Mark Lambert Bristol

Mark Lambert Bristol
Born(1868-04-17)April 17, 1868
Glassboro, New Jersey
DiedMay 13, 1939(1939-05-13) (aged 71)
Washington, D.C.
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branch United States Navy
Years of service1887–1932
RankRear Admiral
Battles / warsSpanish–American War
• Battle of Santiago de Cuba
World War I
Turkish War of Independence
AwardsDistinguished Service Medal

Mark Lambert Bristol (April 17, 1868 – May 13, 1939) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy.

Biography

He 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

Two ships have been named USS Bristol in his honor.[4]

References

  1. ^ Hovannisian, Richard G., The Republic of Armenia: The First Year, 1918–1919. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971, p. 298, note 23.
  2. ^ "Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 2009" (PDF).
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "Two Destroyers are Launched". Associated Press. July 25, 1941. Retrieved 2010-12-03.

Bibliography

  • Buzanski, Peter Michael (1960). Admiral Mark L. Bristol and Turkish-American relations, 1919–1922. University of California Press.
  • 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


Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, United States Asiatic Fleet
9 September 1927 – 9 September 1929 		Succeeded by