the ship, and received the Navy Cross for "exceptionally meritorious service" while in command of her. After leaving Oklahoma, he was commandant of the First Naval District through the end of the war in November 1918 and into 1919.

Later career During his tour in the First Naval District, the Second Naval District was abolished on 15 March 1919 and his First Naval District split the defunct districts responsibilities with the Third Naval District. At the time, the Newport sex scandal involving homosexual contact between U.S. Navy personnel of the former Second Naval District and civilians in Newport, Rhode Island, had arisen, and he ordered a thorough investigation of the situation.

In April 1919, Wood became the commander of the United States Pacific Fleets Cruiser Division 1 with the protected cruiser USS Chicago as his flagship, and in 1920 and 1921 he commanded the division during its deployment to waters off Honduras to protect American interests there.

Personal life Wood married the former Margaretta Fryer in June 1895. They were survived by two daughters, Margaretta Wood (Potter) and Anne Elizabeth Wood, who married the newspaper, radio, and television journalist Joseph C. Harsch in 1932.

In 1921, Wood bought the John Stoddert Haw House in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. After his death, it passed to Anne Elizabeth Wood Harsch in 1941.

He was buried with his wife at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

Commemoration In 1918, U.S. Navy Chief Yeoman (F) Daisy May Pratt Erd, stationed at First Naval District headquarters under Woods command, published a song, the "Rear Admiral Wood One-Step," she had composed in Woods honor. She contributed all profits from sales of the sheet music to the Navy Relief Society.

Woods papers are held at the U.S. Navys Naval History and Heritage Command.

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