Selfridge, Thomas Oliver, Jr. (1836-1924) Union naval officer. A Massachusetts native, Selfridge spent the early part of his naval career in the South Pacific and in Africa. He participated in the confrontation between the USS Cumberland and the Confederate vessel CSS Virginia in 1861, at the start of the Civil War; he briefly commanded the Monitor. He participated in the campaign against Vicksburg and, in 1864, as commander of the ironclad Osage, led a mission to rescue a Union flotilla trapped in the Alexandria rapids. After the war, Selfridge taught at the U.S. Naval Academy and explored and mapped parts of Latin America. Promoted to commander in 1869, he oversaw three surveys in Panama in preparation for the construction of a canal there to link the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Selfridge was promoted to captain in 1881, at which time he undertook research on the use of torpedoes and ways to defend against them.
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