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Painting: S. B. Luce, Sr.
New York MOLLUS Commandery I.D.# 13113
Founder of the Newport Naval War College
Durring the American Civil War
"Rhode Island's Own" Part Three
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A Biography By: D. R. Niermeyer, PCnC
MO MOLLUS - RI MOLLUS |
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Welcome to the Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce, Sr. U.S. Navy/RI MOLLUS Civil War Home Page Biography, “Part Three” of the series, “Rhode Island’s Own”. This Webpage was written by Douglas R. Niermeyer, PCnC, and designed by Gregg A. Mierka, and is provided by the following Civil War organizations: The Rhode Island State Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (RI MOLLUS & National MOLLUS); the Rhode Island Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Elisha Dyer Camp No.7; the Rhode Island Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Civil War Museum, inc.; and the Rhode Island Auxiliary to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Elisha Dyer Auxiliary No.2. Please try all our links to get to these Websites and the RI GAR Museum Webpages of Battery A, (Arnold's Battery), 1st Regiment R.I. Light Artillery; the 1st R.I. Volunteer Infantry; plus the Website of the R.I. Re-enactors Association, 2nd R.I. Volunteer Infantry; to honor his great legacy of super-patriotism, statesmanship and public service. |
INTRODUCTION:
What you are about to read is the great and timeless story of American patriotism, service to country and 'Hope' for the future. "Rhode Island's Own", is a series of biographies about Ocean Staters who stepped forward to answer the call to defend the Nation, under the National Flag of Columbia during the War of the Rebellion (The Civil War) 1861 to 1866. Each biography of the Rhode Island's Own series is drawn from the memoirs, books and quotes conveyed by those who experienced the tragedies and triumphs of the period. This Internet version of Rhode Island's Own: Part III, is a snapshot or vignette about a unique individual, Stephen B. Luce, including the impressions and insights of those who knew him very well. The Rebellion put the United States through a period of great trauma, to the likes and times of which the American People have never endured before or since. In their typically unselfish manner as parents and veterans, most of the men and women of Luce's generation who lived beyond the period, to their final days, simply called it, "The Late Unpleasantness". |
To Your Posts !
QUICKLY NOW ! QUICKLY !
Remember !
You Tuff Tars are Part of the Best Navy in the World !
During the Civil War the U.S. Naval Academy was moved to Newport, Rhode Island.
The Navy used Lower Narragansett Bay to instruct cadets in the art of modern naval gunnery and tactics.
After the war the U.S. Naval Academy was returned to Annapolis, Maryland.
Today the institution in Newport is a school of graduate level training
for "commissioned" officers in advanced tactics, strategic opperations & planning.
We Sail the Oceans of the Planet
To Keep Our Country Free For All Time
Stephen Bleecker Luce Sr. was born on March 25, 1827 in Albany, New York, one of three children born to Vinal and Charlotte Bleecker. Stephen would become one of the Navy's outstanding officers in many fields, including strategy, seamanship, education, and professional development.
Stephen Bleecker Luce Sr. entered the Navy in October 19, 1841 as a Midshipman and during the next seven years served on the frigate USS Congress and ships of the line USS North Carolina and USS Columbus upon which he circumnavigated the globe and served on the coast of California during the Mexican War, 1846-1847. Following graduation as a member of the U.S. Naval Academy's Class of 1847 and promotion to Passed Midshipman in 1848, he served at the Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, until mid-1849. Luce spent the first half of the 1850s serving in the sloop-of-war USS Vandalia in the Pacific, on astronomical duty in Washington, D.C., and as an officer of the steamer USS Vixen. Attaining the rank of Lieutenant in 1855, he was employed on coast survey work 1854-57 and served in the sloop-of-war USS Jamestown during the rest of the decade. He was promoted Lieutenant September 16, 1855.
Lieutenant Luce began another Naval Academy tour in May 1860 as an assistant instructor. Shortly before the firing on Fort Sumter, he was detailed as Third Lieutenant of the steam frigate USS Wabash and was attached to the blockading squadron off the coast of South Carolina, 1861, and participated in the battle of Port Royal, November 13, 1861. He was ordered back at the Naval Academy on January 10, 1862 ro serve as head of the Department of Seamanship. While there, he prepared one of the first seamanship textbooks used by the academy. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on July 16, 1862 and continued to served at the Naval Academy until 1863. He then commanded the USS Nantucket, USS Sonoma, USS Canandaigua, and USS Pontiac of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, 1863-1865, and during this time engaged with the Confederate Forts Sumter, Moultrie, and Battery Marshall. He reported to General Sheraton at Savannah, Georgia, for duty in connection with the Army, December, 1864, and with the USS Pontiac, he guarded the pontoon bridge at Sister's Ferry on the Savannah, while General Slocum's division crossed into South Carolina. He was ordered to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1865, and relieved Commodore Fairfax as Commandant of Midshipmen in October 1865.
