James Sands links Farragut's Hartford to Nimitz

Is there a specific Farragut-era officer whom later admirals such as Nimitz would have known?

Yes. James H. Sands served aboard Hartford in 1864 and later overlapped Nimitz at the Naval Academy.

A viewer identifies James H. Sands as an officer who had served aboard USS Hartford in 1864 and later held a senior Naval Academy role. His Academy tenure overlapped the period when Chester Nimitz was a midshipman. On those dates, Nimitz and other early twentieth-century officers could have known a Farragut veteran directly. The example strengthens the earlier answer without proving that every later admiral shared the same personal connection.