Background
Colby Mitchell Chester was born on February 29, 1844 in New London, Connecticut, United States. He was the son of Melville and Frances E. (Harris) Chester and a descendant of Capt. Samuel Chester, who settled in Connecticut about 1663.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ The Panama Canal reprint Colby Mitchell Chester National Geographic Society, 1905 History; Latin America; Central America; Canals; History / Latin America / Central America; Panama Canal (Panama); Technology & Engineering / Hydraulics
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Colby Mitchell Chester was born on February 29, 1844 in New London, Connecticut, United States. He was the son of Melville and Frances E. (Harris) Chester and a descendant of Capt. Samuel Chester, who settled in Connecticut about 1663.
He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1863.
He served as an ensign in the Richmond at the battle of Mobile Bay and capture of Fort Morgan, August 4, 5, 1864, and, temporarily transferred to the monitor Kickapoo, in operations leading to the capture of Mobile, April 12, 1865. Promoted lieutenant commander in March 1868, he was executive in the Alaska, Pacific Squadron, 1869-73, and had charge of launches which were fired on June 2, 1871, while surveying in the Salee River, Korea. From 1874 to 1877 he was on duty at the Naval Academy, followed by several years in the Coast Survey and Hydrographic Office. He returned to sea in command of the Galena, 1885-88, in which he rendered aid to the British ship Historian, stranded in December 1885 off the Magdalena River, Colombia. The service was acknowledged by thanks from the British Government and the gift of a silver set from the owners. Off St. Andrew's Island, West Indies, the Galena also seized the filibustering steamer City of Mexico. Chester served on the naval board which in 1889 selected the site of the Puget Sound navy yard, and from 1891 to 1894 he was commandant of midshipmen at the Naval Academy. He then commanded the Richmond, receiving ship at Philadelphia. In command of the cruiser Cincinnati, he was senior officer on the South Atlantic Station, 1897-98, and active in the Spanish War on the Cuban blockade and in the naval forces at the occupation of Puerto Rico. When in 1900 he was sent to Constantinople to support an American damage claim, he first became interested in American trade opportunities in the Near East. From 1902 until his retirement in 1906 he was superintendent of the Naval Observatory. He was made rear admiral in 1903 and commanded the special service squadron to observe the solar eclipse of 1905. In May-June 1908, with authorization from President Theodore Roosevelt through the State Department, and support from the New York Chamber of Commerce, Chester visited Turkey in the interests of American trade. His proposals were favorably received by the Sultan and later by the Young Turks, and after preliminary explorations a contract was drawn up in 1911 for American construction of over 2, 000 miles of railway in eastern Anatolia, with adjacent oil and mineral rights covering an area of about 96, 000 square miles. Final confirmation was suspended by the Turco-Italian War and Turkish involvement in the Balkan conflicts and the World War. Again in March 1922 Chester visited Turkey with his son, Commander Arthur T. Chester, and secured from the Turkish National Assembly, August 9, 1922, a contract for his Ottoman-American Development Company providing for railway construction and oil and mineral concessions on an even greater scale. These, however, were in conflict with French and British claims. At the Lausanne Conference of 1923 Turkey lost sovereignty over areas in the Mosul district and elsewhere covered by the Chester grant. Hence American capital was not forthcoming and the concession lapsed, but for a considerable period the "Chester Claims" received wide publicity in connection with American agitation against "dollar diplomacy" and opposition to a post-Lausanne American treaty with the Turks. During the World War Chester served as professor of naval science at Yale University and supervisor of naval units at Yale and Brown. Of keenly intellectual bent, and an effective writer and public speaker, he extended his range of interests beyond strictly professional problems to matters of international trade, a transisthmian canal, the advancement of naval aviation, and to many other fields, suggested by magazine articles such as "The Scientific Work of the United States Navy" (Cassier's Magazine, May 1904), "Diplomacy of the Quarterdeck, " which was a strong defense of the Roosevelt policy in Panama (American Journal of International Law, July 1914), "The True Story of the Flag" (Yale Review, July 1918), and "Turkey Reinterpreted" (Current History, September 1922). He was a member of the council of the National Geographic Society and of committees of that society which verified Peary's attainment of the North Pole and Byrd's explorations in the Antarctic. Though in his last years the oldest naval officer of his rank, he retained his physical and mental strength almost to the end. His death occurred at Rye, New York. His funeral was at St. John's Episcopal Church, Washington, and his burial in Arlington.
(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)
National Geographic Society
Chester was married on November 25, 1873, to Melancia Antoinette Tremaine of Brooklyn, New York, and had two sons, Arthur Tremaine and Colby Mitchell, Jr.
