Ammen, Daniel, 1820-1898

United States naval officer and author.

Ammen was born on May 16, 1819; was boyhood friend of Ulysses S. Grant; became a midshipman in 1836; undertook long voyages to China and Japan (1845-47), went on expedition up the Paraguay River (1853-54), sailed on Pacific cruise (1857-60); in Civil War, took part in the attack upon Port Royal in the gunboat Seneca and participated in the bombardment of Fort McAllister in the monitor Patapsco; was called from sea duty through President Grant's influence; in charge of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, and the Bureau of Navigation, 1868-78; was named Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission (1872-76), where he became an advocate of a Nicaraguan canal route; represented the US at the Interoceanic Canal Congress in Paris, 1879; designed the Ammen ram, a small coast-defense vessel, one of which, the Katahdin, was built and accepted for service; wrote several books, including The old navy and the new (1891); died at Ammendale, near Washington DC, on July 11, 1898.

Naval office and writer.

Ammen, a naval officer, served during the Civil War and visited Japan in 1845 with the first naval vessels to that country. He designed the ram katandin and invented a balsa life raft.

American naval officer and writer.

Biography

Ammen was born on May 16, 1819; was boyhood friend of Ulysses S. Grant; became a midshipman in 1836; undertook long voyages to China and Japan (1845-47), went on expedition up the Paraguay River (1853-54), sailed on Pacific cruise (1857-60); in Civil War, took part in the attack upon Port Royal in the gunboat Seneca and participated in the bombardment of Fort McAllister in the monitor Patapsco; was called from sea duty through President Grant's influence; in charge of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, and the Bureau of Navigation, 1868-78; was named Secretary of the Isthmian Canal Commission (1872-76), where he became an advocate of a Nicaraguan canal route; represented the U.S. at the Interoceanic Canal Congress in Paris, 1879; designed the Ammen ram, a small coast-defense vessel, one of which, the Katahdin, was built and accepted for service; wrote several books, including The Old Navy and the New (1891); died at Ammendale, near Washington, D.C., on July 11, 1898.