United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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' j;: ' •S -XXVI- Thompson Stadium. The steel bleachers were made ot metal taken from the battleships scrapped by the Five-power Armament treaty of 1922. -51 THE DUTIES of the Superintendent were placed on the broad shoulders of Rear Admiral David Foote Sellers in 1934. He was very energetic and determined that the Academy should graduate men of action. His views on the purpose of the Academy were a topic of extensive debates among the officers and civilian instructors — and the midshipmen. The crux of the debate was whether or not engineering subjects should dominate cultural subjects at the Academy. Which should be stressed ? Admiral Sellers gave the answer in no uncertain terms in his classic statement of the mission of the Naval Academy: . . . the Naval Academy has before it one objective — the developmenty training, and education of officers to fight in the Fleet. Succeeding Rear Admiral Sellers was a young flag officer with a reputation as a strict disciplinarian, Rear Admiral Wilson Brown, Class of 1902. This Superintendent ' s tour of duty was characterized by the appearance of new buildings in the Yard. Melville Hall, named for the Chief Engineer of the ill-fated Jeanette Arctic Expedition of 1877, was con- structed to house the modern internal combustion laboratory. Ever since the Brooklyn Lyceum was established in 1834 the Navy had desired an adequate museum as an ex- hibition place and storehouse for the enormous collection of doc uments and relics gathered by the Navy in its world travels. Several rooms in Mahan Hall were used for a long time as a makeshift museum because a conservative Congress wouldn ' t ap- propriate funds for the construction of a separate building for this use. In 1938 the Naval Institute and the Naval Athletic Association donated $50,000 and $150,000 respectively for the construction of a new museum with offices for these two organiza- tions located in the building. Congress authorized the Secretary of the Navy to accept the money. Admiral Sellers laying the cornerstone in March, 1938. One of the Navy ' s most outstanding authorities on naval history, Captain Harry A. Baldridge, Class of 1902, was chosen as curator, a position he has filled with great success. Today the museum is one of the most complete repositories of naval history in the world. Con- tained among its thousands of objects is the Henry Huddleston Rodgers collection of ship models valued at over $1,000,000, the Malcolm Storer collection of 1,240 naval and military medals awarded from the Revolutionary War up to and including the present world conflict, and the Henry B. Culver library on naval architecture. Prominent among the exhibits seen is the only existing complete collection of Naval Academy class rings. IN 1936 the Naval Academy received a gift from Mr. S. V. Makaroff that was eventually to result in the formation of the handsome Academy Yacht Squadron. Mr. Afa aro presented the beautiful mahogany-hulled Vamarie to the assembled regi- ment of midshipmen on Worden Field as the handsome yacht gently rode the light waves of College Creek beside the parade field. The Vamarie, a staysail ketch, was built in Bremen, Germany and for four years as an ocean racer she had won cup after cup under the skillful hand and eye of Mr. Makaroffi. In 1938 a crew of midshipmen manned her in a race to Bermuda under the command of Captain John F. Shafroth, the first open seaway race participated in by Midshipmen representing the Naval Academy. The

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-m- tion, perhaps the most important event in the life of a midshipman. It is here that he receives the cherished symbol of his days at the Naval Academy — the ring that desig- nates him a member of the great fraternity of seafaring men that have graduated from the United States Naval Academy. The Ring Dance is one of the most impressive and beautiful dances to be found anywhere. Memorial Hall with its tablets of hallowed memory was usually the scene of the dance until recent years when the size of the class necessitated the use of larger MacDonough Hall. The day is customarily that on which the senior class graduates. A huge golden ring modeled after the class ring with the Academy and class crests on opposite sides is set atop a dais. Clever interior lighting causes the setting of the ring to glow with a soft brilliance. Elaborate decorations and the best obtainable music create an atmosphere charged with romance and tradition. The Second Classman chooses his partner carefully and if his sweetheart cannot attend he will usually escort his other best girl, his mother. His One and Only accompanies him and dips his ring, suspended from a lace ribbon, into a compass binnacle filled with water from the Atlantic the Pacific, and the Caribbean, symbolic of his future home. The couple then passes through the huge ring where the lady places the ring on her gentleman ' s finger, class crest inboard until after his graduation one year hence, when, by custom, the Academy crest is worn inboard. At this time the young lady may receive a miniature ring to be regarded as an engagement ring. The couple then kiss and seal the ceremony. Ik CLASSES WERE SMALL during the twenties because of the world wide move- ment to limit armaments which began