Which meeting established the US Naval Institute today?
October 9, 1837 — A meeting at the US Naval Academy established the US Naval Institute today in 1837.
A fixture at the US Naval Academy, the group of 15 naval officers met to discuss the serious implications of a smaller, post-Civil War Navy.
The founding vision for the organization was to create a forum for the exchange of ideas, to disseminate and advance the knowledge of sea power, and to preserve our naval and maritime heritage.
The proceedings were eventually published and read throughout the fleet. Its impact spread quickly and embraced the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
Today, the Naval Institute has more than 100,000 constituents worldwide.
Sources
Words of Wisdom
A powerful Navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defense; and it has always been of defense that we have thought, never of aggression or of conquest. But who shall tell us now what sort of Navy to build? We shall take leave to be strong upon the seas, in the future as in the past; and there will be no thought of offense or provocation in that. Our ships are our natural bulwarks.
