USS Monaghan (DD-354)

John Robert Monaghan -- born on 26 March 1873 in Chawelah, Wash. -- to James and Margaret (McCool) Monaghan. His parents desired to give him superior educational advantages under the auspices of the church to which they belonged, but the facilities for Catholic instruction proved limited in Washington, so that the boy at the age of 11 matriculated at the school of the Christian Brothers -- St. Joseph Academy at Oakland, Calif. He attended that school and also another brothers’ school in Portland, Ore., until the Jesuit Fathers established Gonzaga College in Spokane, Wash., in 1887.

Monaghan then enrolled as one of the first 18 students and after four years schooling in that institution, he took the examination held in Spokane in 1891 for the Military Academy at West Point and the Naval Academy at Annapolis, receiving the highest percentage in each of these examinations, so that he was entitled to make his choice of appointments. Although he originally hoped to attend West Point, he generously waived that preference in favor of the next applicant, the son of an old Army officer who heartily desired the appointment. Monaghan received his appointment to the Naval Academy on 7 September 1891. Classmates wrote “I've got a drop of the Irish blood in me mesilf,” as a nod to his ancestry, and he played baseball on both the class team (1892, 1893, and 1894), and on the Academy nine (1892 and 1894), playing right field during the 1894 season. He graduated in June 1895, the first from the state of Washington to graduate from the Naval Academy.

As a passed midshipman he served on board Olympia (Cruiser No. 6), flagship of the Asiatic Station. He was promoted to ensign in July 1897 and transferred to monitor Monadnock and gunboat Alert . He then served in Philadelphia (Cruiser No. 4), flagship of the Pacific Station, in July 1898.

Continue to the full service history →About 10,795 words

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Monaghan II (DD-354)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.