Stephen Luce
| Stephen Bleecker Luce | |
|---|---|
Admiral Stephen B. Luce, USN
|
|
| Born |
March 25, 1827 Albany, New York |
| Died | July 28, 1917 (aged 90) Newport, Rhode Island |
| Place of burial | St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, Rhode Island |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Years of service | 1841–1889 |
| Rank |
 Rear Admiral
|
| Commands held |
USS Nantucket Training Squadron Newport North Atlantic Squadron Naval War College |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican-American War American Civil War |
Stephen Bleecker Luce (25 March 1827 – 28 July 1917) was a U.S. Navy admiral. He was the founder and first president of the Naval War College, between 1884 and 1886.
Born in Albany, New York to Dr. Vinal Luce and Charlotte Bleecker, Stephen B. Luce was one of the Navy's outstanding officers in many fields, including strategy, seamanship, education, and professional development. He is best known for being the founder of the Naval War College. In 1854 Luce married Elizabeth Henley, who was a grand niece of Martha Washington, wife of President George Washington. Their children included daughter Caroline (1857-1933), who became the wife of Montgomery M. Macomb, a Brigadier General in the United States Army.
Luce entered the Navy, at the age of 14, on October 19, 1841 as a midshipman. He was instructed at the Naval School in Philadelphia until the newly instituted United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland was opened in 1845. 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.
Luce served with the Atlantic coast blockaders during the American Civil War, and commanded the monitor Nantucket at the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1862. He was assigned to the US Naval Academy in Newport, RI from January 1862 to October 1863. In 1862, while serving as head of the Department of Seamanship at the U.S. Naval Academy, he prepared one of the first seamanship textbooks used by the Academy. During the war he also commanded the USS Sonoma (1862), USS Canandaigua (1862) and USS Pontiac (1864).
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