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I found this photo in a relatives old photo collection. Most of the photos were taken around 1905 so I assume the ship photo was taken around that time. A lot of the photos were taken in upstate NY around the Hudson River Valley.
It's a stern view of a Pennsylvania-class or Tennessee-class armored cruiser, photographed sometime prior to 1912. Distinguishing features:
- An American flag.
- Four stacks. Most early US Navy cruisers had one to three stacks.
- A twin-gun turret. This distinguishes it from the St. Louis-class cruisers, which had only only casemate guns, and from the Columbia-class cruisers, which had single-gun turrets.
- Solid masts. In the 1911-1912 timeframe, the Pennsylvania and Tennessee cruisers were refitted with lattice masts to reduce weight.
If the photograph is from 1905, then the ship is one of USS Pennsylvania, USS West Virginia, USS Colorado, or USS Maryland, as the other ships of those two classes were commissioned in the 1906-1908 timeframe. There's a decent chance that it's the USS West Virginia, since that ship served with the New York Naval Militia.
An attempt at an answer as a guest, because I do not have an account, so cannot comment, and may have spotted a couple details in passing.
Feel free to delete this answer and just add to Mark's
Mark as provided the evidence for a Pennsylvania or Tennessee class cruiser. On Wikipedia, the picture for the Pennsylvania shows 4 casemate guns on the upper deck, and the picture for the Tennessee 5 casemate guns.
The ship in the question as 4 casemate guns on her upper deck, not 5. Also, the difference in hue between the hull and the upper works would match the colors on the Pennsylvania picture.
Therefore, I would wager she is a Pennsylvania class, not a Tennessee.
Un-official US Navy History of Official US Naval Insignia Topmarks used on US Department of the Navy Antique China, Navy Tableware, Vintage China-Antique China, and Navy Dinnerware from mid 1800's through the 1970's.
Of Special Note - Antique Naval China Substantiates Inception and History of the Department of the Navy Seal: The Pirate's Lair has now obtained concrete prima-facie evidence of the very first standardized US Navy Department of Navy Seal ever issued and dated as early as 1894 and used through 1908.
This seal as shown on the demitasse cup to the left and backstamp dated 1894 was the original forerunner of the Department of Navy Seal still in use today which itself was first established ca 1905!
US Navy Civil War Plates, Spanish American War Bowls and Plates, Great White Fleet Crystal Decanters, Cups and Dinnerware - See Below!!
Please excuse both syntax and grammar as this page is also designed for the Search Engines
Prior to the late 19th Century there appears to be only miminal consistency and limited selections to the type of Navy Dinnerware and Navy Tableware used by both enlisted and officer alike. Though functional with a Naval flair, the selection and grade of dinnerware used by sailors and officers left alot to be desired and consisted mostly of enamelware porcelain plates, bowls and cups! Additionally, there does not appear to be much of any official Naval history or documentation (anecdotal or otherwise) of what either the enlisted crew or officers used in the way of dining utensils or tableware up until the early 1890's and very early 1900's.
However, through old photographs obtained by The Pirate's Lair of sailors eating on their respective mess decks, wardrooms and galleys it appears that the white to off-white tin covered enamelware metal plates, bowls and cups incorporating "USN" or "US Navy" were pretty much standard from post Civil War up until the early 1900's. Though this enamelware used as standard Navy dinnerware and Navy tableware was sturdy and utilitarian to hold up to salty seas and repetitive heavy industrial cleanings, it certainly was not made for elegant fine dining.
The photo to the left is of a US Navy enlisted porcelain covered tin metal plate (enamelware) ca 1880's to early 1900's and the photo to the right is a matching enamelware bowl or cup. There is also a matching enamelware cup similar in size to the bowl, but the cup has a metal holding tab with a hole in it and soldered onto the lip. This tab appears to have allowed the cups (or bowls) to be stacked onto a long rod for storage and use.
