History
The song was first played during the Army–Navy football game on December 1, 1906, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Before a crowd in excess of 30,000 Navy won the game 10-0, their first win in the match up since 1900.
The song was gradually adopted as the song of the U.S. Navy; although there is a pending proposal to make it the official song, and to incorporate protocol into Navy regulations for its performance, its status remains unofficial. Its lyrics were considered too specific to the Academy and not representative of the Navy at large, and so were rewritten by George D. Lottman (note the reference to "farewell to college joys"). Its melody was also slightly rewritten by Domenico Savino.
The song is also used in the US Navy bootcamp in Great Lakes IL, recruits when passing through an underground tunnel heading away from the barracks sing the first verse and sing the second verse on the way back.
Read more about this topic: Anchors Aweigh
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