Stephen Luce

Stephen Bleecker Luce (March 25, 1827 – July 28, 1917) was an admiral in the United States Navy. Regarded as one of the Navy's outstanding officers in many fields, including strategy, seamanship, education, and professional development, he founded and served as the first president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He also co-founded and later served as president of the United States Naval Institute in Annapolis, Maryland.

Born in Albany, New York, to Dr. Vinal Luce and Charlotte Bleecker, Luce entered the Navy on October 19, 1841, at the age of 14. He was instructed at the Naval School in Philadelphia until 1845, when the United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis. He graduated from the Academy in 1848 and was warranted as a passed midshipman to date from August 10, 1847. He was promoted to lieutenant on September 15, 1855.

In 1854, Luce married Elizabeth Henley, a grand-niece of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, wife of George Washington. Their children included daughter Caroline (1857–1933), who became the wife of Montgomery M. Macomb, later a brigadier general in the United States Army.

Luce served with the Atlantic Ocean / East Coast blockade squadron during the American Civil War (1861-1865), and commanded the ironclad monitor Nantucket at the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1862. He was assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy, which was moved to Newport, Rhode Island, from January 1862 to October 1863. In 1862, while serving as head of the Department of Seamanship, he prepared one of the first seamanship textbooks. During the war, he also commanded the naval vessels USS Sonoma, USS Canadaigua, and USS Pontiac.

He was promoted to full commander in 1866.

After the Civil War, Luce organized the Navy's apprentice training program to prepare naval seamen and petty officers for fleet duty. From 1869 to 1872, he commanded the sloop-of-war USS Juniata which was assigned to the Mediterranean Sea Fleet. He was promoted to captain in December 1872 and served as the captain of the yard at the Boston Navy Yard (at Charlestown, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Boston), until 1875. He commanded the USS Hartford from November 1875 to August 1877. From August to December 1877, Luce was the Navy's inspector of training ships, then from January 1878 to February 1881, he commanded the training ship USS Minnesota.

From July to September 1884, Luce commanded the North Atlantic Squadron with the USS Tennessee as his flagship. From June 1886 to February 1889, Luce again commanded the North Atlantic Squadron with the USS Richmond this time as his flagship.

Luce helped start the United States Naval Institute in October 1873; he would serve as the Institute's president from 1887 to 1898.