For a more in-depth photo historical analysis and provenance of this 1890s to early 1900s, SpanAm War and Great White Fleet Era enlisted enamel dinnerware Click Here
To the left is the standard regulation issue enamelware plate and bowl put together either by the sailor in the photo or his family in commemorating his naval service. Note the dates May 1903 to May 1907 which was the typical 4 year naval enlistement. This commemoration is on permanent display at The Pirates Lair.
It is believed that this was the type of plate along with similarly produced and marked cups and bowls were used by both enlisted crewmen and perhaps junior officers. Quite possibly this type of enamelware was even used by enlisted sailors well into the early 20th century during the voyage of the Great White Fleet and maybe during WWI. We have been fortunate enough to collect quite a number of these plates, bowls and cups.
As can be seen the plate has USN in light blue lettering along it's flat rim with the rim edge being highlighted in a dark blue. All in all a very handsome plain porcelain enamelware plate. We have obtained a number of ca-1890 to 1907 photographs illustrating crews mess decks where this particular enamelware was being used!
These enamelware plates, bowls, cups and other antique naval dinnerware can be purchased by Clicking Here.
Note that the Eagle Clutching Anchor insignia on the above crystal decanter is the exact same as seen on the demitasse cup at the top of the page. This kind of prima facie evidence is used to help date and validate the various patterns of naval dinnerware. Also, this 1890s-1910 "Eagle Clutching Anchor" insignia or topmark was the forerunner of todays "Department of the Navy" seal which was first put into use ca 1905.
Note that the "Department of the Navy" seal shown on the above decanter was first established ca-1905 as identified on various pieces of china plates and cups. There is almost no difference between the current Department of the Navy seal used today and the one first established ca 1905. The only difference is that the earlier seal had "rays" emanating above and below the eagles wings, whereas the current seal only has them above. This change was made about 1940.
US Navy Crystalware and Stemware is Handsomely Elegant and Can Tell a Story! The "Twisted Arm Fouled Anchor" in gold leaf was first seen on US Navy china as a topmark on/about 1905.
Late 19th and very early 20th century official US Navy insignia can be found on the above 3 lead crystal decanters. The top two show the 1894 Eagle clutching the fouled anchor with the initials USN engraved on the rear. The middle two photos illustrate the early 1905 Department of Navy Seal incorporating the Eagle clutching the Fouled Anchor and initials USN. The last two photos show another early 1905 decanter illustrating the Fouled Anchor by itself along with the intitials USN.
Just prior to the turn of the 20th Century (in the late 1880's to be exact), it appears that the United States Government was about to embark on a major entrance into World Affairs and was appropriately going to use the US Navy to do it by transporting our diplomats and dignitaries to wave the flag! Part of this plan was to build a great armada of first line dreadnaughts including armored cruisers, battleships and other supporting vessels to be used in what was termed our "Great White Fleet" which sailed around the world from 1907 to 1909. This was to be a first for any global circumnavigation by an all-steam all-steel major fleet or armada.
The United States government in it's preparation for entrance onto the world's political stage at the end of the 19th century realized that if our "first-class top-of-the-line" first-ever all-steam all-steel Navy Fleet which was then being built to circumnavigate the world (while waving our flag and transporting our diplomats), the Navy also needed to have "world class" second-to-none Naval Dinnerware and Naval Tableware along with appropriate manners and customs so as to entertain Kings, Queens, Emperors, Presidents, other Heads of State and Diplomats. We have documented much of the Naval History of silverware and flatware used by the US Navy from the 1890's through the 1970's and this can be reviewed by Clicking Here. )
These antique lead crystal US Navy Decanters and other antique naval dinnerware can be purchased by Clicking Here.
