History Lesson Tuesday: 1845 US Naval Academy Opens
The United States Naval Academy opens in Annapolis, Maryland, with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors. Known as the Naval School until 1850, the curriculum included mathematics and navigation, gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy, and French.
The Naval School officially became the U.S. Naval Academy in 1850, and a new curriculum went into effect, requiring midshipmen to study at the academy for four years and to train aboard ships each summer—the basic format that remains at the academy to this day.
UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY COMPANY HISTORY TIMELINE
1845
-The institution was founded as the Naval School on 10 October 1845 by Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft. The campus was established at Annapolis on the grounds of the former U.S. Army post Fort Severn. The school opened with 50 midshipman students and seven professors. The decision to establish an academy on land may have been in part a result of the Somers Affair, an alleged mutiny involving the Secretary of War's son that resulted in his execution at sea. Commodore Matthew Perry had a considerable interest in naval education, supporting an apprentice system to train new seamen, and helped establish the curriculum for the United States Naval Academy. He was also a vocal proponent of modernization of the navy.
1848
-The first superintendent, Admiral Franklin Buchanan, joined the Confederate States Navy as its first and primary admiral. Captain Sidney Smith Lee, the second commandant of midshipmen, and older brother of Robert E. Lee, left Federal service in 1861 for the Confederate States Navy. Lieutenant William Harwar Parker, CSN, class of 1848, and instructor at USNA, joined the Virginia State Navy, and then went on to become the superintendent of the Confederate States Naval Academy
1850
-Originally a course of study for five years was prescribed. Only the first and last were spent at the school with the other three being passed at sea. The present name was adopted when the school was reorganized in 1850 and placed under the supervision of the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. Under the immediate charge of the superintendent, the course of study was extended to seven years with the first two and the last two to be spent at the school and the intervening three years at sea. The four years of study were made consecutive in 1851 and practice cruises were substituted for the three consecutive years at sea. The first class of naval academy students graduated on 10 June 1854. They were considered as passed midshipmen until 1912, when graduates were first sworn in as officers.
-In 1850, Edward Seager joined the faculty as the first instructor of drawing, and he also served as the first fencing instructor.
1854
-Originally a course of study for five years was prescribed. Only the first and last were spent at the school with the other three being passed at sea. The present name was adopted when the school was reorganized in 1850 and placed under the supervision of the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. Under the immediate charge of the superintendent, the course of study was extended to seven years with the first two and the last two to be spent at the school and the intervening three years at sea. The four years of study were made consecutive in 1851 and practice cruises were substituted for the three consecutive years at sea. The first class of naval academy students graduated on 10 June 1854. They were considered as passed midshipmen until 1912, when graduates were first sworn in as officers.
1857
-In 1860, the Tripoli Monument was moved to the academy grounds. Later that year in August, the model of the USS Somers experiment was resurrected when USS Constitution, then 60 years old, was recommissioned as a school ship for the fourth-class midshipmen after a conversion and refitting begun in 1857. She was anchored at the yard, and the plebes lived on board the ship to immediately introduce them to shipboard life and experiences.
1861
-Almost immediately the three upper classes were detached and ordered to sea, and the remaining elements of the academy were transported to Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island by the USS Constitution in April 1861, where the academy was set up in temporary facilities and opened in May.
-Captain Sidney Smith Lee, the second commandant of midshipmen, and older brother of Robert E. Lee, left Federal service in 1861 for the Confederate States Navy.
1865
-The midshipmen and faculty returned to Annapolis in the summer of 1865, just after the war ended.
-Civil War hero Admiral David Dixon Porter became superintendent in 1865. He found the infrastructure at Annapolis a shambles, the result of ill military use during the War. Porter attempted to restore the facilities. He concentrated on recruiting naval officers as opposed to civilians, a change of philosophy. He recruited teachers Stephen B. Luce, future admirals Winfield Scott Schley, George Dewey, and William T. Sampson. The midshipman battalion consisted of four companies. These were bunked in a single wooden building containing 100 rooms, one company to a floor. They held dress parades every evening except Sunday. Students were termed "cadets", though sometimes "cadet midshipmen"; other appellations were used. Porter began organized athletics, usually intramural at the time.
