James was born on April 26, 1814 in Canandaigua, New York, United States. His father, Elisha Beebe Strong, first judge of common pleas of Monroe County, New York, was descended from John Strong who came to New England with his father, John, in 1630, and died in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1698; his mother was Dolly Goodwin, daughter of Captain James Hooker, of Windsor.
In 1827 Strong entered the seminary at Chittenango, New York, the "Polytechny, " and on February 2, 1829, was appointed a midshipman in the navy. No berth being available for him, he continued his studies in the "Polytechny".
On March 18, 1831, he joined the U. S. S. Lexington, Commander Silas Duncan. The following winter he participated in an expedition which broke up an establishment on the Falkland Islands maintained by one Louis Vernet, who had confiscated three American ships and held their crews. Since Vernet acted under Argentinian authority, the affair caused an international imbroglio. Strong's service from that time until the Civil War was uneventful.
On March 1, 1861, he was given command of the Mohawk and was ordered to the Gulf of Mexico, where he was stationed for a year. In 1862 he commanded the steamer Flag in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and the following year the Monongahela.
In October 1863, with the Monongahela, Owasco, and Virginia under his command, he convoyed an expedition of nine thousand men under General Nathaniel P. Banks to the mouth of the Rio Grande. Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Aransas Pass, and Fort Esperanza at Pass Cavallo were captured.
On November 17 he landed troops at Mustang Island, and shelled a shore battery which quickly surrendered. The Monongahela under Strong was in the attacking column at Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864, and after the passage of Fort Morgan, Commander Strong sheered out of line without orders and ordered full speed ahead for the Confederate ram Tennessee, striking her a glancing blow and pouring a full broadside of 11-inch shot into her, which had but little effect. On signal from Farragut he rammed her a second time and was about to strike her again when the Tennessee surrendered.
The iron prow and cutwater of the Monongahela were carried away by the force of the collisions, and she was pierced twice by shells from the Tennessee. Strong's Civil War record was admirable, his conduct of the Banks expedition eliciting high praise from Banks himself, and from Major-General Dana.
His plucky attack on the Tennessee kept her from destroying the weaker vessels of the Union fleet, and materially aided in compelling her surrender. He was mentioned favorably in Admiral Farragut's report of the battle.
After the war Strong served for two years as inspector of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and in 1868-69 commanded the steam-sloop Canandaigua in the European Squadron. He was lighthouse inspector from 1871 to 1873, and the following year was in command of the South Atlantic Station. He was commissioned rear admiral on September 25, 1873, and was retired on April 25, 1876.
He died in Columbia, South Carolina, on 28 November 1882.
James Hooker Strong was the first to ram the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee at the Battle of Mobile Bay and received high commendation for his initiative and valor, and a promotion to captain. Strong also served at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1866 and 1867, and later commanded Canandaigua in the Mediterranean Squadron in 1869 and 1870. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1873 and served as Commander-in-Chief of the South Atlantic Squadron from 1873 to 1875.
He married Maria Louisa Von Cowenhoven of Long Island in 1844, by whom he had a daughter and a son who became a naval officer.