After the war, Luce organized the Navy's apprentice training program to prepare seamen and petty officers for fleet duty and served as the Naval Academy's Commandant of Midshipmen from October 1865 to June 1868. He was commissioned Commander, July 25, 1866 and commanded the practice squadrons of the Naval Academy. He then returned to sea as commanding officer of the gunboat USS Mohongo, in the Pacific, and steam sloop USS Juniata in the Mediterranean Sea, 1866-1872. Promoted to Captain on December 28, 1872, Luce served at the Boston Navy Yard until the autumn of 1875. He then commanded the steam sloop USS Hartford, flagship of the North Atlantic squadron, in November, 1875 and served as such until August 1877.
His later career was heavily involved with educational affairs, initially as Inspector of Training Ships 1877-1878, then in command of the training ship USS Minnesota 1878-1881, and promoted Commodore, November 25, 1881. As Commodore he commanded the U.S. Training Squadron from 1881 to 1884. He served as President of the Commission on the sale of Navy yards in 1882 and later ordered to the command of the North Atlantic squadron as acting Rear-Admiral, July 26, 1884. |
Father of Advanced Naval Tactics
Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce
Developed the school of Advanced Naval Tactics ~ Graduate Program
for Commissioned Naval Officers already in the service
or who graduated from the U.S. Naval academy at Annapolis
after the academy was returned
from Rhode Island to Maryland.
He strongly advocated higher education for the Navy's officers and, as a Commodore and Rear Admiral, Luce's urgings and exhaustive reports, he help create the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, which was established October 6, 1884, He served as it's First Superintendent from 1884 to 1886. Luce set a course for the Naval War College that endures to this day and Luce Hall is named in his honor. Displaying an appreciation for the interrelationship of naval power, technology, and international politics uncommon in naval officers of his time, he mused, “Fancy a university man aspiring to the honors of the legal profession and ignoring the law school and the science of law. . . . It must strike anyone who thinks about it as extraordinary that we members of the profession of arms should never have undertaken the study of our real business.” He also was instrumental in starting the U.S. Naval Institute and its publication, Proceedings.
He was promoted Rear-Admiral, October 5, 1885, commanded the naval forces of the North Atlantic station, 1886-1889. He was placed on the retired list on March 25, 1889. He was Commissioner-General to the quadro-centennial of the Columbian Exposition at Madrid in 1892. On March 1, 1893, the Queen Regent of Spain conferred on him the Grand Cross of Naval Merit with the white distinctive mark, for services as delegate to the exposition. Returning to the War College in 1901, he served as President of the Naval Academy's Board of Visitors and on special duty at the War College. He also was an Associate Editor of Johnson's Universal Encyclopedia, a member of the editorial staff of the Standard Dictionary, and the author of Seamanship (1863), a text-book used at the Naval academy. He also published under the title of Naval Songs (1883), a collection of original, selected, and traditional sea songs, which included the music, and contributed extensively to the then current literature.
Luce was married on December 7, 1854 to Eliza Henley, daughter of Commodore John Dandridge Henley, U.S. Navy, and a great-niece of Martha Washington. She was born in 1829 and they had three children: Henley, Caroline, and Stephen Bleecher Jr. Luce was elected an original companion of the New York Commandery of MOLLUS, Insignia No. 13113, and was an active member the rest of his life. Rear-Admiral Luce died at Newport, Rhode Island, on July 28, 1917. |
The Naval War College and Museum
Newport, Rhode Island, Lower Narragansett Bay
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His Legacy
The Navy has named three ships in honor of Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce: USS Luce (Destroyer #99, later DM-4), 1918-1936; USS Luce (DD-522), 1943-1945; and USS Luce (DLG-7 later DDG-38), 1961-1995.
The USS Luce, a 1060-ton Little class destroyer, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. It was commissioned in September 1918 and spent the rest of World War I on convoy escort and anti-submarine patrol service in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. During the months that followed the November 11, 1918 Armistice, the USS Luce operated in the Adriatic, Aegean, eastern Mediterranean and Black seas. The ship returned to the United States in July 1919 and in March 1920 was reclassified as a light minelayer, being formally designated DM-4 in July of that year. The USS Luce spent the next two years serving along the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean. The USS Luce was decommissioned in June 1922 and was laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The ship briefly resumed commissioned service between March 1930 and January 1931. Following another five years in "red lead row", the USS Luce was stricken from the list of Navy ships in January 1936 and sold for scrapping in September of that year.
