SIGSBEE, Charles Dwight, naval officer, was born in Albany, N.Y., Jan. 16, 1845; son of Nicholas and Agnes (Orr) Sigsbee. He attended the Albany academy; was graduated from the U.S. Naval academy in 1863, and was appointed acting ensign on the Monongahela, Oct. 1, 1863. He was transferred to the Brooklyn and took part in the battle of Mobile Bay, Aug. 5, 1864,
and the bombardment of Fort Fisher. He served on the Wyoming, in the Asiatic squadron 1864–67; was commissioned
master, May 10, 1866, and promoted lieutenant, Feb. 21, 1867; lieutenant commander, March 12, 1868, and served on shore duty at the naval academy, 1869–71, and as navigator to the flag ships Severn and Worcester, of the north Atlantic squadron, 1871–73. He was married in November, 1870, to Eliza Rogers, daughter of Geo. Henry H. Lockwood. He commanded the
steamer Blake in the U.S. coast survey, 1873–78, and invented many appliances. to simplify deep sea exploration. He made a deep sea exploration of the Gulf of Mexico, and was authorized by congress to accept the decoration of the Red Eagle, of
Prussia, tendered him by the German Emperor for services rendered to the German navy in superintending the construction of a
deep sea machine of his own invention in 1882. A gold medal was given him by the International Fisheries exhibition at
London. He was chief of the hydrographic office at Washington, D.C., 1878–82; was promoted commander, May 11, 1882,
and was assigned to duty at the naval academy. He commanded the Kearsarge on the European station, 1885–86; was a
member of the retiring board at the navy department; was superintendent of seamanship, naval tactics [p.369] and naval
construction at the naval academy, and was chief hydrographer of the navy department, 1893–97. He was commissioned
captain, March 21, 1897, and was given command of the battleship Maine, April 10, 1897. On Feb. 15, 1898, while
anchored in Havana harbor, the Maine was blown up by a mine and 258 lives were lost. He took part in the war with Spain as
commander with the auxiliary cruiser St. Paul, called the Harvard, and on May 24, 1898, be captured the Spanish collier
Restormed, and cut off the coal supply for the Spanish fleet. He commanded the battleship Texas, 1898–1900; in 1900 was
appointed chief officer of naval intelligence, and in May, 1903, he assumed command of the League Island navy yard, being
succeeded as chief intelligence officer by Commander Seaton Schroeder (q.v.). He was a member of the naval construction
board and of the naval general board, and is the author of: Deep Sea Sounding and Dredging (1880); Personal Narrative of the Battleship "Maine" (1899).