Suffice it to say that before the turn of the 20th Century the United States was not much interested in what was happening geo-politically around the world and nor could it after our devastating Civil War. We did not necessarilly pay much attention to some of the finer or more refined aspects of what our sailors ate from. We have to keep in mind that in the 1860 to 1890's the United States was either in a Civil War or in a major reconstruction and consolidation effort. So our focus in the late 1870's to the 1890's was all about rebuilding the country's basic infrastructure. During this reconstruction period we are quite sure that individual Captains and Admirals of our ships and fleets each had their own exquisite personal china and tableware which they used for everyday and on formal occasions. However we have not been able to identify any official US Navy-issued "fine dining" tableware prior to 1894. A "demitasse cup" as illustrated below in this page is the earliest piece of Official Navy-issue China Dinnerware we have ever found, and it is dated 1894. The next piece with the same Navy Seal is a "fish server" which is by the same manufacturers and is dated 1898. We have also obtained photographs of a "soup bowl" using the same Navy Seal and it is dated "1898" as well. (see below)
Above are two photographs of an 8" long bottle used to hold pepper sauce by sailors during the Civil War. One side has the raised word PEPPER and on the opposite side U.S. NAVY. There was also a similar bottle with MUSTARD on one side instead of pepper.
It is unclear whether each crewmember had their own bottle of pepper sauce or whether it was part of the general galley or mess decks and shared by all. Also, this bottle did not contain the same type of dry pepper we are used to today, it was a pepper sauce. The bottle stopper was made out of cork. This is an original bottle and was used during the Civil War and found in Georgia.
Above two photographs are of a razor sharp, beautifully produced 14.5" long butcher knife with a 9" blade and rose wood handle made by the famous cutlery manufacturer Lamson & Goodnow Manufacturing Co for the U.S. Navy. Note the eagle with outspread wings and the fouled anchor which are both representative of similar designs used by the US Navy during the very late 1800's to very early 1900's which is when this knife was made. Lamson & Goodnow were the premier quality American cutlery producers from the mid/late 1870's and even up to today! However their sole claim to the high-end market was just before and after the turn of the 20th century and rivaled all of their European competitors. No wonder the US Navy and US Marine Corps standardized all of their cutlery using L&G products.
We also have a very similar and rare butcher or carving knife also by Lamson & Goodnow which was made specifically for the US Marine Corp ca 1880 to very early 1900's that has the scripted calligraphy and stylized letters U.S.M.C. engraved on the blade above the L&G logo.
To the left is a late 19th Century and early 20th Century Amphora-like Water Pitcher used in Captains Cabin, Officer's Staterooms and possibly even in Enlisted Shower/Bathroom or Berthing areas as well. Perhaps even on the Mess Decks to safely hold water. This amphora-like water pitcher sits in a circular steel floor mounted swivel for ease of use and to prevent spillage during high seas and rough weather conditions.
The Pirate's Lair has the exact same U.S.N. matching pieces in white porcelain soap dishes, sinks, and water washbasins which were used aboard ship in the 1860's and early 1900's.
The Photograph above right illustrates the Water Pitcher and Water Basin being (very far left in photo) as used in the Captain's Quarters Aboard the USS Texas Ca 1907.
Above photo shows an officers stateroom aboard the USS Kentucky ca-1898 where the hygieneware of porcelain water pitcher, slop bucket, and soap dishes are clearly shown to the left in the photo. Note the steel circular holding rings for the jars and wall bracket used for the soap dish.
Again, very similar arrangement of slop jars, sinks, soap dishes as found in the period photograph of the Captains Cabin aboard the USS Texas. This establishes a standardization of sorts on how the bathrooms or "heads" of staterooms were outfitted and organzied.
(Below you will find a photograph of the restored stateroom of the Ironclad USS Monitor in which a washbasin is shown just like the one here on the USS Texas and what The Pirate's Lair has in its collection.)
Additionally both the water basin and pitcher are placed in round circular steel rings attached to the wall while the pitcher is placed in a steel ring which is floor mounted and allows the pitcher to be tilted to dispense the water.
The above photographs illustrate a "waste water slop jar" which was used in an officers stateroom for personal hygiene prior to the advent of indoor plumbing aboard US Navy ships. This is a matching piece to the water pitcher, sink and basin, water tumbler, and soap dish also found on this page. Note the porcelain ring around the pot (similar to the water pitcher) which allowed it to be placed in a metal ring that would be attached to the deck of the ship. A waste water slop jar is available for purchase and can be found by Clicking Here - US Navy Civil War Soap Box.