1868
-In 1867, indoor plumbing and water was supplied to the family quarters. In 1868, the figurehead from USS Delaware, known as "Tecumseh" was erected in the yard. Class rings were first issued in 1869. Weekly dances were held. Wags called the school "Porter's Dancing Academy." President U.S. Grant distributed diplomas to the class of 1869. Porter ensured continued room for expansion by overseeing the purchase of 113 acres (46 ha) across College Creek, later known as hospital point.
1869
-Class rings were first issued in 1869.
1871
-In 1871, color competition began, along with the selection of the color company, and a "color girl."
1872
-John H. Conyers of South Carolina was the first African-American admitted on 21 September 1872. After his arrival, he was subject to severe, ongoing hazing, including verbal torment, and beatings. His classmates even attempted to drown him. Three cadets were dismissed as a result, but the abuse, including shunning, continued in more subtle forms and Conyers finally resigned in October 1873.
1873
-Three cadets were dismissed as a result, but the abuse, including shunning, continued in more subtle forms and Conyers finally resigned in October 1873.
1874
-In the 1870s, cuts in the military budget resulted in graduating much smaller classes. In 1872, 25 graduated. Eight of these made the Navy a career. The third class physically hazed the fourth class so ruthlessly that Congress passed an anti-hazing law in 1874. Hazing continued in more stealthy forms.
1878
-In 1874, the curriculum was altered to study naval topics in the final two years at the academy. In 1878, the academy was awarded a gold medal for academics at the Universal Exposition in Paris.
1879
-Many firsts for minorities occurred during this period. In 1877, Kiro Kunitomo, a Japanese citizen, graduated from the academy. And then in 1879, Robert F. Lopez was the first Hispanic-American to graduate from the academy.
1890
-In 1890, Navy adopted the goat mascot after winning its first football game with Army.
1905
-The Spanish–American War of 1898 greatly increased the academy's importance and the campus was almost wholly rebuilt and much enlarged between 1899 and 1906. The ground on which most of the academy sat was dredged from the surrounding bodies of water and consisted of silt. This was too fragile for the newer heavy stone buildings. Pilings were sunk from 100 feet (30 m) to 400 feet (120 m) deep. Some wooden with iron caps; modern ones of steel. Today's campus dates from that era. In 1905, Isherwood Hall, containing the Department of Marine Engineering, was constructed.
1907
-The academy built a modern hospital in 1907, the fourth in sequence, on what is today called "Hospital Point."
1910
-In 1910, the academy established its own dairy farm. This was closed in 1998.
1911
-On 23 August 1911, the Navy officers on flight duty at Hammondsport, New York, and Dayton, Ohio, were ordered to report for duty at the Engineering Experiment Station, Naval Academy, "in connection with the test of gasoline motors and other experimental work in the development of aviation, including instruction at the aviation school" being set up on Greenbury Point, Annapolis. The "aerodrome" at Greensbury Point sat on 1000 square feet of land and consisted of a building with a rubber-reinforced roof containing three hangars (one for each of the newly purchased airplanes), a workshop, an office, and several bunk rooms. All three airplanes cost a total of $14,000. Over 100 officers applied for aviation duty prior to August 1911. Swimming was among a set of other qualifications that a pilot candidate must have passed before being accepted to aviation duty. Pilot qualifications were in accordance with Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) standards. In the presence of a committee of the Aero Club of America, a pilot candidate had to fly five figure eights around two flags buoyed 1500 feet apart then land within 150 feet of an established mark. This course had to be completed twice. The test also required the prospective aviator to climb to a minimum altitude of 150 ft (officially 50 meters). It was estimated by CAPT Washington Irving Chambers that a student could qualify as a new pilot in about a month, weather permitting. All students wore life preservers. The control wheel of the Curtiss machines featured a "shift control" where the controls could be "thrown" between the student and instructor at any time. The Wright machine was delivered to Greenbury by August 1911, but was not yet configured with water gear. Navy flight training moved to NAS Pensacola, Florida, in January 1914.
1912
-They were considered as passed midshipmen until 1912, when graduates were first sworn in as officers. Originally a course of study for five years was prescribed. Only the first and last were spent at the school with the other three being passed at sea. The present name was adopted when the school was reorganized in 1850 and placed under the supervision of the chief of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography. Under the immediate charge of the superintendent, the course of study was extended to seven years with the first two and the last two to be spent at the school and the intervening three years at sea. The four years of study were made consecutive in 1851 and practice cruises were substituted for the three consecutive years at sea. The first class of naval academy students graduated on 10 June 1854. They were considered as passed midshipmen until 1912, when graduates were first sworn in as officers.
