Not having attended the Academy I knew none of this. Of those six, the USS Constitution is still in service today with a full complement of active duty Navy sailors.

Middies also learn that with the Naval Act of 1794, congress ordered the construction of the first six ships for the newly formed U.S.

Navy, founded in the Continental Navy of 1775 when George Washington took control of schooners to engage the British. Midshipmen are taught the origins of the U.S. The Academy has the luxury of time to enforce an indoctrination program that is as full of history as it is math and science.įounded in 1845, the Academy is rich with cultural icons such as the crypt of John Paul Jones, the flag flown by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (Battle of Lake Erie, 1813), the Tecumseh statue (a replica of the figure head of the USS Delaware commissioned in 1820), and the bell brought back by Commodore Matthew Perry from his voyage to open Japan trade routes (1850s). Naval Academy (aka Annapolis, the Boat School, Canoe U, Shipwreck Tech.), I would have been surrounded by historical touchstones. I realize that 10 years is a long time to be in uniform and not acknowledge my service's history, but when I joined the Navy in 1987 I did so solely to be a pilot. With these words, the surly 'ring knocker' (aka Naval Academy graduate) sparked in me the seeds of what has become a true appreciation for the deep and rich heritage of the U.S. Speaking in his best pirate's growl, this knife-in-the-teeth warrior, who routinely slept on his office couch and had a penchant for vast quantities of tequila and cigarettes, spoke these words and yet somehow it didn't sound corny. I heard this for the first time, 10 years after joining the Navy, from my boss at the Weapons School. Seaweed and barnacles are me clothes, every tooth in me head is a marlinspike, the hair on me head is hemp, every bone in me body's a spar, and when I spits, I spits tar. I was born on the crest of a wave and rocked in the cradle of the deep. Commander, 33rd Flying Training SquadronĪll my bloomin' life.

Wow so uniform civil war navy