Peirce Crosby was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on 16 January 1824. Appointed a Midshipman in the U.S. Navy in June 1838, he reached the rank of Lieutenant in September 1853 after a decade and a half in ships of the Home and Mediterranean Squadrons, plus coast survey duty, Mexican War action and shore assignments in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From late 1853 until the outbreak of the Civil War in the spring of 1861, Lieutenant Crosby served in the sloops of war Germantown, of the Brazil Squadron, and Saratoga, and on board the receiving ship Princeton at Philadelphia.
During April-October 1861, as the War between the States ran through its first half year, Crosby served in the sloop of war Cumberland and briefly commanded the new gunboat Pembina. He went to the Gulf of Mexico as Commanding Officer of the gunboat Pinola at the beginning of 1862, subsequently performing valuable service during the campaigns to capture New Orleans and other strategic points on the lower Mississippi. For two years beginning in November 1862, Crosby helped enforce the blockade of the Confederacy's East Coast as Commanding Officer of the steamers Sangamon, Florida, and Keystone State, and as Fleet Captain of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He finished the war in the Gulf, commanding the gunboat Metacomet, and took part in clearing mines from Mobile Bay.
Commander Crosby spent the first three years of the post-Civil War era in the south Atlantic as Commanding Officer of the gunboat Shamokin. Following promotion to Captain in May 1868, he had a variety of shore assignments and, in 1872-1873, commanded the big steamer Powhatan. In 1877-1881, in the rank of Commodore, Crosby was commandant of the League Island (Philadelphia) Navy Yard. He finished his active career as a Rear Admiral, commanding the South Atlantic Station in 1882-1883 and the Asiatic Station later in 1883. In October of the latter year he was placed on the Retired List. Rear Admiral Peirce Crosby died at Washington, D.C., on 15 June 1899.
The destroyer Crosby (Destroyer # 164, later DD-164 and APD-17), of 1919-1946, was named in honor of Rear Admiral Peirce Crosby.
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Page made 30 April 2004