National Hispanic Heritage Month: Cipriano Andrade, U.S. Navy

Cipriano Andrade, whose U.S. Navy service spanned four decades, was born on September 1, 1840 in the port city of Tampico in northeastern Mexico. He eventually attended both public and private schools in Philadelphia. In addition, Andrade studied engineering at the Franklin Institute in that city.

On July 1, 1861 — less than three months after the American Civil War began — Andrade joined the Union Navy (the name for the U.S. Navy during that military conflict) as a third assistant engineer. Starting in August of that year, he served on board USS Lancaster. This vessel, which had originally been a sidewheel civilian steam tow boat, was deployed during the war as part of the United States Ram Fleet. These steam-powered vessels, in coordination with the Mississippi River Squadron, took part in battles against the River Defense Fleet of the Confederacy for control of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Andrade, who was promoted to second assistant engineer in December 1862, served on USS Lancaster until 1863.

Andrade was subsequently assigned to USS Pontiac, a double-ended, wooden, sidewheel gunboat. He served with USS Pontiac through the end of the war, and it was during his time on board that vessel that he was promoted to first assistant engineer.

Andrade’s naval service continued well beyond the American Civil War. He was promoted to chief engineer in September 1881. During the last couple of decades of the 19^th century, Andrade served on a variety of Navy vessels. These included USS Ashuelot, a double-ended, iron-hulled sidewheel gunboat; USS Yantic (IX-32), a wooden-hulled screw gunboat; USS Swatara, a propeller-driven sloop-of-war; USS Yorktown (PG-1), a steel-hulled, twin-screw gunboat; USS Columbia (C-12), a protected cruiser; and USS New York (ACR-2), an armored cruiser.

During the Spanish-American War in 1898, Andrade’s responsibilities included examining vessels at Santiago, Cuba. His last active tour of duty occurred from 1898 to 1901, and it involved serving as a member of the board of inspection and survey for the U.S. Navy Department in Washington, D.C. Andrade attained the rank of captain in March 1899. He retired from the Navy on July 1, 1901, with the rank of rear admiral.

Andrade died on June 18, 1911, in the city of Norwalk, Connecticut, at the age of 70. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Cipriano Andrade, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipriano_Andrade and https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/candrade.htm