Stirling was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 6, 1843, the son of Archibald Stirling and the former Elizabeth A. Walsh. He and his wife, Ellen (1843–1929), had seven children. Their elder son, Yates Stirling Jr. (1872–1948), also became a rear admiral in the Navy, making them only the second family in the history of the U.S. Navy to have father and son rear admirals concurrently living. The first were Rear Admirals Thomas O. Selfridge Sr. and Junior. Stirling's younger son, Archibald (1884–1963), was a captain in the Navy.
Stirling attended private schools in Baltimore as a youth. He was appointed by Representative Henry Winter Davis of Maryland to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, as an acting midshipman on September 27, 1860. In June 1861, Stirling and several other midshipman, including Robley "Fighting Bob" Evans, future hero of the Spanish–American War, submitted letters of resignation, believing their loyalty was with the Confederacy. Four weeks later they had second thoughts and retracted their resignations, expressing loyalty to the Union.[2] When the rank of acting midshipman was abolished on July 16, 1862, his rank became midshipman. After the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, the academy moved to Newport, Rhode Island, for the duration of the war and Stirling graduated one year ahead of schedule in 1863 due to the expanded U.S. Navy's need for officers during the war. He was commissioned as an ensign on May 28, 1863.[3][4]
USS Onondaga on the James River, 1864–65, with Union soldiers in the foreground
USS Lackawanna, crew at quarters for inspection, circa September 1880 to September 1881
Stirling returned to sea in 1878 as commanding officer of the screw sloop-of-war USS Lackawanna in the Pacific Squadron and was promoted to commander on November 26, 1880, during his tour aboard Lackawanna. Detaching from Lackawanna in 1881, he had a second tour of duty at the Washington Navy Yard from 1882 to 1884 before a sea assignment as commanding officer of the sloop-of-war USS Iroquois in the Pacific Squadron from 1884 to 1886. He then commanded the receiving ship USS Dale at the Washington Navy Yard from 1887 to 1890 and the gunboat and dispatch vesselUSS Dolphin from March 1890 to June 1891.[3][4]
Stirling had duty as a lighthouse inspector from December 1892 to December 1894 and was promoted to captain on September 16, 1894. He awaited orders from December 1894 until May 1895, then was commanding officer of the protected cruiserUSS Newark from May 1895 to July 1896 and of the screw sloop-of-war USS Lancaster from July 1896 to June 1897. He was commander of the South Atlantic Squadron from July to December 1897. After duty as a member of the Lighthouse Board from March 31, 1898, to July 1, 1900, he became commandant of Naval Station San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 21, 1900, serving in that capacity into 1902.[3][4] In May 1900, while commandant at San Juan, Captain Stirling rescued the Lloyd's agent there, a man named Butler who had jumped off the municipal pier that had caught fire.[6] Stirling was promoted to rear admiral on June 8, 1902. Following his promotion, he was named commandant of the Puget Sound Navy Yard, where his son, Yates Jr. joined him shortly thereafter as an officer of the yard.[7]
Stirling was commander-in-chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet from July 11, 1904, to March 23, 1905[8] before retiring from the Navy on May 6, 1905, at the mandatory age of 62.[9] During the time he commanded the Asiatic Fleet, his flag was on the USS Wisconsin (BB-9) and his son, Yates Jr. served as his flag lieutenant. When he was interviewed shortly after his retirement, Stirling recalled an incident early in his career when he was first lieutenant taking a ship into a New England harbor with some difficulty. An old lobsterman in a dory piled high with traps managed to interfere with the ship's passage. After Stirling called down to the lobsterman with some "choice deep sea language", the old man leisurely rested on his oars and replied, "And who be you?" Stirling blustered back, "Who am I? I'm the first officer of this ship." "Well, go to your skipper, then," replied the ancient mariner with dignity. "I don't argue with nobody but my equals an I'm cap'n o' this."[10]
Stirling died on March 5, 1929, at his home, 11 East Chase Street, Baltimore, Maryland, survived by this wife, two sons and three daughters. He was 85 years old and had been ill for about five years. He is buried along with his wife at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.[11]
The original service criteria for the Spanish Campaign Medal promulgated in Navy Department Special Order No. 81 of June 27, 1908, required service on specific vessels and time periods for which Stirling's service during the Spanish–American War did not qualify. However, in the early 1920s, the award criteria were relaxed to provide for award of the medal to all those who served in the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps during the Spanish–American War. The first government contract to supply campaign medals to the expanded recipient base with the Bastian Brothers Company did not occur until 1922.
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