NAVAL ACADEMY, s TE o STATES. The school at which are educated the executive officers of the United States Navy. It was fonndol as the 'Naval School' in 1845, at Annapolis, with a com•se fixed at five years, the first and last of which were to be spent at the school: but this plan was not strictly adhered to even at first, and was subsequently changed. ln 1849 the course was changed to seven years., the first two and last two being spent at the school. and the three intervening years at sea. and the name of the institution was changed to rnited States Naval Av.:1(11.111y. In the fora• years of study were made conseent i ye, and annual pract iee cruises were commenced. 111 1801 the academy was rennwed to Newport, 1Z. I.. on account of the war. It returned to Annapolis in 18(13.
In 1873 the course for cadet midshipmen was (.1111Pil to six wars, the hoist two to be spent at sea. In 1882 the title of cadet mid shipman was changed to naval violet, which in 1902 was replac•col by that of midshipman. Appoint ments to the ditTerent corps were made by the Secretary of the Navy upon recommendation of the academie board ; but only enough appoint ments Were 111:1de 1.1) lin vacancies, all other graduates being honorably discharged. In 1889 the law provided that the (Inlets of the first class (seniors) should be separated at the beginning of the year into tw•o divisions, and those des tined for the line and the engineer corps should pursut. separate (-nurses of study (hiring the first class year. In 1889. also. (ho age of candidates at date of admission, Which had been from four teen to eighteen years. was changed to fifteen to twenty years. In 1899 the net of March 3d con solidating the engineer corps with the line iihol ished the separate line and engineer divisions at the Academy. The same act increased slightly the numbers in all grades of the service and very linich increased the lower grades. The number of graduates thus bel'tilliP insufficient. and in 1900 the windier of cadets at the _tcadlemy was in creased by an net authorizing appointments to the Academy eo cry four yeau•s instead of every six. The windier of officers in service :subsequent n \ merivan War was wholly adequate to the increasing demands of the fleet, and as the only means of adding to the number is through the Naval Academy. an increase in the number of cadets was proposed. This increase, made by Congress in 1902, provided for the ap pointment of a cadet every two years by each Senator. Congressman. and Delegate in Congress. and II by the President.
The e;o1r-e of st oily and instruction at the institution is tuItcli more advanced than the term ktmlemy would imply. and approximates that many post-graduate technical sehools. The 1.1101r.w for the first year (fourth class) includes mechanical drawing. algebra, geometry, descrip
tive geometry. trigonometry, English studies, French, Spanish, and hygiene, and practical ex ercises and instruction in seamanship, boats, ordnance, target practice, infantry, artillery, battery drill, fencing, gymnastics, (lancing, and swimming. The eourse for the second year (third class) includes trigonometry, conic sections. dif ferential and integral calculus, mechanical draw ing, physics. chemistry, naval history, French and Spanish, and practical exercises and in struction in s(ainansIiip, boats, signals, ordnance. target practice, infantry. artillery,, battery drill. fencing, and stealn engineering. The course for the third year (second class) includes seamanship, principles of mechanism, mechanical processes. mechanical drawing, marine engines and boilers, integral calculus and mechanics, physics. chemis try. and electricity, and practical exercises and instruction in seamanship. boats, steam tactics, signals, ordnance, infantry, artillery, battery drill. target practice, fencing, and steam engi neering. The course for the fourth year (first class) includes seamanship and naval tactics, gun and torpedo drills, naval ordnance and gun nery, navigation, theory of compass deviations, marine surveying, boilers, naval construct-ion, engineering materials and designing, physics, electricity, and Spanish, and practical exercises and instruction in seamanship. boats. steam tac tics, battery drill, target practice, torpedo prac tice, ordnance. artillery, infantry, fencing, com pass correction, navigation, surveying, steam engineering, practical electricity. turret drill. etc.
From the first of June nntil the first of September the cadets are embarked on practice vessels for the summer cruise, when they are instructed practically in the various duties of their profession. For several years since the Spanish-American War one of the practice ves sels has been a battleship temporarily detached from the fleet, the upper classes spending half the summer on her and half on the sailing training ship Chesapeake. Until 1898 most of the build ings of the Academy were very old, many of them dating from the early part of the nineteenth cen tury, and the accommodations for the cadets inadequate as well as unsuitable. The neces sary expansion of the institution was brought to the attention of Congress by the war. and a very liberal plan of rebuilding the Academy was adopted. The expenditure authorized was $8, 000.000, and the result will be the finest naval institution of learning in the world. About one half the buildings were under construction in 1902. Consnit Soley, History of the Naval :lead enly (Washington. 1876) ; Benjamin. The United States Naval Academy (New York. 1900).