Career
McNair served as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy from 1898 to 1900. McNair, born 13 January 1839 at Abington, Pennsylvania, was appointed midshipman 21 December 1853, graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1857. He served on the Atlantic blockade stations and Mississippi River patrols during the American Civil War, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral in July 1898.
Rear Admiral McNair died at Washington, District of Columbia, 28 November 1900, while awaiting orders.
R.Adm. 1 doubles ranking in 1976. In 1943, the destroyer United States Ship McNair (Doctor of Divinity-679) was named in honor of Rear Admiral McNair.
