United States Naval War College Museum on Visit New England

History of Naval Warfare The History of the "art and science" of naval warfare, chiefly as studied at the Naval War College through the years, is the principal theme of the Naval War College Museum, which is located in Founders Hall (1820), the original site of the College (1884 - 1889) and a National Historic Landmark. In its broadest application, this encompasses theories and concepts of sea power, international and maritime law, foreign policy formulation, diplomacy, and naval operations. More specifically, the focus is naval power and professional implementation for the achievement of strategic and tactical objectives.

Exhibits seek to explain the importance of the sea as a factor in the formulation of national policy objectives and as the arena wherein decisions are made through diplomacy and trial by arms. Examples of command performance in the planning and the execution of projects and campaigns are drawn from world history and from the conceptual and analytical studies produced at the Naval War College.

Navy Heritage of Narragansett Bay The history of the US Navy in Narragansett Bay is a second museum theme. While the Navy has been a permanent resident of the region since 1869, its association dates back to the Colonial Period and the American Revolution. The first naval ships engagement of the war occurred on the bay in June, 1775, when the sloop KATY of the Rhode Island Navy, the first American state navy of the Revolution, met and defeated the sloop DIANA, tender of the HMS ROSE, stationed at Newport to enforce the hated Acts of Trade. In December, KATY became part of the new American fleet and was re-christened PROVIDENCE. The fleet, born of a Rhode Island resolution to the Continental Congress, was commanded by Esek Hopkins from Rhode Island.

Commodores Oliver H. Perry and Matthew C. Perry of Newport added luster to the region in the first half of the 19th century through their exploits in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Matthew's long naval career was capped by the opening of Japan in 1854, the most successful naval diplomatic mission in American history. During the Civil War, the Naval Academy was resident in Newport, and in the immediate post-war years, the Naval Torpedo Station, the Navy's first laboratory, was established on Goat Island in Newport's inner harbor. This was followed by the establishment of the Naval Training Station, the first shore-based recruit training facility in America, on Coasters Harbor Island in 1883, the establishment of the Naval War College in 1884, and the use of the bay as the principle anchorage for the developing Atlantic Fleet after 1900. In more recent years, the region has developed into a major center for naval school commands and for naval underwater weapons research and development.

The College was established by Navy Department General Order No. 325 of 6 October 1884 primarily through the efforts of Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce, USN, who served as its first president. A leader in the movement to modernize the Navy, Luce was responsible for several significant developments in education and training. His most enduring single contribution is the Naval War College which he described as "a place of original research on all questions relating to war and to statesmanship connected with war, or the prevention of war."

Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, second president, added immeasurably to the stature of the new school through his published writings on sea power. The first of these, based on College lectures and entitled: The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, won international acclaim shortly after its first appearance in 1890, and firmly established the reputation of Mahan as a naval historian and of the College as a seat of higher learning.

Other College leaders built on the concepts of the founders, and in due course, the school's corpus of theoretical and applied knowledge on naval warfare was substantially augmented. Meanwhile, the curriculum was modified to meet the needs of new and changing international circumstances. A testimony to the success of the educational mission of the College is the prominence achieved by its graduates, included among whom are Second World War Admirals Ernest J. King, Chester W. Nimitz, Raymond A. Spruance and William F. Halsey.

At the present time the Naval War College consists of four resident schools, a College for Continuing Education, and a Center for Naval Warfare Studies for advanced research on current naval questions.

	The Naval War College The Naval War College is the oldest school of its kind in the world and the highest professional educational institution in the US Navy. It is located on Coasters Harbor Island, Newport, Rhode Island.