History

The Class of ’18 (1918 and 2018): Plus ça Change, Plus C’est la Même Chose

My grandfather, Harry William Need, was one of 202 graduates in the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1918. (1) He served on active duty for 34 years in submarines, on board surface ships, and on war planning staffs, retired in 1949, and passed away in 1956 when I was three years old. He did not write the following; it is only a figment of my imagination. But I hope it captures the spirit of his class (and their generation) to describe life in those times. As the graduation of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2018 approaches, it seems a good time to reflect on that past, compare similarities and differences, and daydream about what the future holds for this next great generation.

Class of 1918

Who could have imagined the changes, the transformations? Certainly, not I—a young man of 20, as I began my naval career that warm, sticky Annapolis morning in the summer of 1914. I was the product of a hard-working small-town Indiana family, never having visited the ocean, having learned to swim at the local fish pond, chiseled from the sweaty brow of my forbearers, and anxious to escape the dust and small town constraints of my otherwise bounded existence.

Upon entering the Naval Academy, our nation’s seapower was limited; our surface fleet was predominantly coal-fired and primarily focused on coastal defense. Submarines were in their infancy, aviation support was focused on reconnaissance, and as the Great War began, the mitigation of U-Boat attacks and large-scale amphibious assaults ashore were unknown. (2) Upon my retirement in 1948, the issues of the day ranged from “containment” of the Soviet Union, to development of an offensive nuclear strategy, to talk of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the United States was challenged to provide world leadership through two world wars of such scale that 70 million were lost (3) and those that survived were scarred and humbled for the rest of their lives. What person, challenged with foreknowledge of the future, would have thought it possible that a world so tremendously threatened would not be torn asunder? But, I get ahead of myself.

 

There were 297 of us on the parade field that hot June morning. Our brigade consisted of four battalions, each with four companies of about 18 midshipmen. We were all white males, ranging in age from 17 to 21, having carried all our worldly goods with us as we waved goodbye to our families and were either driven to or taken by train to Annapolis, Maryland from 42 of the 48 continental states. None of us had prior military service, although later that year Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels won from Congress the power to appoint 15 enlisted men to the Naval Academy each year. (4) As we walked into the two wings of Bancroft Hall for the first time, giving up all individual rights and becoming Plebes, we were proud of what we had accomplished and scared to death of where our next steps might lead.

Only a month later (28 July 1914) a war was declared between Austria and Serbia that by summer’s end included most of the world’s greatest powers on one of two sides: the Allies (Serbia, Russia, Great Britain, Ireland and France) and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary). As the war in Europe unfolded that summer, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a statement of strict U.S. neutrality on 4 August. (5) However, during the next three years, world events led us all to believe the US would eventually enter the war:

  • On the afternoon of 7 May 1915, one of the largest passenger cruisers in the world, the RMS Lusitania, was sunk off the coast of Ireland by a German U-boat. A total of 1,198 persons were lost including 128 U.S. citizens. The world was horrified by this outrageous act by Germany upon a civilian vessel, although years later the ship’s remains were shown to include unexploded ordinance being shipped from the U.S. to England. (6)
  • On 30 July 1916, an act of sabotage was carried out by German operatives that led to the destruction of a major munitions depot on Black Tom Island at Jersey City, New Jersey. The explosion was the equivalent of a 5.0 earthquake, was felt as far away as Philadelphia, and broke windows as far as 25 miles away. Fragments from the explosion lodged in the Statue of Liberty blocking access to the statue’s torch to this day.(7) (8)
  • Because of the May-June 1916 Battle of Jutland (in which more than 250 German and British ships fought; British forces losing three battlecruisers, three armored cruisers, 8 destroyers, and over 6,000 sailors), President Wilson signed the Naval Act of 1916 (“Big Navy Act”) on 29 August. This was the single largest “purchase” of naval vessels in U.S. history intended for the building of ten battleships, six battleship-sized battle cruisers, ten light cruisers, 50 destroyers, and 30 submarines. (This act did little to help the United States in World War I, but proved pivotal to the Navy’s success during World War II.) (9)

These events, in addition to the daily war news from Europe, led to an administrative decision in the fall of 1916 to hurry our class’ graduation to make us immediately available for pending actions. The Class of 1917 graduated on 23 March 1917, the United States declared war on Germany on 6 April, and our Class of 1918 graduated three months later on 28 June 1917. (1) All this, of course, made our time at the Academy interesting, to say the least.

