Lehman, John (8 August 2010). "Review of William Leeman's Naval Academy history, The Long Road to Annapolis". Washington Post: p. B6.[1]. Retrieved 3 June 2021. "In 1842 Midshipman Philip Spencer, who happened to be the son of the secretary of war, was hanged aboard the training brig Somers by his captain on suspicion of conspiracy to mutiny. In 1845 Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft seized on the Somers affair as a reason finally to establish a naval academy at Annapolis."
