{{Infobox military person | name = William Carleton Watts | image = Capt W C Watts - NARA - 55174808 (cropped).jpg | caption = W.C. Watts, 1918 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|2|18}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|1|5|1880|2|18}} | burial_label = Place of burial | burial_place = | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | death_place = Rosemont, Pennsylvania | burial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | nickname = | allegiance={{flag|United States of America}} | branch = 25px United States Navy | service_years = 1898–1942 | rank = 33px Rear Admiral | unit = | commands = {{USS|Albany|CL-23|2}}<br/>{{USS|Raleigh|CL-7|2}}<br/>{{USS|Colorado|BB-45|2}} | battles = Spanish–American War<br/>World War I<br/>World War II | awards = Navy Cross | relations = Ethelbert Watts (father) | other_work = }} '''William Carleton Watts''' (February 18, 1880 – January 5, 1956) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, who served in the Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II.
==Biography== ===Early life and career=== Watts was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the youngest son of U.S. diplomat Ethelbert Watts (1846–1919) and his first wife Emily Pepper Watts.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://worldroots.com/brigitte/seckel15adesc.htm |title=Descendants of Dietrich Seckel |work=worldroots.com |author=Ingeborg Brigitte Gastel |access-date=26 September 2010 |archive-date=14 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614053600/http://worldroots.com/brigitte/seckel15adesc.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=wed>{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/04/17/101947977.pdf |title=Society in Washington |work= The New York Times |date=April 17, 1902 |page=9 |access-date= }}</ref> He was a direct descendant of Frederick Watts, a brigadier-general in the colonial army during the Revolutionary War.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6zMSAAAAYAAJ&q=captain+william+watts&pg=PA73 |title=Sons of the Revolution, Annual Proceedings |year=1920 |work=google.com |page=71 }}</ref> He attended the United States Naval Academy from 1894 to 1898 and graduated at age 18, ranking second in his class.
During the Spanish–American War, which began as his senior year ended, he served on the protected cruiser {{USS|Columbia|C-12|2}}.<ref>{{Cite news |url= |title=Officers of Flying Squadron |work= Boston Daily Globe |date=April 15, 1898 |page=17 |access-date= }}</ref> He was promoted to ensign in 1900, and to lieutenant soon thereafter.
===World War I=== Watts served as the first navigator of the battleship {{USS|New York|BB-34|2}} in 1914,<ref>{{Cite news |url= |title=Like a Floating Metropolis is the Battleship New York |work= New York Herald |date=June 4, 1914 |page=2 |author=Richard Harding Davis }}</ref> and as executive officer of the battleship {{USS|Michigan|BB-27|2}} in 1916–17.<ref>{{Cite journal |url= |title=Information Quarterly |volume=3 |series= No. 1 |date= April 1917 |page=345 }}</ref> With the rank of captain, Watts served as Judge Advocate General of the Navy from January 6, 1917, to April 15, 1918, and then as the commander of the cruiser {{USS|Albany|CL-23|2}}. As the flagship of Squadron 6, Patrol Force, Atlantic Fleet, ''Albany'' escorted convoys of merchantmen, cargo ships, and troop transports back and forth across the Atlantic. Between July 1917 and the end of the war on 11 November 1918, she shepherded 11 such convoys safely between the United States and Europe.<ref name="militarymuseum">{{Cite web |url= http://www.militarymuseum.org/Albany.html |title=Ships of the California Naval Militia: USS ''Albany'' |work=militarymuseum.org |access-date=25 November 2010 }}</ref> For this service Watts was awarded the Navy Cross, "for distinguished service in the line of his profession as commanding officer of the ''Albany'' engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of transporting and escorting troops and supplies to European ports through waters infested with enemy submarines and mines".<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=10216 |title=Military Times Hall of Valor : Awards for William Carleton Watts |work=militarytimes.com |access-date=25 November 2010 }}</ref>
===Interwar period=== In 1919–20 Watts was the senior U.S. Naval Officer of the International Force stationed in Vladivostok, Siberia, during the Russian Civil War. The United States landed troops at Vladivostok, possibly to check Japanese pretensions in that area, and to secure the port as an exit for the Czech Legion, then transiting the Trans-Siberian Railway. Watts sent armed landing parties ashore on several occasions in support of the troops and to evacuate sick and wounded men. The Americans withdrew in the spring of 1920, and the ''Albany'' resumed duty with the Asiatic Fleet.<ref name="militarymuseum"/>
In 1922 Watts served as Chief of the Gunnery Exercises and Engineering Division, Office of Naval Operations, Department of the Navy,<ref>{{Cite journal |url= |title=Official Congressional Directory, 67th Congress, 2nd Session |date=February 1922 |page=278 }}</ref> then as commander of the light cruiser {{USS|Raleigh|CL-7|2}} in 1924, and as U.S. Naval Attaché in London in 1925–27.
