The Herndon Monument is a grey granite obelisk on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy. It was erected in memory of Captain William Lewis Herndon, who died while helping to evacuate passengers and crew from his ship, the SS Central America, as she foundered in a storm on September 12, 1857. All women and children and many of the men aboard were saved through his efforts.

Description The monument is a granite obelisk presented to the Academy by the class of 1860. The sculptor is unknown.

Inscriptions

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

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

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

Ship's bell

Central Americas 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.

Herndon Monument Climb

The monument is the site of the annual Herndon Monument Climb, known colloquially as the "plebes-no-more" ceremony. First-year students at the academy, known as plebes or freshmen, are expected to work together to scale the monument, with the goal of replacing a plebeian "dixie cup" hat on top with an upperclassman's combination cover. Before the climb, the monument is customarily greased by upperclassmen with as much as 50 pounds of vegetable shortening, though some years have opted for no grease. This campus tradition marks the official end of the plebe year.

It is a Naval Academy tradition that the midshipman who replaces the dixie cup will be given the Superintendent's combination cover or shoulder boards. Superstition holds that he or she will be the first of his or her class to make flag rank, although this has never actually occurred.

The academy began recording times in 1959. 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 4th Class Larry Fanning climbed the ungreased monument in 1 minute and 30 seconds.

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.

Before the 2010 Herndon Monument climb, Superintendent Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler publicly indicated dissatisfaction with the risk of injury associated with the climbing tradition. Fowler ordered the Brigade of Midshipmen not to slather the monument with lard "to improve the safety of the event". His successor, Vice Admiral Michael Miller, reinstated the tradition in 2011, saying, "Conducting 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."

Table of recorded times + Scaling times of the Herndon Monument Year Climbed Class Year Time (H:MM:SS) Scaler19501953Frederick Graff19571960Jose Chavez19581961William H. Parks 1959 1962 John M. Truesdell 1960 1963 0:12:00First recorded time John Marlowe Truesdell 1962 1965 0:03:00Used a cargo net - Ed Linz196319660:42:00Thomas L. Gibson196419670:38:30Bernard J. Racely196519680:23:07David W. Wallace 1966 1969 1:30:00 Gerald T. Witowski196719701:21:00Jim Zaborowksi 1968 1971 0:58:00 Steve DiAntonio 1969 1972 0:01:30Fastest time officially recorded, although the monument was not greased Larry Fanning 1970 1973 Phil ErtelUSNA Public Affairs Office www.usna.edu Herndon Monument Fact Sheet 1971 1974 0:35:00 William Jackson 1972 1975 0:20:00Fastest time greased Capital Gazette 5-5-2008 Michael Maynard197319761:50:00Lawrence J. O'Donnell Jr. 1974 1977 0:46:00 Alexander Acera197519781:30:00Michael T. Spencer 1976 1979 0:58:00 Dwight Crevelt 1977 1980 2:33:00 Kenneth Flack Shipmate, July-August 1977 1978 1981 1:21:00 Doug Heimbach 1979 1982 2:09:00Bisbee, Gene. "Monumental madness." Annapolis Evening Capital, May 25, 1979. Jay Gallo 1980 1983 2:43:00 Bill Freitag 1981 1984 1:24:00The Washington Star, May 23, 1981. Andreas Bierbrauer 1982 1985 1:44:50 Sonny Dean 1983 1986 1:43:55 Kevin Delamer 1984 1987 2:22:00 Bob Kay 1985 1988 3:12:23 Chad Watson 1986 1989 1:23:07 Kenneth Grimes 1987 1990 1:51:20 Byron Hopkins 1988 1991 0:43:44 Melvyn Davis 1989 1992 1:51:30 Sam Cook 1990 1993 1:34:50 Larry Parker 1991 1994 2:36:57 Brad Cougher 1992 1995 2:21:37 James Golladay 1993 1996 1:38:20 Kepper Pickard 1994 1997 1:44:20 Ross Scott 1995 1998 4:05:17Longest time Steve Fortmann 1996 1999 2:08:46 Joshua Caleb Williams 1997 2000 2:55:17 Zachary Guerra 1998 2001 2:22:55 Josh Stewart 1999 2002 2:07:41 Jason Fahy 2000 2003 1:19:44 Nathaniel Jennings 2001 2004 2:15:52 Alexander Lim 2002 2005 2:07:41 Daniel Knott 2003 2006 1:19:00 Daniel Shea 2004 2007 2:19:24 Philip Johnson 2005 2008 1:16:13 John David Olsen 2006 2009 1:14:15 Brian Richards 2007 2010 1:32:42 Jamie Shrock 2008 2011 2:35:59 Greg Reichel & Kristen Marie Dickmann 2009 2012 1:14:38Official time per press release - Schyler Widman 2010 2013 0:02:02Ungreased following an order by VADM Fowler, Superintendent of the Naval Academy Keegan Albi 2011 2014 2:41:32 Matthew Dalton 2012 2015 2:10:13 Andrew Craig 2013 2016 1:32:43 Patrick Lien 2014 2017 2:19:35 Mike Landry 2015 2018 1:38:36 Javarri Beachum 2016 2019 1:12:30 Chris Bianchi 2017 2020 2:21:22 Joe McGraw 2018 2021 2:09:23 Peter Rossi 2019 2022 1:05:05 Christian Schwien 2021Delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic – 2023 3:00:39 James Crossfield 2021 2024 3:41:00 Michael Lancaster 2022 2025 3:36:58 Nick McGowan 2023 2026 2:31:51 Chris Paris202420272:19:11Ben Leisegang 2025 2028 2:27:31 Augustus Russo

Notes

References

navy.mil 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

YouTube video of plebes scaling Herndon