The USS Luce, a 2030-ton Fletcher class destroyer built at Staten Island, New York, was commissioned in June 1943. It went to the Pacific in the fall and from November 1943 into August 1944 operated in the Alaskan and Aleutian Islands area. On February 3-4, and in June 1944, the USS Luce participated in three bombardments of Japanese facilities in the Kurile Islands. Later in the year, the destroyer went to the south Pacific and in October took part in the invasion of Leyte. The USS Luce was employed on escort and patrol missions in the Admiralty Islands and off New Guinea for the rest of 1944.
In January 1945, the USS Luce took part in amphibious landings at Lingayen Gulf and San Antonio, Leyte. The destroyer was part of the vast fleet that supported the invasion of Okinawa in late March and was then stationed off that islands as a radar picket to warn of incoming Japanese air raids. While peforming this duty on May 4, 1944, the USS Luce was attacked by several suicide attack planes. Damaged by the bomb of one Kamikaze, the USS Luce was struck amidships by a second and rapidly sank. Nearly 150 of her crew were lost.
The third USS Luce (DLG-7) was laid down by Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, Massachusetts, October 1, 1957; launched December 11, 1958; sponsored by Mrs. Felix B. Stump; and commissioned May 20, 1961, Commander David H. Bagley in command.
The USS Luce departed Mayport, Florida on a shakedown cruise February 14, 1962. The USS Luce spent the month of April with the 6th Fleet in the ship's first task force operations and returned home May 11 where Captain H.J. Ereckson, Commander Destroyer Division 84, made the USS Luce his flagship. The USS Luce departed August 3 to rejoin the 6th Fleet, en route participating in NATO exercises Riptide III with units of the British and French Navies. During the next seven months, the USS Luce joined in three major NATO exercises before returning home March 2, 1963. During the spring and early summer, the frigate conducted missile tests, trained midshipmen, and engaged in independent exercises along the Atlantic coast.
On August 20, 1963, the USS Luce steamed to the Caribbean for independent air, surface, and shore bombardment firings and returned Mayport September 4, 1963. The ship joined Task Force 23 for intensive ASW and AA exercises 28 October 28 and after a short operation with the USS Enterprise (CVA(N)-65) was back in Mayport for tender availability. On February 8, 1964, the USS Luce again joined the 6th Fleet, and was called upon to stand guard for three weeks near the trouble-ridden island of Cyprus to evacuate American citizens if necessary. The USS Luce hosted the Secretary of the Navy and Commander 6th Fleet April 24 for a missile firing demonstration, and then escorted Shangri-La (CVA-38) on a high-speed Atlantic crossing to Mayport. In July, the ship steamed to New York City to participate in operation "Sail" with a regatta of sailing craft from all over the world. The USS Luce returned to Mayport after a four month overhaul January 28, 1965. The frigate had won both the Engineering and Battle Efficiency "E"s during 1964.
The USS Luce returned to the Caribbean for intensive refresher training in March 1965. On April 29, the ship embarked a company of marines at Guantanamo Bay and proceeded to the troubled Dominican Republic April 30. The USS Luce patrolled the coast of the politically disturbed island until May 8. It returned to the Mediterranean in June for four months of operations with units of the Spanish, French, Greek, and Italian Navies. In September, the USS Luce operated with the USS Correy (DD-817) in the Black Sea, and returned to the Mediterranean late in 1965. The ship arrived Mayport November 6 and embarked Commander Destroyer Squadron 8. In December, the USS Luce engaged in missile firing and after a brief time in port in 1966 continued testing and improving missile techniques and carrying out the fleet's widespread peacekeeping activities which guard the free world. On June 13, 1966, the USS Luce got underway for deployment with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. After participating in various exercises with United States and other Allied ships, and representing the United States at two international trade fairs, the USS Luce returned to Mayport on October 26. The first half of 1967 saw the USS Luce operating again with the 2nd Fleet in the Atlantic and Caribbean, and participating in a midshipmen training cruise in June. On August 7, the USS Luce began a regular overhaul at the U.S. Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina. It continued in overhaul until early 1968, then operated locally and in the Caribbean until departing Mayport September 14 for the Persian Gulf, sailing via Recife, Brazil, and various ports along the west and east coasts of Africa. The ship arrived at Bahrein October 29 and continued to stand watch over the troubled Middle East into 1969.
