Retired Rear Adm. Maurice Rindskopf said the admirals, including himself, who live in BayWoods retirement community "deny collusion in getting each other here."

Two more used to live there as well, Adm. Rindskopf said. "Adm. Ken McKee moved away recently and Adm. Eugene Fluckey died last year. They were submariners, too."

BayWoods is located on 14 acres along Bay Front Drive. It is home for 200 senior citizens in two, six-story buildings filled with luxury touches and breathtaking views of the Chesapeake Bay.

The youthful 90-year-old Adm. Rindskopf is active in area organizations and in his alumni association.

A 1938 Naval Academy graduate, he was sitting in the nautical art- and antique-accented apartment of Rear Adm. Guy H.B. Shaffer, 80. Adm. Shaffer is a member of the class of 1951. Vice Adm. Charles H. Griffiths, 86, a 1946 grad, dropped by.

They had only a few moments to chat. Then, each one had another meeting elsewhere in the complex.

What happened to being "retired?" No time, they're too busy.

"There's a bunch of submarine officers or wives of submarine officers here at BayWoods," said Dr. Albert Brown. He is another BayWoods submariner, but did not make it to the get-together. He retired from the Navy as a lieutenant commander in 1946, after World War II ended, and earned his doctorate in physics. During his long career with the government, he helped to design the U.S. Air Traffic Control system.

All three of the amiable admirals returned to the town of their alma mater for various reasons. Their first arrival in Annapolis was serendipitous, too.

Put them together in a room, and the sea stories begin to flow.

Each man has helmed his class as president, and Adm. Rindskopf and Adm. Griffiths have remained presidents for more than a decade. When Adm. Shaffer said his class had a mandatory three-year term limit, the older gentlemen laughed wryly. "You've still got enough classmates able to hold the office," said one. "You'll be changing that limit pretty soon."

Adm. Rindskopf's class just celebrated its 70th reunion in early June. With nearly a dozen classmates and three dozen family members attending, he judged it a success.

Brooklyn-born Adm. Rindskopf was only 16 when he arrived for Plebe Summer on June 8, 1934. He was two to five years younger than many of his classmates.

The new plebes continued to roll in until the end of August, unlike the current one-day whirlwind induction process. Adm. Griffiths and Adm. Shaffer recalled similar, stretched-out entry periods as cross-country communications and transportation simply took longer in those days.

Adm. Rindskopf was 25 when World War II ended and, by the age of 26, he was the first in his class to command a submarine and the youngest Naval officer to do so. He started as the fourth officer on the USS Drum.

During his Navy years, he served as director of Naval Intelligence and of the Navy's Deep Submergence Program. He's been awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star and a Bronze Star. Adm. Rindskopf moved to Severna Park in 1972. He plunged into civic and academy activities. He continues to be active on county and state library boards.

"Sunday hours at the West Street library are safe," he assured his friends. Sylvia, his wife, volunteered at the William Paca House for 18 years.

Last year, he was honored as a Distinguished Graduate by the academy.

Adm. Griffiths, raised in Missouri, received his appointment to the academy after two meetings in 1942 with then-Sen. Harry Truman of Missouri in Washington, D.C.

He had already attended another college for two years, but jumped at the chance when a spot opened up. Because it was wartime, his class and classes from 1942 to 1947 graduated with only three years of school. Half the class of 1948 had three years, half attended for four.

Adm. Griffiths was named commander of the submarine USS Wahoo in 1957, and rose to become in 1975 commander of Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

He's been married to Barbara for 62 years. They moved to BayWoods two years ago after a short stay in Ocean City. Before that, they lived in Mantua in Fairfax County, Va.

Three generations of Griffiths have graduated from the academy, including his son, Charles "Chip" Jr. in 1971, and a grandson, Brandon Sean Griffiths, in 2000. His son retired as a rear admiral. Charles Jr. passed away in March.

Adm. Shaffer, a New Jersey native, sailed often while on active duty in New England. He came back to Annapolis because "hitting bottom with a sailboat is more forgiving here. The bottom is mud. Up there, it's all rocks."

He attended an ROTC program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York for two years before he received his appointment to the academy.

Upon graduation, he was a member of the first class to attend Navy Nuclear Power School. The first ship under his command was the brand new USS Greenling. His last post before retirement was as director of operations for the Defense Nuclear Agency. After several years with RCA in New Jersey, a job offer from Martin Marietta returned him to the area in 1986.

His wife is Marie.

The three amigos don't sit around complaining that the academy's gone soft.

"Listen. The three of us practically run BayWoods," said Adm. Rindskopf. "If it weren't for computers, nothing would get done. Without computers and access to the latest technology, the midshipmen would be lagging behind every college in the U.S.

Hurricane Isabel destroyed a lot of out-of-date laboratories over there," Adm. Shaffer pointed out. "Now they're the finest college labs in the U.S."

The academy has undergone many significant changes since they were young men; in their view, the school is a vastly improved institution now.

The town, too, meets with their approval - for the most part.

"I'm not happy about all the crime in Annapolis," said Adm. Griffiths. "The town has changed quite a bit, for the better."

Except for the trains. They miss the old railway commuter line that used to chug down West Street to the terminal that once stood behind the Loews Annapolis Hotel. Later on, the spot became a bus terminal.

"I'm working on bringing it back," Mr. Shropshire said.

Adm. Shaffer is delighted the National Sailing Hall of Fame is seeking a home near City Dock. "The development of the malls has changed the character of downtown. Without something to bring them there, it could become a ghost town," he said. "Tourists want to go to the historic parts, and see and do interesting things. They don't come downtown to buy ice cream and T-shirts.''

Wendi Winters is a freelance writer living on the Broadneck Peninsula.