Introduction -- The Naval Academy -- Early cruises -- The Greely relief expedition -- The Nicaraguan survey -- The Office of Naval Intelligence -- The New York Navy Yard -- The Petrel and the Atlanta -- The Naval War College -- The Minneapolis and the Bureau of Ordnance -- Policing an empire -- Torpedoes, dreadnoughts, and the General Board -- The Caribbean and the Bureau of Ordnance -- The beginnings of naval aviation -- Building naval aviation -- Retired.