By William Kelly
Every year Somers Point holds its annual Richard Somers Day around his birthday, Sept. 15 (1778). This year they chose the 220th anniversary of the day he was immortalized as a war hero.
Somers will be honored 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4, the date he died in 1804. The ceremony will be at Somers Park, located next to the library at 801 Shore Road.
While Richard Somers Day has been celebrated at Somers Mansion in the past, Somers Park is where it is now observed, where there is a bronze bust of Somers, and his exploits are memorialized in a mural on the library wall. It’s a place where speeches are given, and patriots and heroes are remembered.
Somers died fighting the Barbary pirates in North Africa. In a failed attempt to blow up a fleet of Barbary pirate ships in Tripoli harbor. Somers, and 12 volunteer crewmen from the USS Intrepid, died when their ship, which was rigged with explosives, ignited prematurely.
Remembering Col. Richard Somers is one of several goals being pursued to keep the Somers story alive. Repatriation of the remains of Somers, and the 12 volunteer crewmen who died that day, is another objective. In addition to obtaining the Somers-Washington ring from the Pennsylvania Historical Society for public display in Somers Point (as documentented in Shore Local News last week), the naming of another U.S. Navy ship after Somers is also on the agenda. Although there are no active ships in the U.S. Navy named USS Somers, there have been six over the course of the past few centuries.
The first ship named after Richard Somers was a schooner that sailed the Great Lakes and fought against the British during the War of 1812, until it was captured in 1814.
The second USS Somers, a brig, became infamous because of an alleged mutiny that occurred aboard.
The ship was outfitted to train midshipmen as officers. But while at sea there were reports of a planned mutiny. After a brief trial, three men were hanged from the yardarm. They included Philip Spencer, son of Secretary of War John C. Spencer; Boatswain Mate Samuel Cromwell, and Seaman Elijah Small.
Although Capt. Alexander Slidell Mackenzie was acquitted at a court martial, public outrage led to the end of midshipmen being trained at sea and the establishment of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., where there is a Tripoli monument that honors those who fought there.
Currier and Ives created an engraving of the USS Somers depicting the hanging men; and Herman Melville, celebrated author of “Moby Dick,” knew one of the crewmen, heard the story of the alleged mutiny, and wrote “Billy Budd,” a popular short story based on the USS Somers incident.
The third USS Somers was a coastal torpedo boat purchased from Germany, TB/22 (1897-1920).
The fourth USS Somers, DD-381 (1937-1945), saw action in the Atlantic and the Pacific in World War II.
The fifth USS Somers, DD-947, a Forrest Sherman Class destroyer (1959-1966), saw action in the Vietnam War. It was transformed into the sixth USS Somers DDG-34 (1968-1982), when it was converted into a guided missile destroyer.
After decommissioning, it was eventually sunk in 1998 during target practice off of Hawaii.
The crews of the modern era USS Somers ships formed The Association of USS Somers Crewmembers. They meet annually for a dinner and conference and are actively engaged in trying to convince the Navy to name a new ship USS Somers.
A few years ago they met in Atlantic City and visited Somers Point, but because it was during the COVID crisis, their activities were limited. They are scheduled to have their 12th annual reunion in Las Vegas later this month.
According to Bob Plante, the association’s administrator, one of their goals is to get the secretary of the Navy to name another U.S. Naval vessel named after Somers.
Says Plante, “We hope to be successful in having a seventh USS Somers and an active duty crew to carry on the Somers tradition of excellence. This can only help the continuing efforts of repatriating our namesake and the heroes of the Intrepid.”
Those interested in honoring Richard Somers, seeking the return of his remains from Tripoli, the return of the Somers-Washington ring to Somers Point, and the naming of a new U.S. Navy ship after Somers will meet at Somers Park next to the library on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 4 at p.m. to reiterate those goals.
There will also be a dramatic reading telling the Richard Somers story and explaining the images in the mural, presented by libertyandprosperity.org. The group is offering stipends of $50 to $100 to qualified students ages 12 to 20 who would like to participate.
If you would like to get involved, or buy tickets for a fundraiser that will follow at 5 p.m. at Josie Kelly’s, go to the website. Tickets are $40.