Promoted to rear admiral in 1930 he was the Commandant of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1931–32,<ref>{{Cite news |url= |title=Admiral Watts Takes Command at Navy Yard |work=The Portsmouth Herald |date=April 9, 1931 |page=1 }}</ref><ref name=mine>{{Cite news |url= |title=Admiral Watts to Leave Navy Yard in May |work=The Portsmouth Herald |date= January 11, 1932 |page=1 }}</ref> and in 1931 was appointed to preside over the court martial proceedings against controversial U.S. Marine major general Smedley Butler, who had been accused of circulating false rumors regarding Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40F13FC355C157A93C6A91789D85F458385F9&scp=25&sq=william+watts+navy&st=p |title=Talks with Adams on Butler Charges |work=The New York Times |date= February 4, 1931 |page=4 }}</ref> The proceedings were cancelled after an agreed-upon reprimand by the Secretary of the Navy of General Butler, who resigned from the Marine Corps soon thereafter.<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30C11FC3C5F11738DDDA00894DA405B818FF1D3&scp=73&sq=william+watts+navy&st=p |title=Gen. Butler Freed with Reprimand as he Voices Regret |work=The New York Times |date=February 9, 1931 |page=1 }}</ref>
Watts then served as the Commander of the Mine Force of the United States Pacific Fleet in 1932–1934,<ref name=mine/><ref>{{Cite news |url= |title=LaCrosse Aviator to Make Survey of Aleutian Islands |work=La Crosse Tribune |date=April 15, 1934 |page=2 }}</ref> Commandant of Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and commander of the Fourth Naval District in 1934–1937,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Rear Admiral Watts Relinquishes Duties |work= Newport Mercury and Weekly News |date=June 8, 1934 |page=7 |access-date= }}</ref> commander of the battleship {{USS|Colorado|BB-45|2}}, and commandant of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and commander of the Ninth Naval District in 1939–1940.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Admiral Watts Heads Lakes Training School |location= Steubenville |work=Herald-Star |date=August 29, 1939 |page=1 |access-date= }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1940.html |title=The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II -1940 |work=ibiblio.org |access-date=25 November 2010 }}</ref>
===World War II=== Although he had retired from active service on December 1, 1940,<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10A1FFF3F5C10728DDDA80894DA415B8088F1D3&scp=7&sq=admiral+watts&st=p |title=Admiral Watts Retires Today |work=New York Times |date=December 1, 1940 |page=48 |access-date=25 November 2010 }}</ref> after America's entry into World War II Watts was involved in the industrial incentives section of the Navy's office of public relations, speaking at ship launchings,<ref>{{Cite news |url= |title=Launch First Minesweeper Today |work= Benton Harbor News-Palladium |date=February 24, 1942 |page=1 |access-date= }}</ref> and presenting "E" pennants to defense plants in recognition of outstanding war production.<ref>{{Cite news |url= |title=Two Maine Firms to Get Army-Navy E Pennants |work= Fitchburg Sentinel |date=September 21, 1942 |page=10 |access-date= }}</ref> Watts retired again, reluctantly, in 1942 due to poor health.
==Personal life== He was married, on April 16, 1902, to Julia Florence Scott.<ref name=wed/> They were the parents of one daughter, Emily Pepper Watts Tracy. He died in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, on January 5, 1956.
==Awards== His navy decorations (medals) are as follows: * Navy Cross (1918) * Spanish–American War Campaign Medal (1898) * Mexican Campaign Medal (1917) * World War I Victory Medal with Escort Bar (1918) * American Defense Service Medal (1939-1941) * American Campaign Medal (1941–1942) * World War II Victory Medal (1945) * Czechoslovak Military War Medal (1921)
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, William Carleton}} Category:1880 births Category:1956 deaths Category:Military personnel from Philadelphia Category:United States Naval Academy alumni Category:United States Navy admirals Category:Judge advocates general of the United States Navy Category:United States Navy personnel of the Spanish–American War Category:United States Navy personnel of World War I Category:United States Navy World War II admirals Category:Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)