The Herndon Monument on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy is a 21-foot-tall (6.4 m) grey granite obelisk. It was erected in memory of Captain William Lewis Herndon, who died during the sinking of his ship, SS Central America, on September 12, 1857 while helping to evecuate passengers and crew. All women and children and many of the men aboard were saved by a nearby ship during the storm.

Herndon Monument
United States Naval Academy
Campus of the US Naval Academy
For the loss of William Lewis Herndon
Unveiled	1860
Location	Annapolis, Maryland near  the Naval Academy Chapel
Designed by	unknown
Forgetful of self, in his death he added a new glory to the annals of the sea

Description

The monument is a 400-by-71-by-71-inch (10.2 m × 1.8 m × 1.8 m) granite obelisk presented to the Academy by the class of 1860. It was designed by an unknown sculptor, and has the alternative long name of "Commander William L. Herndon, USN 1813-1857".[1]

Inscriptions

On the monument's base, facing the Naval Academy Chapel, is a plaque:[2]

Commander William Lewis Herndon
1818-1857
Naval Officer - Explorer - Merchant Captain

In command of the Central America, home-bound with California gold
seekers, Captain Herndon lost his life in a gallant effort to save
ship and lives during a cyclone off Hatteras, September 12, 1857.

"Forgetful of self, in his death he added a new glory to the annals of the sea" - Maury

Maury is Matthew Fontaine Maury, Herndon's co-worker (from 1842 to 1846), brother-in-law, and cousin.[3]

To the right on the obelisk from the plaque, in raised block letters, is "HERNDON.". On the opposite side of the obelisk, also in raised letters, is "September 12, 1857.".[2]

Ship's bell

Central America′s ship's bell — discovered in her wreck in 1988 and donated to the Naval Academy as a gift in August 2021 — was positioned next to the monument and was dedicated in a ceremony on May 23, 2022.[4][5][6]

Ceremony

The monument is the site of the famous "plebes-no-more" ceremony, 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. This is the official end of the plebe year.

It is a Naval Academy tradition that the midshipman who replaces the dixie cup hat will be given the Superintendent's combination cover or shoulder boards. Legend says that he or she will be the first of his or her class to make Flag Rank, although in reality, this has not yet occurred.

The academy began recording times in 1959.[7] In 1962 Midshipman 4th Class Ed Linz scaled the monument with the aid of a cargo net. Using such devices is now banned.

The record was set in 1969 when Midshipman Larry Fanning made the climb in 1 minute and 30 seconds. However, the monument was not greased.

Midshipman 4th Class Michael J Maynard of the Class of 1975 scaled the monument in 20 minutes in 1972, believed to be the fastest time since the tradition of greasing the monument began.

The 2010 Herndon Monument climb for the Class of 2013 took place on Monday, May 24, 2010, at 1:30pm. Superintendent Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler publicly indicated dissatisfaction that year with the risk of injury associated with the climbing tradition, but failed to specify that the injuries of real concern were related to the monument’s long-standing, unspoken, tradition of sexual assault upon female mids in the form of groping and digital penetration. Fowler and arguably anyone ever in a position of authority at the United States Naval Academy left out, and continue to leave out this important problem from public discussion. [8] Vice Adm. Fowler ordered the Brigade of Midshipmen not to slather the monument with lard "to improve the safety of the event” and to decrease the amount of time sexual perpetrators would have to assault women. [9] However, his successor, Vice Admiral Michael Miller, reinstated the tradition in 2011, citing that "[c]onducting the ceremonial climb in the same manner as so many previous classes helps to instill spirit and camaraderie among plebes and better links them to the many classes that have gone before them. The Herndon Monument climb serves as a useful event in reinforcing teamwork, organization and leadership."[10]

Table of recorded times

Notes

References

• "Naval Academy Class of 2011 to participate in Herndon Monument climb". U.S. Naval Academy press release. May 7, 2008.
• http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=23729
• http://www.public.usna91.info/TheCapitalVCIII%23141_19880521o.pdf
• https://www.amazon.com/Herndon-Climb-Academys-Greatest-Tradition/dp/1682474380/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=the+climb+herndon&qid=1587500670&sr=8-9
• https://www.usna.edu/PAO/faq_pages/herndon.php

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Herndon Monument.

• YouTube video of plebes scaling Herndon