The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland with the mission of educating and commissioning officers for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Academy was founded in 1845 and graduated its first class in 1846. The Academy is often referred to as Annapolis, while sports media refer to the Academy as "Navy" and the students as "Midshipmen"; this usage is officially endorsed.[1] During the latter half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th, the United States Naval Academy was the primary source of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officers, with the Class of 1881 being the first to provide officers to the Marine Corps. Graduates of the Academy are also given the option of entering the United States Army or United States Air Force. Most Midshipmen are admitted through the congressional appointment system.[2] The curriculum emphasizes various fields of engineering.[3]
The list is drawn from graduates, non-graduate former Midshipmen, current Midshipmen, and faculty of the Naval Academy. Over 50 U.S. astronauts have graduated from the Naval Academy, more than from any other undergraduate institution.[a] Over 990 noted scholars from a variety of academic fields are Academy graduates, including 45 Rhodes Scholars and 16 Marshall Scholars. Additional notable graduates include 1 President of the United States, 2 Nobel Prize recipients, and 73 Medal of Honor recipients.[b]
"Class year" refers to the alumni's class year, which usually is the same year they graduated. However, in times of war classes often graduate early. For example, the Class of 1943 actually graduated in 1942.
Naval Academy Instructor and Professor of Mathematics, Navigation and Astronomy (1853–1857); served with the Virginia State Navy during the American Civil War, then the Confederacy and Confederate States Naval Academy by serving as its Superintendent from October 1863 on the school ship CSS Patrick Henry, located outside of Richmond, Virginia on the James River, Virginia; In April 1865, as the Confederate capital at Richmond was evacuated, he led the C.S. Naval Academy's midshipmen as a guard for their failing Government's archives and treasury
Navy helicopter pilot; Mission Specialist for STS-67, STS-86, STS-91, and STS-114; daughter of William P. Lawrence, Superintendent of the Academy while she was a Midshipman
Former NBA player with San Antonio Spurs; Rookie of the Year in 1990; NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 1995; played on NBA championship teams in 1999 and 2003; won a basketball world championship in 1986, a bronze medal in the 1988 Olympics, and gold medals in 1992 and 1996
Former National Football League running back for the Los Angeles Raiders (1986–1994); fulfilled his Navy commitment while playing for the Raiders; inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003; the Academy's Napoleon McCallum Trophy is named in his honor
Chairman and CEO of Trammell Crow Residential, the largest developer of multi-family housing in the United States; principal owner of new WNBA franchise, Atlanta Dream; led team of investors that tried to buy the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team in 2006; former chairman of Urban Land Institute
The 39th President of the United States (1977–1981); Nobel Peace laureate of 2002; Georgia State Senator (1963–1966); 76th Governor of Georgia (1971–1975); post-World War II submariner
Marine Corps officer and Vietnam veteran; United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (1984–1987); Secretary of the Navy (1987–88); noted American novelist for books such as Fields of Fire; US Senator from Virginia (2006–present)
Admiral; Representative from Alabama (1907–1915); recipient of the Medal of Honor for attempting to block a channel during the Spanish-American War, was taken prisoner
Senator from Virginia (2006–present); Marine Corps officer and Vietnam veteran; United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (1984–1987); Secretary of the Navy (1987–88); noted American novelist for books such as Fields of Fire
General; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2001–2005); first United States Marine appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2005–2009)
Admiral; signed the London Naval Treaty of 1930 on behalf of the United States; Chief of Naval Operations (1933–1937); United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1942–1944)
Chief of Naval Operations (1937–1939); became the first fleet admiral during World War II and crafted future thought leadership; served as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, which was the role model for the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Governor of Puerto Rico (1939–1940); ambassador to the Vichy French
Chief of Naval Operations (1937–1939); became the first fleet admiral during World War II and crafted future thought leadership; served as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, which was the role model for the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Governor of Puerto Rico (1939–1940); ambassador to the Vichy French
Captain; Governor of Guam (1929–1931); Representative from California (1947–1949); Medal of Honor recipient for actions during an ammunition explosion onboard USS Pittsburgh (CA-4) in 1917
The 39th President of the United States (1977–1981); Nobel Peace laureate of 2002; Georgia State Senator (1963–1966); 76th Governor of Georgia (1971–1975); post-World War II submariner
Marine Corps officer and Vietnam veteran; United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (1984–1987); Secretary of the Navy (1987–88); noted American novelist for books such as Fields of Fire; US Senator from Virginia (2006–)
Rear Admiral; recipient of the Medal of Honor for submarine combat during World War II onboard USS Tang (SS-306), also served onboard USS Wahoo (SS-238), participated in more successful attacks on Japanese shipping than any other fighting submarine officer during World War II
First Fleet admiral; Chief of Naval Operations (1937–1939), during World War II; became the first fleet admiral and crafted future thought leadership. Served as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, which was the role model for the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Governor of Puerto Rico (1939–1940); ambassador to the Vichy French
Fleet Admiral; held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet ("CinCPac" pronounced "sink-pack"), for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA), for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II; Chief of Naval Operations (1945–1947)
Admiral; Chief of Naval Operations (1955–1961). Carrier and destroyer commander during World War II. Korean War veteran; Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers was named after him
Lieutenant General; World War I Army Division commander; Commandant of the Marine Corps (1920–1929); Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute (1929–1937)
Major General; Commandant of the Marine Corps (1930–1934); served in Cuba, China, Philippines; son Edward Fuller, Naval Academy Class of 1916, Marine Captain, killed at Belleau Wood in World War I
