United States Naval Academy (2/11/2023)

Saturday, February 11, 2023

In order to spend time with the grandsons, Dylan and Pete, we ended up being chauffeurs between their activities!

After picking them up, we first went to lunch at an IHOP on the way to Annapolis. We continued to the USNA/United States Naval Academy where Dylan's high school rowing team had a scheduled practice (13:30-16:00) at Hubbard Hall with its celebrated rowing tank. They also had use of the ergometer room (with exercise equipment that measure physiological response), all under the guidance of Navy rowing staff.

One of the USNA rowing tanks (we were not there
when Dylan was "in the tank")

USNA Hubbard Hall aka The Boat House (1929-1930)
is the home of the USNA rowing teams

The rest of us has time to explore the USNA campus.

USNA Cemetery (est 1868) is the final
resting place for graduates of USNA who
have achieved flag rank, their spouses, and
any Navy officers, staff, or infants who
die while stationed at USNA; including
Admiral James B Stockdale (1923-2005)

Admiral Stockdale was the most senior naval officer held captive in Hanoi during the Vietnam War. He was held as a prisoner of war in the Hỏa Lò Prison (the infamous "Hanoi Hilton") for seven and a half years. Stockdale was the vice-presidential candidate with independent Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election.

Grave of Jason Jablonski (1995-2016) who died of
complications from leukemia in his fourth year at USNA

Jason was from Athol Springs, near Orchard Park, NY. His favorite teams were inscribed on the side of his tombstone, including nearly every team in Erie County, NY.

Mementoes left on the grave of John S McCain III
(1936-2018), who was also a prisoner of war at the
"Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War

McCain was subjected to severe torture, due to his father being an admiral and commander-in-chief of the Vietnam theater during the war and McCain's refusal for early release unless every man taken in before him was also released. John McCain retired from the Navy as a Captain, and served in the US House of Representatives and the Senate. He was the Republican presidential candidate in 2008.

A rare grave of two Midshipmen Wm Edward Traylor Neumann
and Thomas Ward, Jr, who chose to serve on the USS Missouri
together; they died during a training accident on April 13, 1904

USS Jeannette Memorial (1890) honors the
men who died in the 1879-1781 Arctic
Exploring Expedition that was led by USNA
graduate Lt Commander George W Delong

USNA Observatory (1991 replica of the 1854 original)
houses the original 7.75” aperture Clark refracting telescope

Tripoli Monument (1806-1808, by Giovanni C
Micali) is the oldest military monument in the
United States and honors heroes of the War
Against the Barbary Coast Pirates, in the
attacks on Tripoli, Ottoman Empire

In 1804, President Jefferson ordered the nation's tiny naval force to the Mediterranean to protect the expanding trade of the new United States against the pirates, who demanded ransom for safe passage of merchant ships.

SS Central America Bell was found during
recovery of the sunken ship in 1988

USNA graduate Commander William Lewis Herndon, one of the Navy's explorers of the time, was Captain of the SS Central America in 1857. Operating between Central America and the US East Coast, the ship foundered during a hurricane. Primarily women and children were transferred to safety to another ship, yet the SS Central America sank with most of the passengers and crew, plus 30,000 pounds of gold. Captain Herndon remained in the wheelhouse to go down with the ship.

Commander William Lewis Herndon
Monument (1860)

The monument is the site of the famous "plebes-no-more" ceremony tradition, where the plebes (first-year students at the academy) are all expected to work together to climb the greased monument and replace a plebe "dixie-cup hat" on top with a combination cover/peaked service hat.

USNA Chapel (1904-1908, by Ernest Flagg)

Kent and Pete with one of a pair of "old
fashioned" anchors from the Navy's first
armored cruiser, the USS New York, which
served during the Spanish-American War

USNA Chapel interior

Stained glass window of Jonah
being swallowed by a very small whale

The John Paul Jones Crypt houses the sarcophagus (1913,
by Sylvain Salières) with the remains of the naval captain
who is considered the "Father of the American Navy"
based on his exploits during the American Revolution

John Paul Jones was born in Scotland, became a sailor at age 13, and worked his way up to being captain of merchant vessels. He emigrated to America and in 1775 volunteeered with the Continental Navy. In 1779, at the Battle of Flamborough Head off the northern coast of England, Jones was commander of the USS Bonhomme Richard. When his ship rammed and locked up with the British ship Serapis, Jones is said to have replied "I have not yet begun to fight!" to a demand of surrender. In other accounts of the battle, the quote may have been "I may sink, but I'll be damned if I strike," where to strike meant to surrender. After the American Revolution, Jones was awarded medals by the United States and France. Later he went into naval service under the Empress Catherine II of Russia, and garnered another medal. Jones was living in Paris when he died and was buried in a royal cemetery. After the French Revolution, the cemtery property was sold and forgotten. In 1905, after six years of research, United States Ambassador to France, General Horace Porter, discovered the location of the remains of John Paul Jones. The remains were eventually brought to the United States and re-interred in the USNA Chapel crypt.

