William Henry Hudson Southerland (July 10, 1852 – January 30, 1933) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy.

[1] Southerland first joined the Union Navy as a volunteer towards the end of the Civil War, despite being only twelve years old, serving for only a brief time.

[5] Over the next 34 years, Southerland served in varied positions at sea and ashore, including duty with the Hydrographic Office, the Bureau of Equipment, and the Board of Inspection and Survey.

[4] In between, he supervised the fitting out of the protected cruiser Cleveland (C-19) before briefly serving as her first commander in November 1903.

[4] On his retirement on July 10, 1914, at age 62, Southerland was the last Civil War naval veteran still in active service, and one of very few to rise from enlisted man to admiral in the course of his career.