Richmond Hobson was born in Hale County in Alabama, and at the age of nineteen he graduated first in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy. Although disliked by his classmates for his abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, he enjoyed school and after graduation was made a cadet battalion commander. He served in Chicago for some time before continuing his training, which allowed him to rise to the rank of assistant naval constructor in 1891.
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Hobson soon took up a career as a Democratic U.S. Representative from Alabama, and after retiring from Congress he became active in the prohibition movement, authoring several books on the subject and founding the International Narcotic Education Association. In 1934 he was advanced to Naval Constructor with a rank of Real Admiral. He passed away three years later and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Born. | |
Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. | |
Appointed Assistant Naval Constructor. | |
Served during the Spanish-American War. | |
Failed to successfully sink the Merrimac and was imprisoned in Cuba. | |
Released during a prisoner exchange. | |
Served as a U.S. Representative from Alabama. | |
Awarded the Medal of Honor. | |
Died. |
Hobson and the Merrimac in | America First—100 Stories from Our History by Lawton B. Evans |
Hobson's Brave Deed in | Story of the Great Republic by H. A. Guerber |
Hobson and the Sinking of the Merrimac in | Historical Tales: Spanish American by Charles Morris |
Heroes of the Merrimac in | The Story of Mexico by Charles Morris |
Image Links | ||
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![]() Lieutenant Hobson on the Merrimac in The Story of Mexico |
William McKinley | President of the United States during the Spanish American War. He was assassinated in office. |
Highest ranking Naval Officer in U.S. Hero of Battle of Manila Bay in Spanish American War. | |
Jose Marti | Leader of the Cuban independence movement in the years before the Spanish-American. |
James K. Polk | U.S. President who followed the policies of Andrew Jackson. President during the Mexican-American War. |