| abstract | - Edwin Taylor Pollock (October 25, 1870June 6, 1943) was a career officer in the United States Navy, serving in both the Spanish-American War and World War I. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of captain. Like many naval officers, his name was often abbreviated using initials: E. T. Pollock. As a young ensign, Pollock served aboard the USS New York during the Spanish-American War. After the war, he rose through the ranks, served on several ships, and did important research into wireless communication. In 1917, less than a week before the United States entered World War I, he won a race against a fellow officer to officially receive the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark, and served as the territory's first acting governor. During the war, he was promoted to captain and a vessel under his command transported 60,000 American soldiers to France, for which he was awarded a Navy Cross. Afterward, he was made the eighth Naval Governor of American Samoa and then the superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory, before retiring in 1927.
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