In 1970, the USS Luce was decomissioned for an extensive conversion as part of the Navy's anti-air warfare moderization program. It received new radar, electronics equipment, missile systems modifications, and installation of the Naval Tactical Data System enabling the ship to exchange operational information by computer-to-computer radio links with similarly equipped ships and aircraft.
The USS Luce was recommissioned May 22, 1971. The ship was further modified during a yard period from November 1976 to November 1977, and completed a yearlong overhaul at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in early 1983. The ship was then homeported in Mayyport, Florida, where it was the permanent flagship of Commander Destroyer Squadron No. 12 until decommissioning on April 1, 1991. The USS Luce (DLG-7, DDG-38) was moved from its mothball berth at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to Metro Marines facilities for salvage in 2004. |
A Sailor's Call
Still On Patrole
~ When The Sea Shall Give Up Her Dead ~
Boys !
This Steam-Sloop of War
Is About To Engage A Secesh Commerce Raider !
The Ememy !
I Mean To Take Her A Prize or Put Her To The Bottom.
I Have But One Order !
At Six Bells on the Morrow, We Shall Beat All Hands to Quarters.
Forward Pivot Crews !
We'll Have Her By Her Stern.
You Will Salvo Once and Rake Her Quarter Deck
Then again To take Out Her Rutter.
Topmen !
Lift Your Sheets to Fly Lubberly and True.
Engineers & Machinist Mates !
We'll Stoke a Full Head of Steam.
I Want Our Top Speed Steady At 14 Knots or More,
If The Weather Gods Say I.
Helmsmen & Gunners !
Upon Our First Tack, We'll Sail Straight By Her.
We'll List In The Wind No More Than 10 Degrees.
You Will Bring All Our Starboard Batteries to Bear.
Marines !
When We Close,
You Will Post The Tops and Sweep Her Weather Deck.
Surgeon !
We'll Keep Our Butcher's Bill Low ~ Theirs High.
Guncrews & Powdermonkeys !
Be True & Quick About It. Our Lives May Depend On You.
Midshipmen !
We'll Show The Colors Lofted High.
Boys
Stand Tall On Deck As Always, and Do Your Duty !
For Uncle Abe !
For Your Homes !
For Your Wives, and For Your Sweethearts...May They Never Meet !
And For The Prize !
Huzzah ! |
Admiral David G. Farragut, USN, MOLLUS ID# 00221
He lived for a time in Newport, Rhode Island.
RI GAR Farragut Post No. 8, of Riverside, was named in his honor.
At the Battle of Mobile Bay, he said, "Damn The Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead" !
Although he got his Sea-Legs as a boy, he suffered from vertigo.
To overcome the problem he lashed himself to his ship's rigging in the battle.
In plain view of the enemy.
This gave his men courage.
They knew he would win or die trying.
And if His Will Be Done, go down with his ship.
His Flag Ship was the USS Hartford, A 20 Gun Frigate, with A Pivot Gun Fore And Aft.
Sources:____________________________________
1) Membership Records of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
2) Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century, page 603.
3) The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume VII, page 56.
4) Naval War College Museum, Newport, Rhode Island (see http://www.nwc.navy.mil)
5) Naval Historical Center: Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce, USN (see http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-l/sb-luce.htm)
6) Naval Historical Center: USS Luce (DM-4, formerly DD-99) (see http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-l/dd99.htm)
7) Naval Historical Center: USS Luce (DD-522) (see http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-l/dd522.htm)
8) USS Luce (DLG-7, later DDG-38) Reunion website (see http://www.ussluce.org/)
9) Navy Times article on the USS Luce (DLG-7, later DDG-38)
Copyright & copy; 2006
Douglas Niermeyer
Rhode Island Commandery, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States |
Thank You
For Taking A Voyage On My Page
Your are visitor number:
FOR MORE ABOUT U.S. NAVAL SERVICES
OF
RHODE ISLANDERS IN THE CIVIL WAR
Go to RI MOLLUS War Papers
Volume IV:
Life on the Texan Blockade:
U. S. NAVY Department Of The Gulf Of Mexico;
Actions of the the USS Lackawanna
By: Dr. William F. Hutchinson, Ship's Surgeon
USS Lackawanna
HERE
RI MOLLUS-RI Soldiers & Sailors Historical Society War Narrative
Transcibed By: Douglas R. Niermeyer, PCnC
Go to RI MOLLUS War Papers
Volume I:
The Bay Fight:
A Sketch Of The Battle of Mobile Bay
August 5, 1864
By: Dr. William F. Hutchinson, Ship's Surgeon
USS Lackawanna
HERE
RI MOLLUS-RI Soldiers & Sailors Historical Society War Narrative
