Dr. Newton L. Bates, Surgeon General (1 October 1897-18 October 1897)

Newton L. Bates (1838-1897) joined the Navy in 1861 as an assistant surgeon. His first assignment was at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital followed by duty with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and later the Mississippi Squadron. He then served at the U.S. Naval Laboratory in New York, the forerunner of the Naval Laboratory and Department of Instruction, which respectively became the Naval Medical School (1902) and the Naval Medical Supply Depot (1906). Dr. Bates then had extensive sea duty and commanded the Naval Hospital in Yokohama. After serving at the Naval Museum of Hygiene, he became Surgeon General on 1 October 1888. Ill when appointed by his close personal friend, President McKinley, he died 17 days later.