Sailing at the U.S. Naval Academy

Sailing at the U.S. Naval Academy PDF

Author: Robert W. McNitt

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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This heavily illustrated book chronicles sailing's unique heritage at the Naval Academy from 1845 onward. It begins in the days of fighting sail, when the reputation of a naval officer depended principally on his ability to handle a square-rigged ship and when sailing was the central activity of the school. Sailing offers vivid descriptions of training aboard the grand old practice ships - Constitution, Constellation, and Macedonian - under master mariners like Stephen B. Luce, then moves to the 1930s, when some energetic midshipmen revived the sailing program by entering intercollegiate competition and offshore racing. By 1995 the program was the most popular midshipman activity; academy sailors won the Dinghy National Championship four times in five years and the top prize in the Newport-to-Bermuda Race - after fifty-four years of trying! Written by a well-known sailor and longtime ocean-racing coach at the Academy, the book is filled with dramatic stories of great races and adventurous cruising. And it records the history of the famous Luders yawls Fearless, Dandy, and Flirt, and the donated boats Vamarie, Highland Light, and Royono, among others, plus sixty years of intercollegiate small-boat racing. It also documents the academy's development of the Quick Stop man-overboard rescue maneuver and its Safety at Sea seminar program, both of which have been adopted nationwide. Admiral McNitt credits the contributions and support of the Fales Committee, the Naval Academy Sailing Squadron, and other civilian groups who have provided invaluable support over many years. Appendixes list Dinghy National Championship winners, midshipman All-American sailors, the performance of academy boats inthe Bermuda race, and members of the Fales Committee.

The Story of the U. S. Naval Academy

The Story of the U. S. Naval Academy PDF

Author: Clara A. Simmons

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9781557507679

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Presents an illustrated history of the 150 years of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., by focusing on the lives of its midshipmen.

Blue & Gold and Black

Blue & Gold and Black PDF

Author: Robert John Schneller

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 458

ISBN-13: 1603444173

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During the twentieth century, the U.S. Naval Academy evolved from a racist institution to one that ranked equal opportunity among its fundamental tenets. This transformation was not without its social cost, however, and black midshipmen bore the brunt of it. Blue & Gold and Black is the history of integration of African Americans into the Naval Academy. The book examines how civil rights advocates? demands for equal opportunity shaped the Naval Academy?s evolution. Author Robert J. Schneller Jr. analyzes how changes in the Academy?s policies and culture affected the lives of black midshipmen, as well as how black midshipmen effected change in the Academy?s policies and culture. Most institutional history is written from the top down, while most social history is written from the bottom up. Based on the documentary record as well as on the memories of hundreds of midshipmen and naval officers, Blue & Gold and Black includes both perspectives. By examining both the institution and the individual, a much more accurate picture emerges of how racial integration occurred at the Naval Academy. Schneller takes a biographical approach to social history. Through written correspondence, responses to questionnaires, memoirs, and oral histories, African American midshipmen recount their experiences in their own words. Rather than setting adrift their humanity and individuality in oceans of statistics, Schneller uses their first-hand recollections to provide insights into the Academy?s culture that cannot be gained from official records. Covering the Jim Crow era, the civil rights movement, and the empowerment of African Americans from the late 1960s through the end of the twentieth century, Blue & Gold and Black traces the transformation of an institution that produces men and women who lead not only the Navy, but also the nation.

First Class

First Class PDF

Author: Sharon Disher

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2013-07-31

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 1612514294

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When Sharon Hanley Disher entered the U.S. Naval Academy with eighty other young women in 1976, she helped end a 131-year all-male tradition at Annapolis. Her entertaining and shocking account of the women's four-year effort to join the academy's elite fraternity and become commissioned naval officers is a valuable chronicle of the times, and her insights have been credited with helping us understand the challenges of integrating women into the military services. From the punishing crucible of plebe summer to the triumph of graduation, she describes their search for ways to survive the mental and physical hurdles they had to overcome. Unflinchingly frank, she freely discusses the prejudice and abuse they encountered that often went unpunished or unreported. A loyal Navy supporter, nevertheless, Disher provides a balanced account of life behind the academy's storied walls for that first group of teenaged women who charted the way for future female midshipmen. Lively, well researched, and amazingly good humored, the book seems as fresh today as it was when first published in hardcover in 1998.

