Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr.

Thomas Oliver Selfridge Jr. (February 6, 1836 – February 4, 1924), son of Rear Admiral Thomas O. Selfridge, was an officer in the United States Navy. Early life Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Selfridge graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1854. He was the first officer to receive a diploma from the Academy. Civil War At the beginning of the American Civil War, he helped with efforts to destroy the untenable Norfolk Navy Yard; and he then escaped from that burning and beleaguered base in the USS Cumberland, helping to save the sloop of war for the Union Navy. He participated in the capture of the Hatteras forts and was on board Cumberland on 8 March 1862 when she was sunk by Confederate ironclad, CSS Virginia. He then briefly commanded USS Monitor, after Lieutenant John L. Worden was wounded; and then commanded the USS Alligator, an experimental submarine, in testing operations based at the Washington Navy Yard. In August, he joined the Mississippi Squadron, and subsequently commanded the USS Cairo and the USS Conestoga when those ships were sunk in action. Late in the war, he returned to the Atlantic where he commanded the USS Huron in the attacks on Fort Fisher; and he participated in the ensuing bombardment of Fort Anderson and the capture of Wilmington, North Carolina.