Fiske, Bradley Allen [key], 1854–1942, American naval officer and inventor, b. Lyons, N.Y., grad. Annapolis, 1874. In the U.S. navy he devoted himself to the invention of instruments for shipboard use. His numerous inventions include an electrically powered gun turret, the torpedo plane, a naval telescopic sight, an electromagnetic system for detonating torpedos under ships, and an electric range finder—a device that brought him many citations when, as navigating officer of the gunboat Petrel, he successfully employed it in the battle of Manila Bay. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1911, but he was forced to retire in 1916 when his agitation for a stronger navy clashed with the policies of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.
See his autobiography, From Midshipman to Admiral (1919).
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