Office of the Superintendent/Directives: Bureau of Navigation Circular Letters, News Bulletins, and "ALNAV" Messages Received, 1924-1930: Finding Aid

History of the Office of the Superintendent

The plan of the Naval School at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Maryland, approved by the Navy Department August 28, 1846, provided that a Superintendent of the school be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy from a list of officers of a rank not higher than commander. The Superintendent was to have responsibility for the general management of the institution, including overseeing the course of study, professors, and other personnel connected with the Academy. He could appoint and remove all persons employed at the Academy except those for whose appointment or discharge special provision was made by the laws or regulations of the Navy or the Academy. He had general charge of the buildings, grounds, and ships belonging to the Academy. The Superintendent also formulated the code of rules and regulations for the internal government of the school to be submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for approval. After 1867, officers were assigned by the Navy Department to the Academy to serve as assistants or aides to the Superintendent. The Office of the Superintendent as described in the 1846 plan remained relatively unchanged throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Officers of ranks higher than commander, however, have served in the position.

Description of Contents

This series contains Bureau of Navigation circular letters, news bulletins, and All Navy ("ALNAV") messages received by the academy. Bureau of Navigation or Navy Department directives to all ships and stations are duplicates received by the Academy. Also included are Academy directives quoting the Bureau directive.

These directives generally relate to naval personnel, training, financial and material resources, and include such subjects as: service records of enlisted men; recreational and athletic material for issue; transmission of private messages; granting of leave for religious observation; holiday observances; enlisted qualifications for ratings, and estimated numbers of promotions; officer promotion boards; new training manual publications; announcements of submarine and other training courses; ammunition testing; enlisted discharges, desertion and absences without leave; aviation training; congressional legislation and naval appropriations; life insurance; dependent transportation; valuation of foreign currencies; vessels attached to the various naval districts; naval personnel preparation for Olympic Games and other athletic contests involving the military services; activities of the Navy Mutual Aid Association, the Navy Relief Society, the Red Cross, The Veterans of Foreign Wars, and other professional associations; the Navy Film Service and available motion pictures; updates to and distribution of the Navy Register, the Naval Digest, and other publications; changes to standard working hours; soundings updates, guidance, and other activities of the Navy Hydrographic Office; Navy Reserve activities and opportunities; Navy events at colleges and trade schools; instructions regulating enlisted passenger transportation; the itinerary for midshipmen's practice cruises; the Navy Chaplain Corps; changes to Navy regulations; tools and other materials in supply for machine shops; Navy recruiting and personnel retention; regulations pertaining to official postage and correspondence; medical and dental services; annual competitive appointments for Assistant Paymasters and other Navy staff offices; uniform regulations; distribution of junior officer assignments; lists of enlisted men and officers receiving letters of commendation, awards and medals; lists of new books sent to ships' libraries; and existing Naval Academy midshipman appointment vacancies along with qualifications for academy entrance.

Volume 537, for July 1925-July 1926, includes a circular relating to the admission of enlisted men to the Naval Academy Preparatory Class at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and to the academy as midshipmen (filed under July 1926). Interfiled throughout the records are copies of notices and memoranda issued by the Naval Academy Superintendent.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically. The directives are also numbered within each year, but this series does not contain a complete set of each type of directive. Circulars bear both the series number and the year of issuance (e.g., 4-24 is number 4 in the year 1924). In the upper left-hand corner is the general correspondence file number in the Bureau of Navigation under which a copy of the directive and related correspondence is filed.

Access and Use

Access

Unrestricted.

Copyright and Permission

Generally, materials produced by Federal agencies are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Any non-government publications held herein may still be subject to copyright. For further information, consult the Head, Special Collections & Archives.

Other Finding Aid(s)

National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3000040.

Acquisition and Appraisal

Custodial History

RG 405 Records of the United States Naval Academy is the property of the National Archives and Records Administration. The materials are housed at the United States Naval Academy, William W. Jeffries Memorial Archives, an affiliated archive, as per a Memorandum of Agreement between the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Naval Academy.

Related Materials

Location of Copies or Alternate Formats

Copies of Bureau of Navigation news bulletins from 1922 to 1928 are available digitally via the library's catalog here: https://usna.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01USNA_INST/ik5eus/alma991001333589706751

Copies of Bureau of Navigation bulletins from 1928 to 1942 are available digitally via the library's catalog here: https://usna.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01USNA_INST/ik5eus/alma991001335819706751

Related Archival Material

Copies of other correspondence received from the Bureau of Navigation are found in entry 25: "Letters Received by the Superintendent, 1843-1889," (NAID: 2990043); entry 26: "Copies of Letters Received by the Superintendent and other Academy Officers from the Bureau of Navigation, 1862-1883," (NAID: 2990048); entry 29: "Letters Received by the Superintendent, 1888-1906," (NAID: 2990063); and Entry 74: "Reports of Candidates for Admission Found Physically Disqualified, 1899-1910," (NAID: 3027221). Copies of Bureau of Navigation issuances are scattered unintelligibly throughout various other entries containing superintendents' correspondence.

Materials Cataloged Separately

No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.

Processing and Other Information

Preferred Citation

Office of the Superintendent/Directives: Bureau of Navigation Circular Letters, News Bulletins, and "ALNAV" Messages Received, RG 405.2.2 Entry 59

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Selected Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during preparation of the historical note:

Sweetman, Jack. The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Samuel Limneos in October 2021. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in October 2021. Historical Sketch and Scope and Content Note adapted in part from Inventory of Records Group 405 by Geraldine N. Phillips and Aloha South, 1975.

Subject Headings

Name and Subject Terms

• Midshipmen -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States
• Midshipmen -- United States
• Naval education -- United States
• United States Naval Academy
• United States Naval Academy -- History – 20th century
• United States Naval Academy -- Students -- Discipline
• United States Naval Academy – Administration
• United States Naval Academy. Superintendent
• United States. Navy Department. Bureau of Navigation

Genre Terms

• Announcements
• Bulletins
• Circular letters
• Dispatches
• Periodicals>