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	69k	Captain James S. Thornton, USN (1826-1875), was born in Merrimack, New Hampshire on 25 February 1826 and entered the Navy as a Midshipman in January 1841. Following duty in the frigate Columbia in the Home and Mediterranean Squadrons, he was assigned to the sloops of war John Adams and Falmouth, in which he served during the Mexican War. Beginning in late 1846 Thornton attended the U.S. Naval School at Annapolis, Maryland, and was promoted to the rank of Passed Midshipman in August 1847. He next served in the store ship Relief and in December 1848 was sent to Pacific coast for duty in the Coast Survey vessel Ewing. Thornton resigned from the service in May 1850, spent the next four years surveying gold fields in California and Utah, rejoined the Navy in February 1854 and again served in the Relief. Promoted to Acting Master in May 1855, he left the service later in that year but returned in January 1858 with the rank of Lieutenant and was once more assigned to the Relief. When Lieutenant Thornton's tour on USS Relief ended in mid-1860 he served on the Receiving Ship at Boston until the beginning of the Civil War. From May to November 1861 he was an officer of the brig Bainbridge, operating on blockade duty in the Gulf of Mexico. Late in that year he became Executive Officer of the steam sloop Hartford, performing with distinction in her during the Mississippi River campaigns of 1862. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander in July, he commanded the gunboat Winona in the Gulf area during August and September 1862. In April 1863 he became Executive Officer of the steam sloop Kearsarge, cruising in European waters, and in her participated in the successful 19 June 1864 action against the Confederate cruiser Alabama. Thornton finished the Civil War as Commanding Officer of the gunboat Iosco, operating in the North Carolina Sounds. From October 1865 Thornton had shore duty at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, and was promoted to the rank of Commander in mid-1866. He returned to USS Kearsarge as her Commanding Officer in July 1868, serving in her in the Pacific until November 1870, after which he was again assigned to the Portsmouth Navy Yard. In May 1872 Thornton achieved the rank of Captain and in August 1873 was ordered to command the steam sloop Monongahela on the South Atlantic Station. On 14 January 1875, Captain Thornton's spine was gravely injured when his ship made a sudden lurch, throwing him against cabin furniture. Left an invalid, he was ordered home in February and died of his injuries at Germantown, Pennsylvania, on 14 May 1875.		NHC
	86k	Photo #: 19-N-15-16-4. USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) fitting out at the William R. Trigg Company shipyard, Richmond, Virginia, 30 June 1900. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.		NHC
	95k	Photo #: 19-N-15-16-6. USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) fitting out at the William R. Trigg Company shipyard, Richmond, Virginia, 30 June 1900. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.		NHC
	104k	Photo #: 19-N-14212. USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) in port, circa 1901, probably at Richmond, Virginia, while fitting out. Note the sailing vessels in the background. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.		NHC
	82k	Photo #: 19-N-15-16-7. USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) view on deck, 28 June 1901, while she was fitting out. Probably taken at Richmond, Virginia. Note the large wrench mounted on the side of her after conning tower (center foreground). Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.		NHC
	64k	Photo #: NH 63753. USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) off Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during Founder's Week, 1908. Photographed by William H. Rau. Note the ketch under sail and several four-masted schooners in the background. Courtesy of William H. Davis. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		Terry Miller, Executive Director, Tin Can Sailors Inc.
	71k	Photo #: NH 89439. USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) steaming through heavy seas in the Gulf of Mexico, March 1909, while commanded by Lieutenant C.A. Blakely. Photographed by Enrique Muller, New York. Donation of Admiral G. Koch, 1970. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		Terry Miller, Executive Director, Tin Can Sailors Inc.
	56k	Photo #: NH 94250. USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33) steaming through heavy seas in the Gulf of Mexico, March 1909. Collection of Commander S.D. Hart, USN (Medical Corps). Donated by Mrs. Philip Francis, 1983. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		NHC
	85k	Photo #: NH 100025. U.S. Navy Torpedo Craft at Cairo, Illinois, during their Mississippi River cruise, 26 September 1909. Photographed by A.E. Kerr. They are (from left to right): USS Wilkes (Torpedo Boat # 35); USS Thornton (Torpedo Boat # 33); USS Tingey (Torpedo Boat # 34); and USS Macdonough (Destroyer # 9). Note that all are flying 46-star jacks. Courtesy of R.D. Jeska, 1984. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.		NHC

ENS Samuel Brown Thomas    Jun 9 1902 - Nov 8 1902
LTJG Willis McDowell    Nov 8 1902 - Feb 16 1903
LTJG Charles Adams Blakely    Jun 19 1905 - Jul 21 1905 (Later VADM)

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