John A. B. Dahlgren

Amerikansk kontreadmiral som kæmpede for Nordstaterne.

• Charleston III, 1863

Nordamerikansk admiral, søn af en svensk konsul i Philadelphia; var 1845-61 ansat ved Søartilleridepartementet i Washington og opfandt der en forbedret konstruktion af bombekanoner. Blev under Borgerkrigen kontreadmiral 1863 og chef for den sydatlantiske blokadeeskadre; ødelagde Fort Sumter ved Charleston og udmærkede sig ved erobringen af denne by (1865). (HK2/1920)

He was born in Philadelphia, PA, and when he turned 16 he joined the U.S. Navy as a midshipman.  After many years at sea he was assigned to the navy's ordnance bureau at Washington, D.C. in 1847.  When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he became the head of the Washington Navy Yard after Captain Franklin Buchanan resigned that post to enlist in the Confederate cause.  In 1862 Dahlgren was promoted to captain and named head of the navy's Ordnance Bureau.  In July of 1863 Dahlgren was promoted to rear admiral and assigned command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Dahlgren weapons are usually divided into three groups - bronze boat howitzers and rifles, iron smoothbores, and iron rifles. The designer, John A.B. Dahlgren of the U.S. Navy, developed the weapons primarily for use on small boats that patrolled the waterways. The necessity for these weapons was demonstrated by the Navy's experience during the Mexican War when small launches and other craft were assigned to patrol close to river and creek banks.

By the end of the Civil War, John Dahlgren, now a rear admiral, was responsible for the development and design of 12-pounder boat howitzers in several weight classifications (small, medium, and light), 20- and 24-pounder howitzers (some, including the 12-pounders, were rifled); 30-, 32-, 50-, 80-, and 150-pounder rifles; and 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, 13-, 15-, and 20-inch rifles.