with the Washington Disarmament Conference of 1921. The size of the regiment has never determined its worth, however, and the small regiment of 1926 was no exception. That was the year that Navy journeyed westward to play Army in Soldiers Field Stadium, Chicago, before the largest crowd ever to see a football game, 110,000. The game ended in a 21-21 tie, but has been ranked by most of the followers of the game as one of the greatest football contests. It was at this time that the inter-service school rivalry first reached a fever pitch. Commander Tom Hamilton, present director of the Navy ' s pre-flight physical indoctrination pro- gram for V-5 cadets, was the hero of the Navy when on that day he coolly booted the tying point before one of the most tense crowds in football history. THROUGHOUT THE TWENTIES and thirties the academic standards of the Academy were continually being raised and new courses added. The Department of Foreign Languages typifies the progress that was made in all departments during these years. The foreign languages offered for study in 1850 were French and Spanish, whereas today the midshipman has his choice of any one of seven languages: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, or Japanese. This choice, incidentally, is the only elective allowed the midshipman in his career at the Academy. In 1930 the Associa- tion of American Universities accredited the Naval Academy as a member, permitting graduates to be awarded a Bachelor of Science degree. Colonel Robert Means Thompson of the Class of 1868, the man whose unfailing interest in the early Naval Academy en- deared him to all midshipman, was honored on May 30, 1931, by the dedication of POST WAR YEARS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

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-mil- Highland Light, a boat having the distinction of being rated in the highest racing classi- fication for wooden ships by Lloyds of London was acquired a short time thereafter. Mr. Stirling Morton further enlarged the new squadron with his presentation of the powerful schooner Freedom. Next to join the proud little fleet was the fast schooner Spindrift, a gift of Mr. W. W. Lanahan of Baltimore. Designed for Bay sailing, the Spindrift is a fine racing sloop and enjoys immense popularity with the midshipmen. The Seamanship Department realized the value of this extra-curricular activity from a pro- fessional standpoint early in the game and authorized the drawing up of plans for twelve yawls. The first three, the y lert, Intrepid, and Resolute were added in 1939; the Restless, Active, and Frolic joined the squadron in 1942 and the remaining six were acquired in the fall of 1943. These yawls are superb for training purposes and rarely lack a full crew. The Naval Academy Yacht Squadron has earned a fine reputation along the Bay and participates in virtually all races held in the area. AFTER EACH GRADUATION it has long been the custom for the First Class and the Third Class to embark on a summer practice cruise on men-of-war. This practice began in 1851 with the cruise of the Hancock on Chesapeake Bay. Between 1860 and 1872 the historic ships Constitution and Santee were utilized for European and Atlantic coast cruises. After her cruising days were over the Santee became station ship until she sank in 1912. It was from her that Santee Basin derived its name. It was absolutely necessary to have a station ship, however, and the ex-Spanish cruiser, the Reina Mercedes, cap- tured in the war with Spain, became the new station ship. The last full-rigger to be built for the Navy was laid down for the express purpose of serving as a midshipmen ' s cruise ship. This ship, the Chesapeake, cruised in such famous company as Farragut ' s flag ship, the Hartford, and Dewey ' s famed Olympia. In 1904 the Atlantic Coast Squad- ron was assigned the duty of providing warships for the summer cruises. Eight years later there were no more wooden ships available for cruise purposes and the now antique battleships New York, Texas, Arkansas, and Wyoming were used exclusively for the summer cruises. These summer voyages were very educational from many standf)oints, and embarkation was always a scene of fond farewells following the June Week gaieties. The midshipmen piled their sea bags in launches and jumped in on top of them to be taken out to the anchored ships in the Roads. Aboard the battleships they had ample opportu- nities to see practical applications of the theory they had learned back at the Academy. In addition they learned the basic fundamentals of the life of a sailor from stowing a ham- mock to swabbing the decks, not to mention the exact technique for charming some interesting senoritas and mademoiselles. Due to the lack of ships following the attack on Pearl Harbor one of the recent classes cruised about Chesapeake Bay in YP boats, earning the nick name of salty sailors of the Chesapeake from the popular Superintendent of that time. Rear Admiral Russell JVillson. The Class of 1945 split up into small groups for their Youngster Year cruise, some cruising on YP boats, others on various available ships of the Fleet. During the summer of 1943 the old battleship Arkansas served once again as a cruise ship. This cruise lacked the glamor of the pre-war days, but was prob- ably far more beneficial from a professional viewpoint. • -- - ' ••L .rt-, .. 4 P y