So, what was Academy life like in those years? I think the following from our Lucky Bag yearbook captures things nicely:

Changes! Changes! Verily, 1918, thy middle name is changes. Ten days after we entered, the June bilgers were sent to join the vessels of the Practice Squadron – a thing undreamed of before. Khaki uniforms became the vogue two months after our entrance, and with their arrival, blues service at drills ceased to exist. We sported that same khaki, too, in Baltimore, in the P-rade outside of Annapolis for plebes in lo! these many years. Of course we had our own little cruise up the Bay while the upper classmen were on leave.

With October (1914) and the return of the upper classmen, came ensignette caps, and constantly shifting striper lists. About this time the business concerns that had been reaping a rich harvest in the basement of Bancroft Hall were ejected. Extra study squads were inaugurated and attendance was at first forcible, and later voluntary.

Then July 1915, brought the end of hazing and dope for exams. We returned from our semi-Sep leave to find plebes with green overcoats, youngsters with hop liberty, and second classmen visiting Annapolis Sunday afternoons. A month later we enjoyed the first over-night liberty ever granted midshipmen at an Army-Navy game, and on our return to Annapolis found another choice gift in the way of three days Christmas leave.

Later, cross-country walks on Thursdays were knocked off after New Year’s Day (1916), while at the same time reveille inspections became so rigid that “sleeping in” lost its attractiveness. There was an increase in the number of companies and a complete change in first class insignia. Also, the Reina became a home for first offense smokers – in fact, even the routine of those poor wretches changed, for they were required to dine on board the old battlewagon.

Next October (1916) saw a plebe class of double the normal size, and we found ourselves again in plebe rooms, plebes in first class rooms, and the upper classes lost at formations among the swarms of fourth classmen. But we also found Saturday night liberties, regular weekly informals, permission to make small cash purchases at the store, and a big Christmas leave. It was about this time that dope began to come true, and things happened to break up Academy routine so rapidly that no one could tell what changes were permanent and what temporary. But we seriously doubt if any class of any school, cit or Service, can beat 1918’s record of changes.

Imagine our life then—classes, studying, parade practice, keeping uniforms in order, athletics, working from dawn to long after nightfall, only having time late at night or the weekend to discuss mere snippets of world events read in the local paper or heard over the wireless.

Speaking of our studies, the fixed curriculum was very demanding. We all attended the same classes six days a week, and our focus Plebe year was marine engineering and naval construction, mathematics, English, and modern languages (either French or Spanish). Youngster (sophomore) year, an additional course, electrical engineering and physics, was added to the mix. Halfway through our Second Class year, we dropped two courses but added navigation, and ordinance and gunnery. Our First Class year was even more demanding as we added seamanship and hygiene to the mix. Also, it is interesting to note that graduation did not confer a college degree, simply an appointment as an ensign or second lieutenant. In 1933, President Roosevelt signed an act of Congress providing for the Bachelors of Science (BS) degree for all military academy graduates. Four years later, Congress authorized the superintendents to retroactively award BS degrees to all living graduates— so at last I had a college degree! (10)

As demanding as our studies were, we were all “encouraged” to be involved in clubs and sports. Choices included The Masqueraders, glee and mandolin clubs, the quartet, choir, YMCA, The Log, football, baseball, lacrosse, rowing, track, basketball, rifle, fencing, wrestling, gymnasium, swimming, and tennis. Just as in recent years, the annual Army-Navy Football game was indeed a highlight to which we all looked forward. Traveling to New York City and Philadelphia for the games was an agreeable change from our daily patterns. Unfortunately, unlike recent years, we lost to Army three years in a row (1914–16), and due to the war, no games were held in 1917–1918. (1)

One of the truly unique developments during our time at the Academy was led by an upper classman, Midshipman R.W. Cary. In 1914, he pulled together 16 talented musicians from our midst and formed the All-Midshipmen Drum and Bugle Corps. They played for the first time during a baseball game between St. John’s College of Annapolis and the Naval Academy. The group was much admired and over the next seven years grew to a corps of approximately 59 men. (11)

There were other noteworthy events during our tenure. On 20 January 1917, we marched as the “Escort in Honor” for the funeral of Admiral George Dewey. He was the ranking naval officer of the world and the last link connecting the traditions of the old Navy with the progress of the new. The 15-mile tramp with overcoats and rifles will ever be a memory. Then on 5 March, we joined our brothers from West Point and paraded the second inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson, commander in chief of the Army and Navy. “ . . . we got under way and swung gallantly down Pennsylvania Avenue, eyes full of sand and chin straps proving their value for the first time. (1)

