Blake, George Smith

George Smith Blake (1802 - June 24, 1871) was a naval officer and prominent hydrographic surveyor of the mid-19th century, in the service of the U.S. Coast Survey. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and entered the U.S Navy in 1818. He reached the rank of lieutenant in 1827, mostly serving in the West Indies, battling pirates among other tasks. In 1831, he was assigned to survey work with the U.S. Coast Survey, where he would spend most of the next seventeen years. Alongside Thomas R. Gedney, Blake was one of the first two senior naval officers attached to the Coast Survey and reached the rank of Commodore by the end of his career. From 1835, he commanded hydrographic parties that produced fundamental nautical charts and soundings for the East Coast, including surveys of New Bedford Harbor, Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and Delaware Bay. In 1849, he was assigned to command the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean squadron and over the next decade served in various roles for the Navy. From 1857 to 1865, he was the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, including during the difficult years of the U.S. Civil War. Among his accomplishments was the prudent evacuation of the U.S.S. Constitution in the opening days of the conflict to prevent it from falling to the hands of Confederate sympathizers, which were numerous in and around Annapolis. For the same reason, the academy itself relocated to Newport, Rhode Island for the duration of the conflict. After the war, Blake worked as a lighthouse inspector and wrote biographies of naval officers for the New American Encyclopedia (Blake had been a member of the American Antiquarian Society since 1859). Soon after his death, a state-of-the-art surveying steamer, considered the most innovative hydrographic vessel of the 19th Century, was named in his honor and remained in service until 1905. Blake's family had strong connections with the Navy - his brother was a naval surgeon and his nephew was part of the crew of the celebrated U.S.S. Brooklyn, which played a critical role at the Battle of Mobile Bay in the Civil War. Blake married Mary Ann Allen Barron, a daughter of Commodore James Barron, in 1829 and their son, Francis Barron Blake, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1857 and served in the Civil War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Frank Blake, Jr. (perhaps George Blake's son, but more likely his brother or newphew, the name Francis being common in the family), published a short biography of him in 1871, soon after his death, titled Memoir of George Smith Blake (Cambridge, MA: University Press: Welch, Bigelow, and Co.).