Henry Joseph Ziegemeier

Background

Ziegemeier was born on March 27, 1869 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph and Regina (Meyer) Ziegemeier. His parents subsequently moved to Canton, Ohio, where he spent most of his childhood.

Education

Ziegemeier entered the United States Naval Academy on May 21, 1886, and was graduated in 1890.

Career

Ziegemeier served in several ships chiefly in the Pacific. He was made an ensign, July 1, 1892, and was at the torpedo station, Newport, Rhode Island, from October 1895 to July 1897. He then joined the gunboat Annapolis and served in her on blockade and convoy duty during the Spanish-American War, commanding the first and second division guns in the actions at Baracoa and Port Nipe Bay, Cuba, on July 15 and July 21, 1898, and participating also in the occupation of Ponce, Puerto Rico, on July 28. He was made lieutenant, March 3, 1899. After a year in the battleship Indiana, he was at the Naval Academy from 1900 to 1902 as an instructor in modern languages, and again from 1905 to 1908 as an instructor in seamanship. In the intervening period he was navigator in the Hartford, and from 1908 to 1911 navigator and subsequently executive in the West Virginia. Upon his promotion to the rank of commander, March 3, 1911, he was assigned to duty with the General Board of the navy, and was its secretary from February 1912 to July 1913. He then commanded successively the Annapolis and the Denver, and was in charge of the torpedo flotilla of the Pacific Fleet from June to September 1915. After another two years as secretary of the General Board, with promotion to the rank of captain on August 29, 1916, he commanded the battleship Virginia during the World War from June 1917 to July 18, 1919. In the Virginia he operated with the Atlantic Fleet until the summer of 1918, and thereafter had command of convoys taking American troops to France and returning with them after the armistice. Following the war he had charge in 1919-1921 of the organization and training of the Naval Reserve Force. He commanded the new battleship California in 1921-1922, and, after promotion to the rank of rear admiral in June 1922, was director of naval communications until May 1923. He was then commandant of the Norfolk navy yard until January 1925; commander of Battleship Division 3, Battle Fleet, until June 1927; and after five months in charge of the Division of Fleet Training at Washington, was, from November 1927 to June 1928, commandant of the 9th Naval District and the Great Lakes Training Station. Thereafter he was commandant of the 13th Naval District and the Puget Sound navy yard. His death was the result of a sudden heart attack during a golf game. His funeral was at the navy yard in Bremerton, Washington, and his burial in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.

Achievements

• Ziegemeier was a naval officer, known for his service during several battles.

Connections

Ziegemeier was married first, on September 18, 1895, to Ida Wernet of Canton, Ohio, who died in 1915, and second, on November 16, 1921, to Jewel Ridings of Los Angeles, by whom he had one daughter. His second wife survived him.

Father:

Joseph Ziegemeier

Mother:

Regina Meyer

Spouse:

Jewel Ridings

Spouse:

Ida Wernet

References

• The Records Living Officers U. S. Navy and Marine Corps: With Naval Operations During the Rebellion of 1861-5, A List of the Ships and Officers Participating, in the Great Battles (Classic Reprint)