Submarine Centennial Monument (1999-2000, by
Paul Wegner) dedicated to those who serve beneath
the sea, 100 years after the purchase of
the first submarine, USS Holland, in 1900

Midway Monument (1996) commemorates the Battle of
Midway that is considered the turning point of the war
in the Pacific theater in World War II

Tamenend Statue (1891 bronze copy of the
1820 figurehead of the USS Delaware
that was salvaged in 1866 after being burned
in the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1861 to prevent
it from falling into Confederate hands)

The Tamenend figurehead was named for the great chief of the Delawares, who was a friend of William Penn. It was cast in bronze before the wooden figure completely deteriorated, and the wooden brains and heart have been incorporaated in the bronze statue. USNA tradition is that is a midshipman successfully tosses a penny into the quiver of arrows, he will pass his exam.

Cannon bench

The Spanish smooth-bore cannon was captured in 1847
during the Mexican-American War (KSS)

Detail of the captured Spanish cannon (KSS)

Mexican-American War Midshipmen's Monument (1848)
honors four midshipmen who lost their lives during that
war (1846-1848): H A Clemson, J R Hynson,
J W Pillsbury, and T B Shubrick 

Detail of a captured Spanish cannon (KSS)

Macedonian Monument (2014 mahogany replica of the
c 1810 figurehead of HMS Macedonian, captured by
Stephen Decatur and the American frigate United States
in the opening days of the War of 1812)

The figurehead depicts Alexander the Great, and the original was brought to the USNA in 1875.

In memory of Hirosi Saito, the Japanese
Ambassador, who died in 1939 and his
remains were conveyed on board the
USS Astoria to his native land, his wife
and children presented this stone garden
pagoda to the USNA in 1940

Statue (2008, by Lawrence M Ludke)
of Vice Admiral James Stockdale

Statue (2008, by Lawrence M Ludke)
of Vice Admiral William P Lawrence,
another highly decorated USNA graduate
who was also a Vietnam prisoner of war,
but went on to train as an astronaut

Although William Lawrence did not go into space, his daughter, Wendy Lawrence, became a Navy aviator and later a NASA Astronaut who flew four Space Shuttle missions.

What in the world is this guy riding?! An electric
hydrofoil surfboard or e-foil board; apparently the faster
you go, the higher off the water you are raised

Triton Light (1959) a navigational beacon,
dedicated to the safe return of all those
who go to sea in ships

A year after the Triton Light was installed, the submarine USS Triton completed her historic submerged circumnavigation. The crew of Triton provided samples of water from the 22 seas through which their boat had passed, which were used to fill a globe built into the light.

Mark XIV Torpedo as a memorial to 427 crew members
who died in submarine disasters, between 1900 and 1975

Foremast (1855) of the USS Maine, the ship
that exploded in the Havana Harbor, setting
off the Spanish-American War

The wreck of the USS Maine was raised in 1912, and pieces of the ship rest in memorials and parks all across the country.

Admiral Ben Moreell Memorial (1973, by
Felix DeWeldon) honors the "Father of the Seabees"
(United States Naval Construction Battalions) who
influenced the advancement of the Civil Engineering Corps
in World War II combat zones

Seal of the United States Naval Academy

A quick stop in the USNA Armel-Leftwich Visitor Center:

Display of the Dahlgren Boat Howitzer
(designed by John A Dahlgren who
established the Navy's Ordinance Department)
could easily be transported and assembled
on landing boats, and used on ship or land

The traditional USNA mascot is a goat named "Bill";
however, this taxidermied goat was renamed "3-0 Jack Dalton"
in memory of the captain of the 1911 USNA football
team who kicked the winning field goal vs Army

Statue (1957, by Clemente Spampinato) of Bill, the Goat,
the USNA mascot since 1890

Statue (2002, by Patrick D Miller) of
Lieutenant General John A Lejeune,
who was the Thirteenth Commandant of
the Marine Corps and is considered the
greatest of the "Leathernecks"

Residences of the top officers at USNA

Buchanan House (c 1906) is the residence of the
USNA Superintendent; there has been a recommendation
that the name of this house, as well as another hall and
a road, be renamed, as these are currently named for
officers who joined the  Confederate Navy during the Civil War

Ellyson Park (2019) is named for Lieutenant Theodore
"Spuds" Ellyson, the first naval aviator, and contains four
fighter jets including this F-14A Tomcat fighter jet on loan
from the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL

After Dylan's crew practice, we stopped for dinner at Five Guys, before the next event: ice skating at the Cabin John Ice Rink sponsored by Tilden Middle School PTSA

Cabin John Ice Rink outdoor illuminated sign;
the facility has three ice rinks

This photo does not capture how crowded the NHL Rink was

Pete joined many friends at the rink

Next: Hanover, PA.