The Naval Order of the United States (NOUS) was founded in 1890 by Charles Calhoun Philbrook, Charles Frederick Bacon Philbrook, and Franklin Senter Frisbie, as a hereditary organization in the United States for members of the American sea services. Its primary mission is to encourage research and writing on naval and maritime subjects, and to preserve documents, portraits, and other records of prominent figures, deeds, and memories of American naval and maritime history