USNSCC HORNET DIVISION TACOMA, WA HISTORY
This site is a work in progress. Photos, newspaper clipping and much more from the 1950's to the present day will be added weekly. If you are a former cadet please contact us HERE, or if you would like to contact the webmaster with any comments, suggestions, names, dates or locations of any item on this site, it would be greatly appreciated.
Sea Cadet organizations serve youth in most maritime nations of the world. In the United States, the USNSCC organized in 1958 and was federally incorporated on September 10, 1962. However, this story does not begin there.
After WWII Harlan C. Sharon (1902-1991), a retired Coast Guard officer and former skipper of the Gray Ghost, organized and led the largest Sea Scout/Sea Explorer group in the nation. Between 1950-1952 he organized the Sea Cadet Corps in Tacoma, WA.
The Sea Cadet Corps program quickly became popular. In 1952 twenty boys were enrolled and the numbers grew to about 120 in 1954. That same year the organization was chartered by Washington State under the name of Sea Cadet Corps of America. By approximately 1957 the number of cadets enrolled were up to 180. The unit was divided into two divisions. Hornet Division for boys ages 14-18 and the Sargo Division for boys 11-13. At that time, only boys were allowed into the corps.
By 1955-1956 U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson (1905-1989) of Seattle took notice. After WWII, Senator Magnuson became a staunch supporter of the U.S. war effort. That, his service in the Navy during WWII, and his obvious commitment to the youth, led him to present legislation, in 1958, for the formation of a sea cadet corps as a volunteer civilian auxiliary to the U.S. Navy. This program was to be patterned after Harlan's Hornet Division. Both the U.S. Navy and the Navy League of America supported this legislation.
After WWII Harlan C. Sharon (1902-1991), a retired Coast Guard officer and former skipper of the Gray Ghost, organized and led the largest Sea Scout/Sea Explorer group in the nation. Between 1950-1952 he organized the Sea Cadet Corps in Tacoma, WA.
The Sea Cadet Corps program quickly became popular. In 1952 twenty boys were enrolled and the numbers grew to about 120 in 1954. That same year the organization was chartered by Washington State under the name of Sea Cadet Corps of America. By approximately 1957 the number of cadets enrolled were up to 180. The unit was divided into two divisions. Hornet Division for boys ages 14-18 and the Sargo Division for boys 11-13. At that time, only boys were allowed into the corps.
By 1955-1956 U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson (1905-1989) of Seattle took notice. After WWII, Senator Magnuson became a staunch supporter of the U.S. war effort. That, his service in the Navy during WWII, and his obvious commitment to the youth, led him to present legislation, in 1958, for the formation of a sea cadet corps as a volunteer civilian auxiliary to the U.S. Navy. This program was to be patterned after Harlan's Hornet Division. Both the U.S. Navy and the Navy League of America supported this legislation.