The Herndon Monument honors Commander William Lewis Herndon after he died in a Pacific Mail Steamer, the Central America during a hurricane off Georgia on September 12, 1857. Herndon had followed the long time custom of the sea that a ship's captain is the last person to depart his ship in peril. The monument was built in it's current location on June 16, 1860 and has never moved despite the relocation of the Naval Academy and the rebuilding that occurred in 1899. At the end of the academic year, the plebe class performs a right of passage by climbing a well greased gray granite obelisk mounted on rectangular base to swap a plebe "dixie cup" cover (hat) with a regular midshipman's cover, officially marking the end of plebe year. The whole ceremony, while fascinating and very traditional, is a nasty experience. Imagine a horde of sweaty plebes climbing a memorial covered in lard...