-In 1912, Reina Mercedes, sunk at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, was raised and used as the "brig" ship for the academy.
1914
-On 23 August 1911, the Navy officers on flight duty at Hammondsport, New York, and Dayton, Ohio, were ordered to report for duty at the Engineering Experiment Station, Naval Academy, "in connection with the test of gasoline motors and other experimental work in the development of aviation, including instruction at the aviation school" being set up on Greenbury Point, Annapolis. The "aerodrome" at Greensbury Point sat on 1000 square feet of land and consisted of a building with a rubber-reinforced roof containing three hangars (one for each of the newly purchased airplanes), a workshop, an office, and several bunk rooms. All three airplanes cost a total of $14,000. Over 100 officers applied for aviation duty prior to August 1911. Swimming was among a set of other qualifications that a pilot candidate must have passed before being accepted to aviation duty. Pilot qualifications were in accordance with Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) standards. In the presence of a committee of the Aero Club of America, a pilot candidate had to fly five figure eights around two flags buoyed 1500 feet apart then land within 150 feet of an established mark. This course had to be completed twice. The test also required the prospective aviator to climb to a minimum altitude of 150 ft (officially 50 meters). It was estimated by CAPT Washington Irving Chambers that a student could qualify as a new pilot in about a month, weather permitting. All students wore life preservers. The control wheel of the Curtiss machines featured a "shift control" where the controls could be "thrown" between the student and instructor at any time. The Wright machine was delivered to Greenbury by August 1911, but was not yet configured with water gear. Navy flight training moved to NAS Pensacola, Florida, in January 1914.
1915
-Antoine Joseph Corbesier, an immigrant from Belgium, was appointed to the position of Assistant Swordmaster in 1864, and then Swordmaster at USNA in October 1865. He coached Navy fencers in intercollegiate competition from 1896, when the Naval Academy joined the Intercollegiate Fencing Association, until 1914, when he retired. By special act of Congress, he was commissioned a 1st lieutenant in the Marine Corps on 4 March 1914. He died on 26 March 1915 and is buried on Hospital Point.
-1918
In 1918, the great flu pandemic of 1918 infected about half the brigade (1,000 out of 2,000 men); ten midshipmen died.
1920
-At the 1920 summer Olympics men's 8+ rowing competition in Brussels, the Navy Academy rowing men's 8+ (The Wonder Crew) won the gold medal. US collegiate boats won the gold medal in the 8+ competition at the next seven Olympics – a standing record as of 2019 for consecutive gold medal wins by any nation in a particular sport.
1925
-In 1925, the second-class ring dance was started.
1926
-The Naval Academy football team played the University of Washington in the Rose Bowl tying 14–14. In 1925, the second-class ring dance was started. In 1925, the Midshipmen Drum and Bugle Corps was formally reestablished. In 1926, "Navy Blue and Gold", composed by organist and choirmaster J. W. Crosley, was first sung in public. It became a tradition to sing this alma mater song at the end of student and alumni gatherings such as pep rallies and football games, and on graduation day. In 1926, Navy won the national collegiate football championship title. In the fall of 1929, the Secretary of the Navy gave his approval for graduates to compete for Rhodes Scholarships. Six graduates were selected for that honor that same year. The Association of American Universities accredited the Naval Academy curriculum on 30 October 1930.
1929
-In the fall of 1929, the Secretary of the Navy gave his approval for graduates to compete for Rhodes Scholarships.
1939
-In 1939, the first Yard patrol boat arrived. These we used to train midshipmen in ship handling.
1940
-In 1940, the academy stopped using Reina Mercedes as a brig for disciplining midshipmen, and restricted them to Bancroft Hall, instead.
1941
-In April 1941, superintendent Rear Admiral Russell Willson refused to allow the school's lacrosse team to play a visiting team from Harvard University because the Harvard team included an African-American player. Harvard's athletic director ordered the player home and the game was played on 4 April, as scheduled, which Navy won 12–0.
