Franklin J. Drake – Rear Admiral, United States Navy

REAR ADMIRAL DRAKE DIES AT 84 YEARS
One of Few Surviving Officer of Frigate Constitution
Took Part in Assaults at Seoul in 1875

WASHINGTON, January 30, 1929 – Rear Admiral Franklin J. Drake, retired, died here tonight at his home after a short illness.  He was one of the few surviving officers who served on the old American frigate Constitution.

He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1868 and served continuously until he retired in 1906.  From 1913 to 1915 he was technical expert of the Hague Tribunal.

He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Admiral Drake saw his first sea service in 1863 when he searched for Confederate privateers with the Marion of the North Atlantic Squadron.  On the Benicia in 1875 he took part in the assault by land forces on the Corean forts at Seoul, and won commendation for his conduct in battle.  He led a surveying expedition into Liberia in 1879 and made treaties with the native chiefs on the Congo the following year.

As executive officer of the battleship Oregon from June 1896 to September 1897, Captain Drake commissioned and organized the crew of that vessel and developed the fighting efficiency which became known to the world when the Oregon made its famous trip from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the war with Spain.

Later he was inspector of ordnance at the Mare Island Navy Yard and inspector of manufacture of powder, his work bringing him a letter of thanks from Commodore Dewey for the high quality of ammunition supplied to the fleet.

He was descendant of Sir Barnard Drake, Admiral of the British Navy in 1585.

DRAKE, FRANKLIN J
REAR ADML USN RET

  • DATE OF DEATH: 01/30/1929
  • BURIED AT:   SITE LOT 1917
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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