These men are NOT the graduating class of 1894. They are about two-thirds of the class of 1892. They were back in Annapolis, in the Spring of 1894, having finished the two-year cruise that was then required before they took their final exams. Another sign that this is what was going on is the facial hair, which they could not have as students. Also, the caps the graduated, but not commissioned, men wore are very different from the ones worn by those still at the academy.

If you will go to this link, from the 1894-1895 USNA Annual Reports, you will see the names of the men of the class of 1892, and the appointments or discharges they received in 1894. https://archive.org/stream/annualregiste18941895unse#page/46/mode/2up/se... If you change the years on the URL to two years later, you will get the annual report from 1896, which contains the name of people like Joseph Mason Reeves, from the class of 1894, and the appointments they received at that time.

Here are those I have identified:

Lower left corner Joel Roberts Poinsett Pringle, who retired as a vice admiral. From what I've seen, he was especially well thought of by his comrades.

Second row up, far left is Luke McNamee, retired admiral. There is a good write up on his very successful career at Find A Grave.

Continuing on the same step, left to right, skip two. The next is Charles Fearns Macklin. He was in the Marine Corps for several years, got out and went into politics, but stayed in the Naval reserve force.

Far right in that row is the very easy to recognize, Raymond DeLancey Hasbrouck. He was appointed an assistant engineer. There is more about him at Huguenotstreet.org.

Back to the left, third row from the bottom, is Edward Stanley Kellogg. Retired as a captain, and was governor of American Samoa.

Skipping one, in the center of the picture, is John Fore Hines. He was on the faculty of the Naval Academy for several years, retired as a captain. His son, John Fore Hines, JR., USNA '27, retired as a rear admiral, and his grandson was a Marine Corps officer, killed in Vietnam, so his family provided a great deal of service.

Next is John Russell Young Blakely, whose commands included the battleship, USS Arizona. He also retired as a rear admiral.

On the end of that row is Charles Theodore Jewell. He was the son of an admiral, and retired as a commander.

On the top, seated, row, far left is Yates Stirling, Jr., son of a RADM, who also retired as a RADM. His son, Yates Stirling III (USNA class 1926) retired as a Captain.

2nd from left is John Henry Russell, China Marine, father of socialite and philanthropist, Brooke Astor, and 16th commandant of the US Marine Corps.

Skipping two more, the one who looks like there are bags under his eyes is Frederick Augustus Traut. He later served at the Naval Academy as head of the department of foreign languages, and retired as a captain.

There are two more, Thomas L. Stitt and John Twiggs Meyers, who are in the earlier picture of the class of '92, but not this one. Both were given honorable discharges at the time of this picture. Stitt apparently had developed a vision problem or something that precluded him from serving in the Navy, but not from becoming successful in civilian life, which he did.

In a letter written to a friend, Myers, an Army junior, relates having been devastated about being discharged, apparently for no specific reason. He fought it and was appointed (the word later changed to commissioned) a 2nd LT, USMC, a few months later. He won notoriety in the Boxer rebellion, in China, in which he was wounded, and eventually got three stars! The two pictures I'm posting should be Myers, on the top, and Stitt, on the bottom, who is very easy to pick out of the earlier group picture. https://www.shorpy.com/node/16714?size=_original#caption

And that's it, so far! If anyone has any ideas about those I haven't been able to identify, or would like to see the evidence I used to identify the ones I did, please email me!

Looks like there were no uniformity requirements for cadets' footwearback then. I don't think there was even as late as the 1930's. I recall a pic (here on Shorpy), of an American general from around 1938, posing with a Spanish officer (?) and he's wearing wing tip brogues.

Do they get a Pipe after they're assigned to a ship?

My 'vote' is for the fellow that already has a beard; front and center in this picture, but I still think "Bulldog" is an apt nickname for the fellow on the far right, front row. Wonder if his last name was 'Drummond'?

I'm guessing that Reeves is either the gentleman enjoying a bear hug or the one sitting left of the fellow who looks about 3 seconds away from bursting into tears.

Third row from front, far left = Robert De Niro in "Once Upon a Time in America".

Will never come back into style. Shemp Howard ruined it for us guys.

The same group appeared here previously.

One of these young men is Joseph “Bulldog” Reeves, inventor of the football helmet and a naval aviation pioneer. Read about his helmet here: http://www.yesyoucandoitclub.com/craig02.html and his distinguished military career here: http://www.militarymuseum.org/Reeves.html

Apparently the class survived the vicious hazing at the Academy back then, as seen here:

Rear Admiral Washington Lee Capps (31 January 1864 – 31 May 1935) USNA Class of 1884

John Martin Poyer, 1861 - May 12, 1922, USNA Class of 1894. 12 Naval Governor of American Samoa.

Awarded The Navy Cross for quarantining American Samoa during the flue pandemic of 1819, there were no flue deaths in American Samoa due to Poyer's action.

The attached was taken in 1928. Rear Admiral Joseph M. Reeves is front center. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1894. Can anyone find him in the 1894 class photo?

I almost corrected the post to point out they are "midshipmen" and not "cadets," but it turns out the term, or rank, of "midshipman" was not permanently adopted until 1902.

At any rate, cadets/midshipmen with facial hair? Not so much these days. And some of these fellows sure look a bit weathered for men in their late teens to early/mid 20s.