Mark Lambert Bristol (April 17, 1868 – May 13, 1939) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy.
Mark Lambert Bristol | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 17, 1868 Glassboro, New Jersey |
| Died | May 13, 1939 (aged 71) Washington, D.C. |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1887–1932 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Battles / wars | Spanish–American War • Battle of Santiago de Cuba World War I Turkish War of Independence |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal |
Biography
editHe was born on April 17, 1868, in Glassboro, New Jersey. Bristol graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1887. During the Spanish–American War, he served aboard the battleship USS Texas and participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. From 1901 to 1903, he served as aide to the Commander-in-Chief North Atlantic Fleet. He commanded the battleship USS Oklahoma during World War I.
He served as the US High Commissioner in Turkey (1919–1927). His correspondence and other documents that he gathered are often cited during discussions on numerous events of that era, including Turkish-Armenian relations in which he played a significant role in his opposition to Armenian aspirations and American involvement in assuming a mandate in Armenia.[1]
Topics from the period include racial and religious conflicts in the Near East; the Great Fire of Smyrna; Allied activities in pursuit of special interests, mandates, and empire; the decline of the Ottoman Empire; and the rise of Mustafa Kemal and the Turkish National Movement, which led to the founding of modern Turkey.[2]
In 1927, Bristol assumed command of the Asiatic Fleet and helped found the American Hospital in Nişantaşı, İstanbul, in 1920 and the annexed nursing school, which is still named Admiral Bristol Nursing School after him.
Bristol served as chairman of the General Board of the United States Navy from 1930 to 1932 and died on May 13, 1939.[3]
After his death, in 1945 he was honored by the renaming of the American Hospital in Turkey to the Admiral Bristol American Hospital.
Namesakes
editTwo ships have been named USS Bristol in his honor.[4]
References
edit- ^ Hovannisian, Richard G., The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918–1919. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971, p. 298, note 23.
- ^ "Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2009" (PDF).
- ^ "Admiral Bristol Is Dead In Capital. Earned Distinction in High Positions at Sea and Ashore and in Diplomacy. Commissioner To Turkey. Commended by Hughes for His Work There. Had Headed the Asiatic Fleet". New York Times. May 14, 1939. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
- ^ "Two Destroyers are Launched". Associated Press. July 25, 1941. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
Bibliography
edit- Buzanski, Peter Michael (1960). Admiral Mark L. Bristol and Turkish-American relations, 1919–1922. University of California Press.
- Smyrna 1922: The Destruction of a City by Marjorie Housepian Dobkin (1971)
- Paradise Lost: Smyrna 1922 by Giles Milton, 2008, Sceptre, ISBN 978-0-340-83786-3
- The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey’s Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924 by Benny Morris and Dror Ze'evi
- The Blight of Asia: On the Systematic Extermination of Christian Populations in Asia by George Horton
External links
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