Background
William Hannum Grubb Bullard was the son of Orson Flagg and Rebecca Ann (Huston) Bullard, was born on December 6, 1866 in Media, Pennsylvania.
William Hannum Grubb Bullard was the son of Orson Flagg and Rebecca Ann (Huston) Bullard, was born on December 6, 1866 in Media, Pennsylvania.
William graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1886.
In the Spanish-American War he served on the U. S. S. Columbia, and in 1905-06 and 1906-07 on the U. S. S. Maine, the first year as navigator and then as executive officer. During the following four years he was on duty at the Naval Academy, where he reorganized the department of electrical engineering, in which subject he was considered an expert. His Naval Electricians' Test and Hand Book, published in 1904, proved so useful that it has been reissued in several editions.
In 1911 and 1912 he was commandant of the naval station at San Francisco, and from 1912 to 1916 superintendent of the naval radio service. He commanded the battleship Arkansas, 1916-18, his ship forming part of the American division of the British Grand Fleet in the World War. Later he commanded the American forces in the Eastern Mediterranean, and became a member of the Inter-Allied Commission to put into effect the naval terms of the armistice with Austria-Hungary, effecting, with notable tact and forbearance, the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian fleet.
In January and August 1919, he was a member of the Inter-Allied conference on radio, and from 1919 to 1921 served as director of communications in the Navy Department.
He commanded the Yangtze Patrol Force, United States Asiatic Fleet, in 1921-22, and retired September 30, 1922. Bullard has, with some show of justice, been called "the father of American radio, " and there can be no doubt that his extraordinary knowledge of this subject, added to his firm stand for his country's rights, preserved to the United States her prestige in this field. At his death he was chairman of the Federal Radio Commission.
Rear Admiral Bullard retired in 1922 and died in Washington, D. C. , 24 November 1927.
Throughout the service William Bullard was known for his accomplishments, his poise of mind, and his invariable courtesy. At the beginning of 1910s he commanded the battleships Arkansas, 1916-18, later he commanded the American forces in the Eastern Mediterranean, and became a member of the Inter-Allied Commission. The decisive turning point of Bullard's career came in 1919, when, by his persistence and the convincing presentation of his views, he prevented the sale to foreign interests of the patent rights in the Alexanderson alternator. At the same time he counseled the formation of an independent company which developed into the Radio Corporation of America, the foremost body of the kind in the world. He also organized the Yangtze Patrol force on August 5, 1921 under Rear Admiral Bullard as part of the Asiatic Fleet.
He was married to Beirne Saunders of Baltimore on October 30, 1889, and had one son, a naval officer.
1834–189
unknown–1938
1869–1957
1865–1904
1866–1954
1890–1964
1871–1892
1834–1906
