Fiske, Bradley A. (Bradley Allen), 1854-1942

<p>In 1914, the Naval Aide for Operations, Rear Admiral Bradley Fiske, wrote that the Navy was not ready for war, but would be unable to avoid it. In this, he was at odds with Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who, along with President Woodrow Wilson, wished to avoid involvement in the European War.</p>

<p>It is Fiske’s advocacy for a strong military aide to help the Secretary direct the Navy that led to the creation of the office of the Chief of Naval Operations.</p>

United States Navy Admiral, Inventor. He graduated from Annapolis in 1874 and devoted his entire US Navy career to the invention of instruments for shipboard use. He served in the Spanish-American War, receiving many citations as navigating officer in the Battle of Manila Bay. For his technical innovations, he was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1911. He holds over sixty patents for Navy devices used world wide. His numerous inventions include electrically powered gun turrets, telescopic sights for naval guns, submarine protection devices, electromagnetic system for detonating torpedos under ships, electric range finders and the torpedo plane. He resigned from the Navy in 1916, after a series of policy disagreements with Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.

Rear Admiral Bradley Allen Fiske (June 13, 1854 – April 6, 1942) was an officer in the United States Navy who was noted as a technical innovator. During his long career, Fiske invented more than a hundred and thirty electrical and mechanical devices, with both naval and civilian uses, and wrote extensively on technical and professional issues; The New Yorker called him "one of the notable naval inventors of all time." One of the earliest to understand the revolutionary possibilities of naval aviation, he wrote a number of books of important effect in gaining a wider understanding of the modern Navy by the public. For inventing the rangefinder, he was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1891.