Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Reports of the Board for the Examination of Midshipmen Preliminary to Promotion to Ensign, 1872-1879: Finding Aid
Published in June 2022
Summary Information
- Publisher: United States Naval Academy. Special Collections & Archives.
- Publisher Address:
589 McNair Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5029, USA
Phone: 410-293-6922
https://www.usna.edu/Library/sca/index.php - Call number: RG 405.2.3 Entry 98
- National Archives Identifier: 3039658
- Location: Special Collections & Archives Department - Archives
- Title: Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Reports of the Board for the Examination of Midshipmen Preliminary to Promotion to Ensign,
- Dates: 1872-1879
- Size: .2 linear feet
- Container Summary: 2 volumes
- Creator: United States Naval Academy. Superintendent
- Language(s) of material: English
- Abstract: This entry contains reports of the board appointed to examine midshipmen preliminary to promotion to ensign in seamanship, navigation, steam engineering, gunnery, and foreign languages.
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 entry contains reports of the board appointed to examine midshipmen preliminary to promotion to ensign in seamanship, navigation, steam engineering, gunnery, and foreign languages.
For each year documented in this series, the Bureau of Navigation or the secretary of the navy appointed a board of naval officers for the examination of midshipmen preliminary to their promotion. The reports of examinations held between November 1872 and October 1876 consist of entries for each midshipman comprising a top row listing the initials of each examination board member surmounting columns documenting the marks granted the midshipman by the individual members. The reports of examinations held between January 1878 and March 1879 simply list the midshipman’s marks in each subject.
The board members for the November 1872 and April 1873 examinations include commodores William E. LeRoy (LeR); Edward T. Nichols (N), Captain William N. Jeffers (J), commanders John L. Davis (D), and James A. Greer (G), and Chief Engineer B.B.H. Wharton (W). Board members for the October 1873 examination include Commodore Foxhall A. Parker, captains Robert W. Shufeldt and Stephen B. Luce, commanders Robert L. Phythian and Samuel D. Greene, and Chief Engineers John H. Long and Joseph Trilley. Board members for the June 1874 examination include Commodore Parker, Captain Alexander A. Semmes, commanders Phythian and Frederick V. McNair, and Chief Engineer Fletcher A. Wilson. Board members for the October 1874 examination include Commodore Parker, captains. Shufeldt and Andrew W. Johnson, commanders Phythian, McNair, and George C. Remey, and Chief Engineer Wilson. Board members for the October 1875 examination include Commodore Parker, Captain George E. Belknap, commanders George H. Perkins, Remey and George P. Ryan, and Chief Engineer James W. Thompson. Board members for the December 1875 examination include Commodore Parker, commanders Perkins, Henry L. Howison, James O’Kane, and Ryan, and Chief Engineer Thompson. Board members for the October 1876 examination include Commodore George H. Cooper, Captain John H. Upshur, commanders Howison, Alfred T. Mahan, and George W. Hayward, and Chief Engineer Oscar H. Lackey.
Volume 641 contains reports of examinations held in November 1872 for the class of 1870. Volume 642 contains reports of examinations held: in April and October 1873 for the class of 1870; June 1874 for those of the class of 1870 that failed previous examinations, and the class of 1871; October 1874 for the class of 1871; October 1875 for the classes of 1872 and 1873; December 1875 for select members of the class of 1873, including Albert A. Michelson; October 1876 for the class of 1874, and the reexamination of select members of the classes of 1872 and 1873; January 1878 for the reexamination of select members of the class of 1874, and the class of 1875; March 1878 for reexamination of select members of the class of 1875; and March 1879 for the class of 1876.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by date of examination and thereunder alphabetically by name of midshipman.
Access and Use
Access
Access is unrestricted.
Copyright and Permission
Use of materials is unrestricted.
Other Finding Aid(s)
National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3039658.
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
Related Archival Material
Minutes of the board’s proceedings, along with copies of examination questions are found in volume 283 of entry 202: “Journals of the Proceedings of Boards for the Examination of Midshipmen, 1836-1880” (NAID: 3179960). Similar reports of a board convened in January 1872 to examine midshipmen of the class of 1869 are found in entry 203: “Register Showing in Detail the Mode of Marking Examinations in Navigation, Languages, Seamanship, Gunnery and Steam, 1872” (NAID: 3179972).
Volumes documenting the complete conduct and academic histories for some of the midshipmen mentioned in this entry are found in entry 85: “Volume of Delinquencies, 1846-1850, 1854-1882” (NAID: 3033255). Other conduct and academic records related to these midshipmen’s time at the academy are found in entry 93: “Monthly Class Reports, 1865-1904” (NAID: 3033523); and entry 87: “Monthly Reports of Demerits, 1862-1873” (NAID: 3033302). Copies of letters written by the superintendent and the secretary of the navy formally warning and reprimanding midshipmen for academic deficiencies are found in entry 3: “Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1865-1911” (NAID: 2980540). Reports of relative academic standing, deficiency lists and merit rolls pertaining to midshipman grades are found in entry 204: “Journals of the Academic Board, 1854-1942” (NAID: 3179980). Other reports and correspondence of the superintendent, the secretary of the navy, and midshipmen and their parents pertaining to academic deficiencies and resultant dismissals and reappointments are located at the National Archives’ Record Group 45 series: “Letters Received from the Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, 1847-1884” (NAID: 1801239); and the Record Group 24 series: “Records Concerning Naval Cadets, 1862-1910” (NAID: 2524308).
Materials Cataloged Separately
No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.
Processing and Other Information
Preferred Citation
Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Reports of the Board for the Examination of Midshipmen Preliminary to Promotion to Ensign, 1872-1879, RG 405.2.3 Entry 98
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 June 2022. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in June 2022. 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 -- United States
- Naval education -- United States
- United States Naval Academy - Students
- • United States Naval Academy -- History – 19th century
Genre Terms
- Registers (lists)
- Reports