ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The tradition of the Herndon Monument Climb continues as a new class of plebes from the Naval Academy will work together to get to the top of the monument greased with vegetable shortening.
The upperclassmen, or "midshipmen" of the 1st Company, will cover the monument with about 50 pounds of shortening, according to the Naval Academy website.
The "Iron Company" of the Sea Trials will lead the class of 2022 to begin their climb of the 21-foot monument with nothing but the clothes on their bodies and each other. The class will work together to make a human pyramid to get to the top and replace a "dixie cup" hat with an upperclassman's hat.
After finishing their conquest, the freshman will receive the honor of being called "fourth class midshipman," instead of plebes.
The plebes have to take their shoes off before the climb. The Naval Academy says thousands of the shoes have been donated to charities through the organization Midshipman Action Group.
The History
It's a tradition that reportedly began in the 1950s, but started being recorded for the first time in 1962.
The fastest recorded time so far has been the Class of 1972 with a time of one minute and 30 seconds. However, the monument wasn't greased.
The longest time recorded was from the Class of 1998 with a time of 4:05:17. The dixie cup reportedly had to be glued and taped together.
The Herndon Monument was named after Commander William Lewis Herndon, who was born in 1813.
He was in command of the SS Central America when it was headed home with gold-seekers from California. Herndon led the ship as it faced a three-day hurricane near the North Carolina coast.
Herndon, in an effort to save the sailors and passengers, went down with his ship in 1857. The monument was built in his honor in the Naval Academy's 'Yard' for his "qualities of discipline, teamwork, and courage."
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