The Brave Commander of the Olympia No More.
DIES WHILE ON HIS WAY HOME
The Fatality Probably Results From an Injury Received at Manila—No Details Known—He Was Born In Indiana, Appointed From Michigan and Served With Farragut.
Capt. Charles V. Gridley, the commander of the Olympia, Admiral Dewey’s flagship, in the Manila engagement, is dead.
Secretary Long yesterday received the following telegram from Paymaster William M. Galt, who is returning to Washington at the end of his term:
“Kobe, Japan, June 4, 1898”
“Secretary of the Navy:
“Capt. Gridley died today. Remains accompany me on Coptic. “GALT.”
Capt. Gridley was relieved from duty as commander of the Olympia last week by order of an examining board, and was on his way to his home at Erie, Pa., when he died.
The department knows nothing further of his death than is given in the telegram from Paymaster Galt.
Capt. Gridley was born at Logansport, Ind., November 21, 1844, and before he was a year old his parents removed to Michigan, from which State he was appointed a cadet to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., when he was fifteen years of age. Before graduating, he secured an appointment as ensign under Commodore Farragut, and served with him during the late Civil War in the Gulf Squadron at Mobile and New Orleans. During that war he made an excellent record for bravery and meritorious service, which was rewarded by frequent promotions till he reached the high rank which he held at the time of the accident which resulted in his death. Very soon after the close of the Civil War, Capt. Gridley was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander and was transferred to the old Brooklyn, which was attached to the Brazilian Squadron.
From the Brooklyn Capt. Gridley was transferred to the Kearsarge. He was promoted in 1868 and served during the early seventies on the Monongahela, and for the following four years at the Naval Academy, during which time he served on the practice ship Constellation. He was on the Trenton for two years, commanded the Jamestown and Portsmouth and was senior officer of the cruising training squadron during 1886. He commanded the Marion and later the Olympia. He was made a captain in March, 1897, which rank he held at the time of his death.
Two-thirds of his time since 1865 has been spent at sea, but for a time he was assigned to the torpedo station and has since made himself most valuable to the department by his study of torpedoes. His last post before being assigned to the Asiatic squadron was Inspector of lighthouses at Buffalo.
The telegraphic stories of the battle of Manila mentioned one incident relating to Capt. Gridley. He wished to command the Olympia from the quarterdeck, and began the battle in this position. Admiral Dewey, however, refused to permit it, saying that it would be wrong for both the commander of the fleet and the commander of the ship to expose themselves in this way to death.
Capt. Gridley leaves a wife and three children, a son and two daughters, who reside at the family homestead in Erie, Pa. His mother, Mrs. Ann E. Gridley and his brother, Lucius E. Gridley, reside in this city at No. 1511 T Street. His mother has expressed a desire that the remains of her son be brought to Washington and interred at Arlington Cemetery, but nothing definite will be arranged until Capt. Gridley’s wife is heard from. Mrs. Gridley is on her way to San Francisco.
The Times, Washington, DC, June 6, 1898