United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps

The NSCC Mahan Division is named in honor of two of the United States Military’s most prominent officers, leaders and educators, a father and son who both made immeasurable contributions to the branch of the service they chose to dedicate their lives to.  Dennis Hart Mahan, an 1824 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and his son, Alfred Thayer Mahan, an 1859 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

Dennis Hart Mahan (2 April 1802 - 16 September 1871) was born in New York City. He spent his boyhood in Norfolk, Virginia, and was appointed from that state to the United States Military Academy, where he was graduated in 1824, at the head of his class. During his third year he was appointed acting assistant professor of mathematics at the academy, and he continued as such after his promotion as 2d lieutenant into the corps of engineers until 1825, when he became principal assistant professor of engineering. In 1826 he was sent abroad, by order of the war department, to study public engineering works and military institutions, and he spent some time, by special favor of the French government, at the Military school of application for engineers and artillerists in Metz. While in Paris he was frequently the guest of Lafayette. He returned to West Point in 1830, and resumed his duties as acting professor of engineering, which chair he accepted permanently in 1832, vacating his commission in the corps of engineers. This office he continued to hold, with that of dean, until his death.

Professor Mahan received the degree of LL. D. from William and Mary in 1852, from Brown in 1852, and from Dartmouth in 1867, and, besides being a member of many scientific societies in the United States, was one of the corporate members of the National academy of sciences in 1863.

Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan (27 September 1840 - 1 December 1914) was a United States Navy officer, naval strategist, and educator, widely considered the foremost theorist of sea power.

Born at West Point, New York to Dennis Hart Mahan, a professor at the United States Military Academy, and Mary Helena Mahan, he went to Columbia University for two years, then against his parents' wishes, transferred to the Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1859, second in his class. He was soon serving on various ships during the American Civil War.

He was appointed commander of the new United States Naval War College in 1886, where in 1887 he met and befriended a young Theodore Roosevelt who had come to lecture there. During this period Mahan organized his lectures into his most influential books, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, and The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812, published 1890 and 1892, respectively.

The books' premise was simple, namely that in the contests between France and England in the 18th century, domination of the sea via naval power was the deciding factor in the outcome, and that control of seaborne commerce was critical to domination. Although at the beginning of the 21st century this may seem obvious, it having been demonstrated repeatedly, the notion was much more radical in Mahan's time, especially in a nation entirely obsessed with landward expansion to the west.

His books were received with great acclaim, and closely studied in Britain and Germany, influencing their buildup of forces in the years prior to World War I. Mahan himself was appointed to command the powerful new protected cruiser Chicago on a visit to Europe, where he was received and feted.

He returned to lecture at the War College for another couple of years, and then retired in 1896; at which point he wrote voluminously and received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, and McGill.

Mahan became Rear Admiral in 1906 by an act of Congress promoting all retired captains who had served in the Civil War.