Oh, let’s not forget our very memorable (but exhausting) summer cruises. Typically, midshipmen of the third, second, and first classes went to sea each summer for about three months. With mixed emotions, I must tell you our First Class cruise was cancelled due to our accelerated graduation. Nevertheless, we did have two very interesting voyages. For our Youngster Cruise, we embarked at Annapolis 5 June 1915 on board the battleships Missouri (BB-63), Ohio (BB-12), and Wisconsin (BB-64), travelled through the Panama Canal on our way to San Francisco, turned homeward, and disembarked on 10 September. The canal had only opened the previous summer, and we were on board the first battleships to ever pass through it. Furthermore, these were some of the first ships to have electric ice cream machines! (4) While we had some very memorable liberty ashore at various ports, our passage was more than earned as we constantly cleaned the decks above, and below we slept in hammocks and relentlessly fed coal to the ship’s “bituminous tapeworm”. Our Second Class Cruise in the summer of 1916 was not as enjoyable as all our time was spent nervously at sea in the mid-Atlantic barely a year after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania and only months after Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. Oh, and did I mention no liberty ashore? (1)

And what was our Fleet like in those days? We were a distant third in naval power, well behind Britain and Germany and only barely ahead of our Pacific rival, Japan. Our 147 warships consisted of dreadnoughts (10), pre-dreadnought battleships (23), armored cruisers (12), protected cruisers (24), light/scout cruisers (3), destroyers (50), and submarines (27). (9) Aviation assets were very limited; in 1917, we had 109 mostly obsolete aircraft, a dirigible, two balloons, 48 officers, 239 sailors, and our only naval air station was at Pensacola, Florida. (12) In truth, our Navy’s greatest contribution to the “Great War” effort was the provision and deployment of antisubmarine destroyers and later protection by air of the Allies’ major shipping lanes. (2)

While almost all of us served in WWI, many of us also served in WWII. Some of our class’ most famous names still ring familiar in the 21st century:

  • Forrest P. Sherman served for 37 years. He was designated a naval aviator in 1922, served numerous tours at sea, was an instructor at the Naval Academy, and while working in 1941 with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), was a member of the team commissioned by General George C. Marshall to write the “Victory Plan” for World War II. He later took command of the USS Wasp (CV-7), which was sunk during the early Solomon Islands campaign. From 1949 till his death in 1951, Admiral Sherman served as the CNO and helped the Navy prepare for the twin challenges of the Korean War and the cold war in Europe. (13)
  • Clifton A. F. Sprague served for 38 years. He was designated a naval aviator in 1921, and during the next several tours was active in the development and testing of aircraft carrier catapult and arresting systems. In 1934, he became the first Navy pilot to fly a 13-hour round-trip from Hawaii to Midway Island. After serving in numerous actions in the Pacific during WWII, as commander of Carrier Division 2 on board the carrier USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), received word of the end of hostilities with Japan and entered Tokyo Bay on 15 August 1945. After the war, he had numerous assignments, his last as Commandant, 17th Naval District on Kodiak Island, Alaska. There he became the first US Navy admiral to fly over the North Pole in 1950. Vice Admiral Sprague retired in 1951. (14)
  • Jerauld Wright served for 46 years. When he entered the academy, he was the youngest (barely 17) midshipman to enter the academy since the Civil War. Barely two months after graduation, he joined the gunboat USS Castine (PG-6) and set sail for Gibraltar for antisubmarine patrol and convoy duty until the end of the war. During the next 40 years, he served myriad different tours: naval aide for Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, USNA Battalion Commander, key planning roles for the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and as captain of the light cruiser Santa Fe (CL-60), made numerous landings in the central Pacific. Post World War II, he served in the Operational Readiness Office of the CNO and then as a key planner in the early days of NATO. His last tour on active duty was as concurrent CINCLANTFLT, CINCLANT, and SACLANT. Admiral Wright also served after retirement as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 1963–65. (15)

Yes, it is with great pride and satisfaction I can say I was a member of the Class of 1918.

 

And on to the future…Class of 2018

What astounding changes have occurred in the past century! As you my midshipmen brothers and sisters of the Class of 2018 took the oath of office on 1 July 2014, there were four times as many of you—1,191 plebes. Your brigade consisted of two regiments of three battalions each; each battalion with five companies of about 40 mids. Twenty-five percent of you are female, and unlike my nearly 100 percent white race class, the racial/ethnic breakdown of 2018 is 65 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic, 8 percent multiple races, 7 percent African American, 7 percent Asian American, and about 1 percent American Indian or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. Another difference from my class—11 of you entered directly from the Fleet (ten Navy, one Marine Corps). And look at this—Class of 2018 mids were admitted from every state in the nation, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Further, your class also includes 13 international students from Cambodia, Cameroon, Federated States for Micronesia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mexico, Montenegro, Nigeria, Senegal, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. (16) What a rich and diverse team!

