Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers was born on 4 November 1819 in Brooklyn, NY.

Rodgers graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1833 and distinguished himself during the Mexican-American War in the Siege of Vera Cruz in March 1847.

He was promoted to Commander in 1861 and, in the Civil War he served as Captain in command of the USS Wabash at the Battle of Port Royal and helped in the capture of Fort Pulaski on 10 April 1862.

He was promoted to Captain in 1866, Commodore in 1870 and Rear Admiral in 1874. He was appointed as the eighth Superintendent of the Naval Academy serving from 1874-78 and as its eleventh Superintendent in 1881. During his tenure as Superintendent, he established the first curriculum in Mechanical Engineering in the U.S. Navy. Admiral Rodgers' administration received international recognition and was cited as the "best system of education in the U.S." 

Personal

Rodgers married Julia Slidell on 9 July 1845.

Death and Burial

Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers died on 8 January 1892 in Washington, DC. He is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, MD.