Aug. 15, 2011
After two weeks of voting online and again at Dore Jam, the final votes for naming the naval horn have been tabulated.
Without further adieu, the winner by popular vote is … The Admiral. The winning name was submitted by Commodore fan Bob Redd.
The Admiral received 67% of the votes, followed by Old Natchez (25%) and WestEnder (8%).
From this point forward, the naval horn will now officially be named The Admiral.
The original idea of having the naval horn at Vanderbilt Stadium was by Hendersonville’s Ron Compton, who has been a Commodore fan for a long time, following all the programs with equal enthusiasm.
Back in the early 1990’s, Ron recalls sitting in Vanderbilt Stadium after it had undergone a heavy coat of gray paint. His brother Sam mentioned the stadium reminded him of a battleship and an idea immediately sprang to mind.
“We need a naval horn to sound when we score,” Compton remembers thinking.
Like many innovators, it took a while to sell his idea but he found a friendly ear in former Vanderbilt athletic administrator Kevin Kade, who loved the concept and helped push it along.
The process took several years from creation to completion. The final pieces involved finding a decommissioned United States Navy battleship in Norfolk, Virginia, removing its horn and getting it shipped to campus.
There were some final touches needed to make it work. For instance, the horn used steam on the ship so a new power source had to be figured out. (It is now electrical).
Since Vanderbilt’s Naval ROTC was intimately involved from the start, ROTC cadets still man the horn at each and every game.
Listen for The Admiral to remind you of upcoming pre-game events and to help celebrate Commodore touchdowns. And know that Ron Compton will be celebrating as much as anyone!