-In 1941, the 5th and 6th wings of Bancroft Hall were completed. Landfill was made outboard of the hospital to create a sports field. Fill was made on the north side of the Severn to create an area for seaplanes
1943
-A total of 3,319 graduates were commissioned during World War II. Dr. Chris Lambertsen held the first closed-circuit oxygen SCUBA course in the United States for the Office of Strategic Services maritime unit at the academy on 17 May 1943. In 1945, A Department of Aviation was established. That year a vice admiral, Aubrey W. Fitch, became superintendent. The naval academy celebrated its centennial. During the century of its existence, roughly 18,563 midshipmen had graduated, including the class of 1946.
1945
-In 1945, A Department of Aviation was established.
1946
-During the century of its existence, roughly 18,563 midshipmen had graduated, including the class of 1946.
1949
-On 3 June 1949, Wesley A. Brown, the sixth African-American to enter the academy, became the first to graduate, followed several years later by Lawrence Chambers, who became the first African-American graduate to make flag rank.
1950
-The 1950 Navy fencing team won the NCAA national championship.
1952
-The Navy eight-man rowing crew won the gold medal at 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
1955
-In 1955, the tradition of greasing Herndon Monument for plebes to climb to exchange their plebe "dixie cup" covers (hats) for a midshipman's cover started. They were also named National Intercollegiate Champions. In 1955, the tradition of greasing Herndon Monument for plebes to climb to exchange their plebe "dixie cup" covers (hats) for a midshipman's cover started.
1957
-In 1957, the moored training ship Reina Mercedes, ruined by a hurricane, was scrapped.
1959
-The 1959 fencing team won the NCAA national championship, and became the first to do so by placing first in all three weapons (foil, épée, and saber). All 3 fencers were selected for the 1960 Olympics team, as was head coach Andre Deladrier. The Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, funded by donations, was dedicated 26 September 1959.
1961
-Joe Bellino (Class of 1961) was awarded the Heisman Trophy on 22 June 1960. In 1961, the Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference was started. The U.S. Department of the Interior designated the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy as a National Historic Landmark on 21 August 1961.
1962
-The 1962 fencing team won the NCAA national championship.
1963
-The academy started the Trident Scholar Program in 1963. From 3 to 16 juniors are selected for independent study during their final year.
1966
-Professor Samuel Massie became the first African-American faculty member in 1966. On 4 June 1969, the first designated engineering degrees were granted to qualified graduates of the Class of 1969. During the period 1968 to 1972, the academy moved beyond engineering to include more than 20 majors. From 1845 to 1968, midshipmen studied identical courses, with the exception of a choice of foreign language. In 1970, the "James Forrestal Lecture" was created, named for the first U.S. Secretary of Defense in 1947/1949. This has resulted in various leaders speaking to midshipmen, including U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, football coach Dick Vermeil, and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and others.
1969
-On 4 June 1969, the first designated engineering degrees were granted to qualified graduates of the Class of 1969.
1972
-In 1972, Lieutenant Commander Georgia Clark became the first female officer instructor, and Doctor Rae Jean Goodman was appointed to the faculty as the first civilian woman.
1979
-In 1979, the traditional "June Week" was renamed "Commissioning Week" because graduation had been moved earlier to May.
1980
-In May 1980, Elizabeth Anne Belzer (later Rowe) became the first woman graduate.
-The Class of 1980 was inducted with 81 female midshipmen.
1982
-In 1982, Isherwood, Griffin, and Melville Halls were demolished.
1984
-On 23 May 1984, Kristine Holderied became the first woman to graduate at the head of the class.
1994
-On 29 January 1994, the first genderless service assignment was held.
2007
-In August 2007, Superintendent Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler changed academy policy to limit liberty, required more squad interaction to emphasize that "we are a nation at war."
-On 3 November 2007, the Navy football team defeated long-time rival Notre Dame for the first time in 43 years: 46–44 in triple overtime.
-In November 2007, Memorial Hall was the venue for a 50-nation Annapolis Conference on a Palestinian-Israeli peace process discussion.
2017
-In 2017, hospital functions were moved across the Severn.
2019
-US collegiate boats won the gold medal in the 8+ competition at the next seven Olympics – a standing record as of 2019 for consecutive gold medal wins by any nation in a particular sport.
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