There are some similarities though. Your Plebe academic schedule was very demanding as was ours. It included six classes, special instruction, and a three-hour study period as well as inspections, formations, drills, regular parades and sports practices. You studied leadership, naval science, calculus, chemistry, English, government and naval history. Also, as in my plebe year, you were not allowed to have a cellphone! Changes between our plebe classes began after spring break in March 2015, when you declared a major in one of 18 different fields (seven engineering, seven science majors, and four humanities/social science majors). (16)

Today’s Fleet has grown since my time. It is nearly twice the size with a total of 272 vessels, 202 surface ships (ten aircraft carriers, 84 large surface combatants, 17 small surface combatants, 31 amphibious warfare ships, 30 combat logistics ships, and 30 support ships) and 70 submarines (52 attack, 4 cruise missile, and 14 ballistic missile). (17) Our Naval air force now consists of more than 3,700 operational aircraft which are located on 12 carriers, approximately 25 naval air stations and bases, and supported by nearly 100,000 active and reserve personnel, civilians, and contractors. (18) That said and albeit on a grander scale, the challenges remain the same: morale, personnel, maintenance, logistics, refueling and overhaul, new operational demands, and did I say morale?

Our mission in the world has morphed. One hundred years ago, we were a bit player on the sidelines; and now we serve as the world’s leader in the defense of freedom and the open seas. There are numerous strategic threats: North Korea; Russia; China; Iran; ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Syria, and North Africa, the list goes on. In addition, we face a new and different warfighting environment – that of “the Dark Battle”, exploiting all aspects of electronic warfare; perfecting sensor activation timing, weapon employment, and battlespace surprise; and maximizing resources for peak endurance in hostile waters. (19) We must build and maintain our Fleet; we must develop and strengthen our alliances; we must clarify and pursue our strategic objectives always with an end state in view; and we must continue to take the very best care of our Sailors and Marines (and their families). That was our mission; that is your mission.

So, dear midshipmen of 2018, I wish you good fortune. May God be with you! Fair winds and following seas…

 

References

  1. The Lucky Bag, The Annual of the Regiment of Midshipmen United States Naval Academy. 1918.
  2. Halpern, Paul G., Naval Warfare (USA), International Encyclopedia of the First World War. http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/naval_warfare_usa
  3. Scaruffi, Pierro. Wars and Casualties of the 20th and 21st Centuries. http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/massacre.html
  4. Spector, Ronald. Navy’s Sea Change. http://www.historynet.com/the-u-s-navys-sea-change.htm.
  5. This Day in History. www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-proclaims-neutrality-in-world-i
  6. Lusitania divers warned of danger from war munitions in 1982, papers reveal, The Guardian, 1 May 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/lusitania-salvage-warning-munitions-1982
  7. “Black Tom Explosion (1916)”. state.nj.gov. January 26, 2005. Retrieved July 5, 2009. Capo, Fran (2004). http://www.history.com/news/the-black-tom-explosion
  8. “Terrorist Attack Blamed on Mosquitoes”. It happened in New Jersey. Guilford, Conn.: Twodot. p. 106. ISBN 0762723580. [Online]
  9. www.navalhistory.org/2016/08/12/the-great-naval-act-of-1916
  10. Annual Register United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD – 73rd Academic Year, 1917-1918.
  11. “Corp History” http://www.usna.edu/USNADB/history.html U.S. Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps, U.S. Naval Academy.
  12. www.usaww1/United-States-Naval-Aviation.php4. [Online]
  13. “Forrest Percival Sherman”. ArlingtonCemetery.net. Retrieved January 28, 2015 .
  14. Wukovits, John F. (1995). Devotion to Duty: A Biography of Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-944-1. OCLC 32273984.
  15. David M. Key, Jr. Admiral Jerauld Wright: Warrior among Diplomats (Manhattan, Kansas: Sunflower University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0897452519.
  16. United States Naval Academy 2018 Class Portrait, www.usna.edu/admissions. [Online]
  17. Navy Requirements and Current Inventory, http://index.heritag.org/military/2017/assessments/us-militry-power/u-s-navy/. [Online]
  18. http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/01/23/shoemaker-air-boss-navy-aviation-stennis/22213505/. [Online]
  19. Stafanus, D., Embracing The Dark Battle. Proceedings, April 2017.

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