Bancroft Hall

Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is the largest single dormitory in the world. [ [http://www.azinet.com/annaarea.html Annapolis Maryland Area Information] ] [ [http://www.knls.org/English/trascripts/hiway002.htm KNLS American Highway, Page Two] ] [ [http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/maryland/annapolis/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154654620303 U.S. Naval Academy - Reviews and Ratings of Sights in Annapolis - New York Times Travel] ] Bancroft Hall, named after former Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, is home for the entire brigade of 4,000 midshipmen [ [http://www.annapolis.com/articles/article.php/a_id/189 Annapolis Hotels Boating and Dining - Itinerary Helps in Planning Annapolis Visit on Annapolis.com] ] , and contains some 1,700 rooms, convert|4.8|mi|km of corridors ["Reef Points", Naval Institute Press] , and convert|33|acre of floor space. All the basic facilities that midshipmen need for daily living are found in the hall. [Military Heritage, February 2005, Volume 6, No. 4, p.72] It is affectionately referred to as "Mother B" or "The Hall" by Midshipmen.

Bancroft Hall, designed by Beaux-Arts architect Ernest Flagg and built in 1901–06, has eight wings of five stories ("decks") each numbered 0-4. In addition to the midshipmen rooms, Bancroft Hall houses offices for the Commandant of Midshipmen, six battalion officers, six battalion chaplains, thirty company officers and their senior enlisted leaders, a barbershop, bank, travel office, a small restaurant known as "Steerage," textbook store, general store ("The Naval Academy Store" or "The Mid Store"), laundromat, uniform store, cobbler shop, the USNA Band, the USNA branch of the United States Postal Service, a gymnasium, spaces for extracurricular activities, and full medical & dental clinics as well as small optometry and orthopedics clinics. The Hall has its own ZIP code (21412).

The building also contains King Hall (named after Fleet Admiral Ernest King), where all midshipmen are fed simultaneously three times daily, and Memorial Hall, where scrolls and plaques commemorate alumni and naval personnel lost in battle. Below Memorial Hall is Smoke Hall whose walls honor those who lost their lives while still Midshipmen. Memorial Hall and the Rotunda of Bancroft Hall are open to the general public but access to the rest of the building is normally limited to assigned Naval personnel.

There are twenty-one rooms in Bancroft dedicated to each Academy graduate Medal of Honor winner since the start of World War II.

The Rotunda and Memorial Hall

Central to the Hall is the Rotunda, wings on either side. Over the Rotunda is a large mural of the "USS South Dakota" in the Battle of Midway, Stewart Island action.

Memorial Hall opens off the Rotunda. This hall contains the honor roll of all Academy graduates who have died in military operations.

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References

External references

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=GNbjciCYZucC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=bancroft+hall+naval+academy+-wikipedia+first+wing+second+third+fourth&source=web&ots=0DtMTGMP2D&sig=VgJtX3Bu3TRFf1uy5X_tWZcVwG8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA1,M1 Regulations of the US Naval Academy 1907]