Transcibed with Postscript By: Gregg A. Mierka, PCC
Go to RI MOLLUS War Papers
Volume VIII:
Kearsarge And Alabama:
Sea Cruises of the USS Kearsarge
and
its epic battle with the CSS Alabama during the Civil War
By: William H. Badlam, Engineer
USS Kearsarge
HERE
RI MOLLUS-RI Soldiers & Sailors Historical Society War Narrative
Transcibed with Postscript By: Gregg A. Mierka, PCC
Go to RI MOLLUS War Papers
Volume I:
My First Cruise At Sea
And
The Loss Of The Iron-Clad Monitor
By: Frank Butts, Paymaster's Clerk
USS Minitor
HERE
RI MOLLUS-RI Soldiers & Sailors Historical Society War Narrative
Transcibed with Postscript By: Gregg A. Mierka, PCC
For Additional Information about other Rhode Islanders in the Civil War,
Go to the R.I. Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, War Papers Index Home Page to access the 10 Volumes of "Personal Narratives", published under the R.I. Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society representing MOLLUS in Rhode Island from 1870 to 2001,
transcrbed with postscripts for the Internet by Gregg A. Mierka and Douglas R. Niermeyer,
Click HERE |
ADDITIONAL RI MOLLUS LINKS
Go To The "Rhode Island's Own" Biography Index
HERE For the Biographies of Ambrose E. Burnside,
George Sears Greene, William Sprague, Elisha Hunt Rhodes,
William Albert Arnold, Frank Wheaton, Silas Casey, and Zenas R. Bliss
Go To The "RI MOLLUS" War Papers Index
HERE For more personal narratives written
by Rhode Islanders in the Civil War
Return to the "Main"
R.I. Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States,
RI MOLLUS
SITE ENTRY Home Page
HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RETURN LINKS
Return to the R.I. SUVCW, Elisha Dyer Camp No.7, Directory Page
Return to the R.I. ASUVCW, Elisha Dyer Auxiliary No.2, Home Page
Return to the
R.I. GAR Civil War, Museum, Home Page
Return to the
National Civil War, Museum, Home Page
Return to the
Main Newport Naval War College Home Page
Go to the R.I. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States,
RIMOLLUS, Information Center
to read about the History of the Order and More !
To go to the
National Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Website,
For more MOLLUS Vignettes on Union Civil War Officers
Click HERE
To go to the "main" National MOLLUS Web Site
Click HERE
To Turn Back To The "Rhode Island's Own" INDEX PAGE
HERE
~ CREDITS ~
You have listened to the wonderful period music of "Alisa Jones", and acompanying musicians, song: "Salley Guarden", from her CD, "Irish Dreams",
©All Rights Reserved, Green Hill Productions, Nashville, TN.
Use of any of the music on this Website must be licensed.
Our thanks to the General Nathanael Greene Homestead Museum, Spell Hall, Coventry, Rhode Island for allowing RI MOLLUS to play the songs of Alisia Jones and Ed Sweeney. See the Homestead Education Center HERE for contacts to acquire recommended music for schools, teachers and students.
A special thanks also to all musicians for their wonderful music helping define the character of the American People and the history of Rhode Island in the Civil War.
NOTE: Viewers are not authorized by law to copy the sound or imagry contained on this Web Page. FBI Warning: Unauthorized duplication or recording of this material is prohibited by U.S. Federal Law and is protected by copyrights including all sound and imagery, which are ©2006 RI MOLLUS, National MOLLUS, the Nathanael Greene Homestead Museum, Spell Hall, Alisia Jones, Greene Hill Productions, and/or, by all other contributing artists, designers and authors of this Website.
Thanks also to Robert Hunt Rhodes for allowing us to use some of his material about his ancestor, Elisha Hunt Rhodes and to Ken Burns for featuring E.H. Rhodes and our State's Civil War History in his PBS series on The Civil War. And a special thanks to Edwin Bearrs, Brian Pohanka, Jeff Shaara and Ron Maxwell for their support for Rhode Island Civil War History and raising the American conscience about the triumphs and tragidies of the Great War of the Rebellion 1861 to 1865.
We also wish to thank Brother/Companion Keith G. Harrison, Past National SUVCW Commander-in-Chief and, current National SUVCW and MOLLUS Webmaster, as well as all the artists/musicians for the use of their music on all the pages in our site. ©1983 by Swinging Door Music-BMI. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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"ALL FOR THE UNION" !
AND
"THE GRAND OLD FELLOWS IN BLUE" !
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