Written by Jenifer Chrisman on April 6, 2015.
Verse 1 – Midshipman Alfred H. Miles (1906)
Stand Navy down the field, sails set to the sky.
We’ll never change our course, so Army you steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll up the score, Navy, Anchors Aweigh.
Sail Navy down the field and sink the Army, sink the Army Grey.
Verse 2 – Midshipman Alfred H. Miles (1906)
Get underway, Navy, Decks cleared for the fray,
We’ll hoist true Navy Blue So Army down your Grey-y-y-y.
Full speed ahead, Navy; Army heave to,
Furl Black and Grey and Gold and hoist the Navy, hoist the Navy Blue
Verse 3 – Midshipman Royal Lovell (Class of 1926)
Blue of the Seven Seas; Gold of God’s great sun
Let these our colors be Till all of time be done-n-n-ne,
By Severn shore we learn Navy’s stern call:
Faith, courage, service true With honor over, honor over all.
Verse 3 – George D. Lottman (1926)
Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to college joys, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more:
Here’s wishing you a happy voyage home.
Written in 1906 as a request from the graduating Naval Academy Class of 1907 for a new march, Anchors Aweigh is an important part of a naval tradition. Composed by the bandmaster of the Naval Academy, Lieutenant Charles A. Zimmerman, its original two verses were written by Midshipman Alfred H. Miles. Miles had approached Zimmerman as he and his classmates “were eager to have a piece of music that would be inspiring, one with a swing to it so it could be used as a football marching song, and one that would live forever.”
There was definitely something special about this march. It was first played by the band in late November of 1906 at an Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia. Navy won 10-0, their first win in several seasons. Anchors Aweigh was subsequently dedicated to the class of 1907.
A concluding stanza was written by Midshipman Royal Lovell. Later, George D. Lottman wrote a new verse that has become the most commonly sung and well known part of Anchors Aweigh. In 1997, Master Chief of the Navy John Hagen made some slight revisions. He wanted the verses to be more inclusive of all personnel.
Sadly, Lieutenant Zimmerman suffered a brain hemorrhage in January of 1916. His students had prepared a tribute to him in their yearbook, Lucky Bag, as a surprise to honor his devotion to the Naval Academy. He didn’t live to see it. He was given a full military funeral and the headstone, a gift from his 1916 and 1917 classes, bears the inscription, “by his Midshipmen Friends,’ on the base.
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Note: “Aweigh,” meaning the completion of heaving, hoisting or raising is used in the song to show the anchor has been pulled from the bottom.
