“Anchor’s Aweigh” is one of the most recognizable melodies in the world. The unofficial song of the U.S. Navy celebrated its centennial in November 2006. The version of “Anchor’s Aweigh” that we know today was written on a November day in 1906 by Lieutenant Charles A. Zimmermann and Midshipman Alfred H. Miles.

Charles A. Zimmermann was bandmaster at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1887 until his death in 1916. Zimmermann’s association with the Naval Academy began at his birth in 1861 in Newport, Rhode Island. His father, Charles Z. Zimmermann, was a Naval Academy bandsman during the Academy’s temporary Civil War relocation to Newport. On July 1, 1882, Zimmermann became a member of the band as a third cornetist. He relieved Peter Schoff as bandmaster in 1887, making him, at age 26, the youngest ever to assume leadership of the Naval Academy Band.

At the time of composition, Alfred H. Miles was a Midshipman First Class with the class of 1907. Miles also had strong ties to the Navy. His father, Charles C. Miles, had been a Naval Officer serving during the Haitian campaign in 1915. Alfred Miles went on to have a distinguished career as a Surface Warfare Officer. He held many important posts and commands including Executive Officer at the Naval Submarine Base in Norfolk and Commanding Officer of the Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was also the first Commanding Officer of the Little Creek Amphibious Base.

Beginning early in his long career, Zimmermann composed a march nearly every year, dedicating it to the graduating class. In November 1906, Miles approached Zimmermann with his class’s request, saying that his classmates “were eager to have a piece of music that would be inspiring, one with a swing to it so that it could be used as a football marching song, and one that would live forever.” As the legend goes, the two men sat at the chapel organ, Zimmermann composing the tune and Miles setting the title and writing two stanzas of words. The first performance of the now famous march was on December 1, 1906, at the Army-Navy football game. For the first time in several seasons Navy won by a final score of Navy 10, Army 0.

Serenade article written by MU1 Pat Sarracco