Hawaii Holomua, Volume II, Number 37, 13 February 1894 Edition 02 — In Command at Hawaii. [ARTICLE]

In Command at Hawaii.

Kear Acmiral Joln Irwin, whe is now io eommanl of Ihe Un!!ed States naial fleot at the Hawaiian Islanvls is one of Ihe typical sailors of tbe old navy, bat bas kept hiraself wo’ll abreast of the| recent deve!opments of the ser-f vice. Re was but 16 yeare of age when he saw his first service as a miilāhipman with the fleet oA Vera Cruz, toward the close of the Mexican war, since then he hasdoneduty in every qnarter of the globe and has gained eon-: siderable fame for gallmt and meritorions services. Tbe outbreak of the civil war fonud him at PensacoIa. with the rank of a lieutenant. and he is said to deserve at Ieast evjnal creilit with Gener.»I Slemmer for saving Fort P okens after ihe! Federal fc»rces found it impossi I ble to hold the Pensacola yard. Pickens was the one stronghold on the mainland fn>m the Cbesapeake to the Rio Grau-; de over whieh the flag of thei Union never ceased to float. While attached to the Wabash,! Irwin bore a creditable part in tbe captnre of Port Royal aml as commander of a gnn detachment, ashore iu, the bombardmeut of Port Pulaski. After his proraotion to Iieuteuanc coramander, he| was for a time executive of Dnpont’s flaghip, the Wabash, but subseqnentlv received eommaud of the Pensacola of tbe west gnlf blockading squadron under Farragnt. His last sea service as captain was in eommaud of the same vessel in the Pacific sqnadron. After that he was stationed at Mare island and S«n Francisco as president ofj I the examining and inspecting I boards uutil his promotion to his preseut rauk May 18, 1891 . . when he was assigned by Secretary Tracy to the command of the Mare Island navy yard. Admiral Irwin was born at i Pittsbnrg April 15, 1832. His : father sat in congress for a lemi j and was afterward ministor to Denmark, whither his son, then a lad of 11, accompanied him. While iu Copenhagen tho boy atteuded the Royal Danish Naval school retnrning to his conntry in time to accept an appointment as midshipmau in 1847. His brother, Robert lrwin. is Hawaiian miuistei and immigratiou commissioner in Japan, appointed by Liliuokalani originally, and continued by tbe provisional government in the same plaee. The admiral is of medium stature and sturdy build and still in the enjo3’ment ofexcellent health and vigor. He will be due for retirement, uuder tho, law in April, 1894. The Holokua voiess its appreiciation of ihe commanding qnalities of Rear Admiral Irwin while here at Honolnluand his thoronghly American manner of conducting his business with both LoyaIists and Provisional Governmeut people. Adruiral Irwin is a g nlemau and an of whom the Uuited States Navy : rnay feel justly prond. ——————————————