The Navy Hymn

(Including the verse especially for Navy SEALs)

 

The following information is a portion of the text/history regarding the Navy Hymn which was publicly posted on the Internet web site Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Father,_Strong_to_Save)

The original hymn was written by William Whiting of Winchester, England, in 1860. It was originally intended as a poem for a student of his, who was about to travel to the United States. In 1861, John B. Dykes, an Anglican clergyman, composed the tune "Melita" for this hymn. "Melita" is an archaic term for Malta, an ancient seafaring nation and the site of a shipwreck involving the Apostle Paul mentioned in Acts of the Apostles (chapters 27-28).

In 1940, the U.S. Episcopal Church altered three verses of the hymn to include travel on the land in the second verse (referencing Psalm 50) and in the air in the third verse (again referencing Genesis). The Hymnal 1982, which is in current use by most Episcopal congregations in the USA, has further revised this version (as Hymn #579) with opening line "Almighty Father, strong to save..." by adding the word "space" to the final verse, so it ends "...praise from space, air, land, and sea" (because by 1982 space travel was a reality); the Hymnal also has a more traditional water-only version (as Hymn #608) with opening line "Eternal Father, strong to save..."

In addition to adding "space" in the final line, the 1982 version also changed "brethren" to "people" in the second verse. Stanzas 2-3 of the version in the 1940 Hymnal were written by the American Bishop Robert Nelson Spencer (1877-1961) and published in 1937. The 1997 film Titanic anachronistically used this version, which would not have been used in 1912.

The version presented here is the traditional one dating from 1940 which includes references to sea, air, and land, but which does not include more modern references to other branches of military service, skill specialties, or reference to space.

 

Eternal Father, strong to save,                                Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,               Who bidst the mighty ocean deep                           Its own appointed limits keep;                                O, hear us when we cry to Thee                             For those in peril on the sea!

Christ, the Lord of hill and plain,                             O'er which our traffic runs amain,                           By mountain pass or valley low,                              Wherever Lord our brethren go,                             Protect them by Thy guarding hand                         From every peril on the land!

O Spirit Whom the Father sent                               To spread abroad the firmament,                            O Wind of Heaven, by Thy might                           Save all who dare the eagle's flight,                         And keep them by They watchful care                    From every peril in the air!

O Trinity of love and power!                                  Our brethren shield in danger's hour;                       From rock and tempest, fire and foe,                      Protect them whereso'er they go.                            Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,                            Glad praise from air, and land, and sea!

Eternal Father, faithful friend,               Be quick to answer those we send          In brotherhood and urgent trust,           On hidden missions dangerous,             O hear us when we cry to Thee,              For SEALs in air, on land, and sea.