Major General; recipient of the Medal of Honor for leadership during ground combat during the landings at United States occupation of Veracruz in April 1914; Commandant of the Marine Corps (1929–1930)
Member of the first class to graduate from the Academy; after joining the Confederate States Navy he went on to supervise the building of gunboats and defenses of the Red River in 1862–1863
Instructor at the US Naval Academy; chose to serve the Confederacy in their strategey of commerce raiding; captained the CSS Shenandoah which destroyed or captured 38 ships and took over 1,000 prisoners, all without firing a single shot in anger or injuring any person
Naval Academy Instructor and Professor of Mathematics, Navigation and Astronomy (1853–1857); after the American Civil War started, he served with the Virginia State Navy, and then the Confederacy and Confederate States Naval Academy by serving as its Superintendent from October, 1863 on the school ship CSS Patrick Henry, located outside of Richmond, Virginia on the James River, Virginia; in April 1865, as the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia was evacuated, he led the C.S. Naval Academy's midshipmen as a guard for their failing Government's archives and treasury
Rear Admiral; Civil War veteran; instructor at the Academy (1867–1869) and head of department of modern languages (1872–1875); commander of the Flying Squadron of ships in the Spanish-American War
Rear Admiral; Civil War veteran; instructor at the Academy (1861–1864); Superintendent of the Academy (1886–1889); won the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War
Rear Admiral; captain of USS Maine (ACR-1) when it exploded in Havana harbor in 1898; commanded squadron which returned body of John Paul Jones from France to the Academy in 1905
Chief of Naval Operations (1937–1939); became the first Admiral of the Fleet during World War II and crafted future thought leadership; served as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, the role model for the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Governor of Puerto Rico (1939–1940); ambassador to Vichy France
Fleet Admiral; held the dual command of Commander-in-chief, United States Pacific Fleet ("CinCPac" pronounced "sink-pack"), for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA), for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II; Chief of Naval Operations (1945–1947)
Admiral; recipient of the Medal of Honor for saving hundreds of refugees during the United States occupation of Veracruz in April 1914; operational commander at the pivotal Battles of Coral Sea and of Midway; nephew of Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher
Vice Admiral, posthumously promoted to Admiral; pioneer of aircraft carrier operations; commanded Fast Carrier Task Force in World War II. He and his son John S. McCain, Jr. are the first father-son four-star Admirals in US Navy history; grandfather of John S. McCain, III, also an Academy graduate
Admiral; recipient of the Medal of Honor for courage and leadership in handling an artillery and machine gun battalion during the United States occupation of Veracruz in April 1914; Navy Cross recipient for actions during World War I; commander, United States Atlantic Fleet during World War II; football player and head football coach at the Academy
Vice-Admiral; recipient of the Medal of Honor for courage and leadership during the United States occupation of Veracruz in April 1914; veteran of World War I and World War II; director of Office of Naval Intelligence when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941
First Hispanic Marine Corps officer to reach the rank of Lieutenant General; served in World War I, Haiti, and Nicaragua during the so-called Banana Wars of the 1920s, the seizure of Guadalcanal, and later as Commanding General of the U.S. 1st Marine Division during World War II
Rear Admiral; captain of the USS Indianapolis (CA-35), which was sunk by a Japanese submarine in World War II and lost most of its crew to shark attacks after delivering nuclear bomb parts to Tinian
Vice Admiral; as a Lieutenant Commander and commanding officer of USS Sealion (SS-315), sank the Japanese battleship Kongō, the only Japanese battleship sank by a submarine during World War II
Submarine commander during World War II; Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Command (1968–1972) during the Vietnam War while his son John S. McCain III was being held in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war; both of them and John S. McCain, Sr. are all Academy graduates
Vice Admiral; Naval aviator who was a prisoner of war for six years; father of Wendy B. Lawrence, 1981 Academy graduate and Navy astronaut; Superintendent of the Academy (1878–1981)
Colonel, Marine Corps; recipient of the Navy Cross for stopping a column of tanks and 20,000 enemy troops at the Dong Ha Bridge, Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam
Vice Admiral; as Commander, Atlantic Squadron, winter 1938–1939, collaborated with the Naval Research Laboratory in conducting the first comprehensive radar experiments at sea, resulting in development of radar for fire-control systems
Rear Admiral; Arctic and Antarctic explorer; Medal of Honor recipient for aerial and Arctic explorations; assistant to Officer In Charge, Navy Recruiting Bureau
Submariner and Engineering Duty Officer; "Father of the nuclear navy" as Director of the Naval Reactors Branch in the Bureau of Ships (1949–1982); 64 years of active service
When the new Naval School opened at Annapolis on October 10, 1845, Lt. Ward was a member of the faculty—one of the first line officers to pass along the benefits of his own experience to young midshipmen; USS Ward (DD-139) and Ward Hall were named for him
^ abParker, William H. (1883, 1985). Craig Symonds (ed.). Recollections of a Naval Officer, 1841–1865. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^Snepp, Frank (1999). Irreparable Harm: A Firsthand Account of How One Agent Took On the CIA in an Epic Battle Over Secrecy and Free Speech. New York, NY: Random House. p. 242. ISBN070061091X.
^Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.) (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
^ abPotter, E. B. (1976). Nimitz. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 45. ISBN0870214926. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
^"Alumni Lookup". United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
^Jeter, Katherine Brash (1996). A Man and His Boat: The Civil War Career and Correspondence of Lieutenant Jonathan H. Carter, CSN. Lafayette, LA: Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Louisiana. ISBN1887366075. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
^ ab"Alumni Lookup". United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
^Conrad, James Lee (2003). Rebel Reefers: The Organization and Midshipmen of the Confederate States Naval Academy. New York, NY: Da Capo Press. ISBN0306812371. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
^"Waddell". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 2009-02-15.