(the following biography is taken from wikipedia in whole or parts)  Born in Aztalan, Wisconsin, Beatty graduated with the United States Naval Academy Class of 1875, and then served at sea in the wooden screw-sloop Tuscarora before receiving his ensign's commission in 1876. After service at sea in a succession of ships — Minnesota, Richmond, Despatch, and Tallapoosa — between 1878 and 1889, he completed two tours of duty on shore, first in the Library and War Records Office (among the predecessor offices of the present Naval Historical Center) and then participating in the deliberation of the International Marine Conference.

In the spring of 1892, Beatty returned to duty afloat, serving briefly in Ranger before being ordered to the monitor Miantonomoh. After torpedo instruction, the young officer — by then a lieutenant — served in the dynamite cruiser Vesuvius; and spent the next few years alternating between duty ashore at the Naval Academy and afloat, in Monongahela. Reporting to the gunboat Adams in the summer of 1897, he became that ship's executive officer in October and served in that capacity until transferred to the monitor Monterey in March 1898. The following spring, Beatty became the executive officer of gunboat Wheeling.

Shore duty at the Washington Navy Yard preceded a tour in charge of the Department of Yards and Docks in the Navy Department from 13 February 1901 to 21 January 1902. Two commands followed in succession: first, the nautical school ship Saratoga and then Gloucester, before he became Commander, Naval Base, Culebra, Puerto Rico, in February 1904, with additional duty commanding Gloucester.

After a brief tour first as assistant inspector and later as the inspector of the 9th Light House District, headquartered at Chicago, Illinois, Beatty spent the next decade alternating between ordnance duty ashore and service afloat, commanding in turn the cruisers USS Columbia (C-12) and USS Charleston (C-22) and the battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-9). His shore duty included a tour as Assistant Superintendent of the Naval Gun Factory, Washington Navy Yard; one in the Bureau of Ordnance as a member of the board on sights; and, ultimately, a stint as Commandant of the Washington Navy Yard and Superintendent of the Naval Gun Factory. While holding the latter post from 1905 to 1907, Beatty was instrumental in the development of an electric range finder.