Annapolis Autumn

Annapolis Autumn PDF

Author: Bruce Fleming

Publisher: The New Press

Published: 2011-05-10

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1595587233

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What really goes on behind the wall that surrounds the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis? What are all those midshipmen, future officers in the U.S. Naval and Marine Corps and leaders of our society, thinking as they stand in neat ranks at the parades beloved by tourists? What are their professors actually educating them to do. In Annapolis Autumn, Bruce Fleming, professor of English for nearly two decades at the academy and a prizewinning author, captures the sights, sounds, colors, and conversations of this tradition-steeped institution. In other classes, the cadets learn how to assemble guns, control armored vehicles, man battleships, and kill other human beings. Nothing is ever less than "outstanding, sir!" In English class, however, Fleming introduces his students to nuance and subtext, to the gay poets of World War I, and to the idea that not every piece of literature is designed to be "motivational." Sharing stories from his twenty years at the academy, Fleming explores questions about teaching, the labels "liberal" and "conservative," and the ultimate purpose of higher education—issues made all the more gripping at a time when many of his students will graduate from the classroom to the battlefield.

A Society of Gentlemen

A Society of Gentlemen PDF

Author: Mark C. Hunter

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781591143970

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Mark C. Hunter makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the evolution of professional standards in the U.S. armed forces with this social history of U.S. naval officer education at Annapolis. Combining statistical and scholarly analysis based on original research, he reveals that through the Naval Academy, the Navy in 1845 initiated a more structured form of education in order to assess potential officers on academic and practical seamanship skills. His findings show that by the 1850s the Academy had established summer cruises and school ships to teach navigation and command skills to recruits taken from civilian life. This study offers a detailed analysis of antebellum Naval Academy alumni, including their backgrounds and disciplinary records while students at Annapolis. Hunter enlivens this statistical data to provide insight into the personal lives of these young officers by drawing on the letters of midshipmen and the autobiographies of famous naval officers.

The U.S. Naval Institute on the U.S. Naval Academy: The History

The U.S. Naval Institute on the U.S. Naval Academy: The History PDF

Author: Thomas J Cutler

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2015-12-15

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 161251989X

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The U.S. Naval Institute Chronicles series focuses on the relevance of history by exploring topics like significant battles, personalities, and service components. Tapping into the U.S. Naval Institute's robust archives, these carefully selected volumes help readers understand nuanced subjects by providing unique perspectives and some of the best contributions that have helped shape naval thinking over the many decades since the Institute’s founding in 1873. The U.S. Naval Institute has been on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy since its inception in 1873. Over the decades many articles have been written discussing the unique character and history of this venerated institution while also challenging it to stay on course. This edition of Chronicles presents a number of selections from that large catalog.

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Climb PDF

Author: James McNeal

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2020-09-01

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1682475522

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The Herndon Climb is an important and meaningful ritual in Naval Academy culture. Scaling the heavily greased, 21-foot tall Herndon Monument as a group at the very end of the year for "plebes," or freshmen, the Climb marks a major turning point in the lives of all Midshipmen, who are relieved of their low status at the moment they complete the task. The book is culled from interviews with more than fifty subjects, including participants in Climbs over the past six decades, with personal observations from the 2019 and 2018 events. Co-author James McNeal recalls the joyful pride of participating in the Climb as a plebe in 1983, and his experience helps bring vivid detail to the memories and reflections of his fellow Midshipmen. The book also includes a discussion of the career of William Lewis Herndon, whose heroic sacrifice at sea inspired the monument, and also traces the history and development of the modern Climb to its roots in the earliest plebe celebrations.

The U.S. Naval Academy

The U.S. Naval Academy PDF

Author: Jack Sweetman

Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13:

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"On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval Institute Press takes pleasure in presenting a new edition of its now-classic illustrated history of the Academy. First published in 1979, the book has been updated to include the revolutionary changes of the 1980s and the challenges of the early-to-mid-1990s at an institution steeped in tradition yet adapting to change. This second edition has been prepared by Thomas J. Cutler, a recently retired naval officer and historian who taught at the Academy during the very years he writes about. His new chapters pick up where those of the original author, former Academy history professor Jack Sweetman, left off." "Certain to remain a favorite of Annapolis graduates, their families and friends, naval buffs, and those eager to learn about life at the Academy, this handsome book includes more than 200 photographs, paintings, and drawings covering all fifteen decades of the Academy's colorful history. It is a stirring story filled with entertaining anecdotes as well as authoritative accounts of the Academy's evolution from its modest beginnings as a naval training school in an unwanted army fort to a 300-acre showcase facility that has become one of the nation's leading baccalaureate institutions."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved