USS Bernadou

John Baptiste Bernadou, born on 14 November 1858 in Philadelphia, was appointed to the Naval Academy on 12 September 1876 and graduated with the class of 1880. After a short tour of shore duty at Claymont, Del., he served at sea in the screw sloop Kearsarge until 1882. Warranted midshipman on 2 June of that year, he was assigned to the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., and was commissioned ensign (junior grade) on 3 March 1883. Between 1883 and 1885, Bernadou served on special duty in Korea. He was one of 18 naval officers serving with the Smithsonian Institution. His travels to Korea were to investigate that country's economic and strategic potential. On 26 June 1884, he was promoted to ensign.

Upon returning to the United States, Bernadou was assigned to the recently revitalized Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). There, he went to work studying world economic conditions with a particular emphasis on the world's supply of nickel ore. The importance of that commodity resulted from the Navy's adoption of nickel-processed steel for its new ship construction. He also collected information on foreign seaports, assisting in the writing of a book on international ports and coaling stations. His facility with foreign languages put him in an ideal position to translate articles of value to ONI from French, German, Russian, Swedish, Spanish, and other languages.

Between February 1891 and May 1893, he served in the cruiser Newark . On 1 July 1892, he was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade). He took a leave of absence because of illness from May to July 1893 and then returned to sea in Bennington (Gunboat No. 4). In that warship, he made a cruise to European and Mediterranean waters, there transferring to the protected cruiser Chicago . In September 1894, Bernadou began three years of service at the Torpedo Station located at Newport, R.I. While in that assignment, he was promoted to lieutenant in June 1896. In December of 1897, he went to the Norfolk Navy Yard where he put Winslow (Torpedo Boat No. 5) into commission on the 29th as her first commanding officer.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Bernadou (Destroyer No. 153)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.