Namesake:
Commodore Horatio Bridge
To Horatio Bridge goes the honor and distinction of having served as
Chief of the Bureau for fifteen years; longer than any man in its
entire history. Having been appointed by his former college mate,
President Franklin Pierce, he held this post under various
administrations, including the whole period of the Civil War. He also
had the distinction of being the first man in the Navy to employ the
idea of comprehensive fleet supply. Under his direction the systematic
supply of the vessels of the Navy on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts
during the Civil War was established and carried out with conspicuous
success. It was therefore appropriate that Storeship No. 1, USS BRIDGE
(AF-1) was named in his honor on May 19, 1916. It is even more
appropriate that his name continue in the active U.S. Navy Fleet as the
newest of the SUPPLY-class combat logistics ships, USS BRIDGE (AOE 10).
Commodore Bridge was graduated from Bowdoin College in the world-famous
class of 1825, which included among its members Nathaniel Hawthorne,
and Henry Longfellow. His long and intimate friendship with Hawthorne
was similar to that of a former Bureau Chief, William Shubrick, and the
poet-author, James Fennimore Cooper. Proof of this intimacy with
Hawthorne was revealed in the following letter: "Dear Bridge, In
relation to your complaint that life has lost its charm, that your
enthusiasm is dead, and there is nothing worth living for, my wife bids
me advise you to fall in love. You would find all the fresh coloring
restored to the faded pictures of life; it would renew your youth; you
would be a boy again, with the deeper feeling and purpose of a man. Try
it. However, take care that the object is in every way
exceptionable..." According to a newspaper item of 1893, it was Horatio
Bridge’s appreciation of Hawthorne’s early
writings, and
his faith in this man of genius, that, to use Hawthorne’s own
words, "was responsible for my being an author". One of his earliest
books "The Snow Image" was dedicated to his friend and benefactor,
Horatio Bridge. The Commodore himself wielded a graceful pen, and
besides contributions to periodicals was the author of "The Journal of
an African Cruiser", which was edited by Hawthorne, and "Personal
Recollections of Nathaniel Hawthorne". Horatio Bridge, the son of a
judge, was born at Augusta, Maine, in 1806.
He received his early education in private schools and at Hallowell
Academy. After graduation from Bowdoin College, he studied law at
Northampton Law School; was admitted to the bar, and practiced his
profession at Augusta and Skowhegan (then Milburn), Maine. After ten
years of practice, he found law distasteful to him and entered the U.S.
Navy as a purser in 1838. After several long cruises in African,
European, and Pacific waters, he was called to Washington and appointed
Chief of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing. The responsible duties
of this office were handled extremely well by him. Of the skill and
ability which he showed in its management Senator Grimes testified in a
debate in 1865; "No Bureau of this government has been more admirably
and accurately managed then the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing". To
this, Senator John P. Hale, added; "I think a great reason, and a very
important one, is because there is at the head of that Bureau an
honest, vigilant, and faithful man".
During the years Bridge headed the Bureau, many significant innovations
were made. Some of the more important ones were:
-The Act of June 22, 1860, provided "That Pursers in the U.S. Navy
shall hereafter be styled Paymasters".
-Advertising for competitive bids became mandatory except for personal
services, and except in emergency.
-An Act of July 17, 1861, required that promotions to "Corps of
Paymasters" be made from the list of assistant paymasters.
-Preserved meats, pickles, butter, cheese, and desiccated vegetables
could be bought without formal advertising and sealed bids.
-A requirement written into the statutes which specified that "the
Chief of the Bureau, also known as the Paymaster General, be appointed
from the list of Paymasters of the Navy of not less than ten years
standing". For the first time it was legally impossible for the
Paymaster General to be a civilian.
-In 1862, the agitation against the rum ration became so pronounced
that on September 1 of that year, it was finally eliminated and as a
compensation, men’s pay was raised five cents a day. It has
been
said that the Act was responsible for the origin of the old Navy song:
"They raised our pay five cents a day, and took away our grog forever".
According to a Navy press notice, Bridge resigned his position as Chief
of the Bureau in 1869. However, shortly thereafter he accepted the
position as the first Chief Inspector of Clothing, which be held until
the passage of the law debarring all Navy Officers from active duty
after reaching the age of sixty-two. He was detached from duty after
serving afloat and ashore for fifty-five years.
Commodore Bridge was married to Charlotte Marshall of Boston when he
was forty years old. They had one daughter who died at the age of five.
To appease his sorrow, his friend Hawthorne wrote him: "... I trust you
will be able to feel that though it is good to have a dear child on
earth, it is likewise good to have one safe in heaven. She will await
you there and it will seem like home to you now. Affectionately, Nath".
While he seldom visited his home town, he kept the affection and
respect of his townspeople to a most unusual degree. His friends there
remembered him as a remarkable old man, whose clear mind and strong
memory would have done credit to a man in the prime of life. He was
also noted for his military bearing and elastic step. Concerning his
fine character, the Kennebec Journal said: "Commodore Bridge was a man
of sterling principles and rugged honesty, with a strong mind and a
warm heart; a gentleman of the old school in all that means, of broad
culture and with a genial polished manner.
Upon final retirement, on March 1, 1871, he went to his country home,
"The Moorings", at Athens, Pennsylvania, where he spent the rest of his
life. He died in March 1893.
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The Shield:
Dark blue and gold are the colors
traditionally used by the Navy. The bridge, a canting reference to the
ship's namesake, denotes USS BRIDGE'S support to the total readiness of
the Navy by the efficient and quick distribution of supplies. The
bridge also symbolizes the span from the past to the future and a
logistics bridge providing sustainment to the Fleet. The bomb
represents ordnance, the black pellets represent oil, and the
cornucopias refer to stores and perishable cargo. The white border
alludes to ice and the importance of refrigeration in the transporting
of fresh stores. Horatio Bridge was the first man in the Navy to employ
the idea of comprehensive fleet supply including the floating
refrigeration concept. The trident signifies Navy strength and resolve
and also underscores the fact that the first USS BRIDGE (AF 1) was the
first ship to be built from the keel up as a storeship. She served with
distinction during WWI and WWII.