The photo to left consists of a collection of personal hygiene porcelain items (called sanitaryware or hygieneware) circa 1860's to very late 1880's consisting of a water washbasin, two soap dishes with standardized univeral mounting brackets and a matching water tumbler also having a standardized metal wire mounting bracket.
The photo to the right shows the restored officer's stateroom aboard the ironclad USS Monitor of Civil War fame. Note the similarity between the washbasin used in the Monitor and the washbasin shown to the left, exactly the same! Also shown is what appears to be a metal soap box with an anchor in the lid. While this soap box may be a period piece and perhaps even found on the Monitor when she was being restored, there was also a soap box for shaving specifically made during the Civil War for the US Navy.
The photo to the left shows the two soap dishes with their corresponding brackets shows how easily the soap dishes could just be popped out and removed from the mounting brackets allowing each sailor to have their own soap and soap dish. It has been verified through photographic evidence that these items with the stylized and plain U.S.N. topmarks were used in the 1860's to the 1890's.
The above photo right photo shows two personal hygiene water tumblers for the head or bathroom with the fancy stylized USN insignia both tumblers are fairly close in design and would have fit into the same metal wire bracket holder. One is fairly plain while the other is very fancy and stylized, but both could fit into a standard or universal wall holder bracket, similar to what is used on the matching soap dish.
Both the plain and stylized USN marked soap dishes, tumblers, sinks and wash basin, water pitchers and shaving mugs (and corresponding mounting brackets) were universally made Navy-wide so that each item could fit into a standardized universal mounting bracket no matter what ship the crew member took his personal items to during a transfer.
As can be seen all of these items including the above water pitcher all have the same U.S.N insignia on them. The manufacturers of these personal hygiene or sanitary ware items were made by various producers including among others the Standard (later called American Standard),Jones, McDuffee & Stratton of Boston, and The Trenton Potteries Company. It is believed that the hygiene ware with the USN insignia were used by enlisted and jr. officers and each crew member had there own personal soap dish and water tumbler which they just placed into the mounting brackets when being used in a community bathroom or head.
Other than enamel-on-metal (enamelware or porcelainware) cups, plates and bowls with the simple USN monogram we have no evidence of any china dinnerware or tableware which consisting of the plain U.S.N. insignia on any plates, bowls or cups. This lack of finding any corresponding dinnerware leaves us with the impression that the plain USN insiginia found on the personal hygiene ware soap dishes, water tumblers, water basins and sinks were possibly used just by junior and wardroom officers.
Obviously senior officers such as captains and admirals as shown in the above photograph had their own private bathrooms and washing areas. More detailed photos and review of Naval Sanitaryware or Hygieneware can be found by Clicking Here - US Navy Simple USN Monogram on Sanitaryware/Hygieneware.
Photo to the left is another waste water slop jar with the stylized monogram "USN" favored ca 1860s and post-Civil War and is currently in the collection of The Pirates Lair. We have 3 such jars, 2 with a plain USN monogram and 1 stylized.
It appears that both the plain and stylized initialed ceramic or porcelain hygieneware coexisted about the same time. Quite possibly the nicer stylized items were used in a senior officers stateroom while the plainer items were used by lower ranking wardroom officers.
We don't believe that these types of high end items were given to the enlisted crews as period photographs show that they sometimes used metal funnels and wooden buckets instead!
Photo to the left shows another US Navy Soap Dish with the fancy stylized insigina used from the 1860's to late 1890's. Note that this insignia matches the one found on the above tumbler and closely resembling the insiginia found on the below turkey platter. It would also stand to reason that the US Navy also supplied matching sinks and water basins, floor mounted water pitchers and floor mounted slop pots as part of the typical hygieneware for senior officers and commanders.
Above are photographs of a rarely found fine china or porcelain large 8" water cup using the stylized "USN" insignia that is actually backstamped with a manufacturer, "J.McD.&S Boston" which was a famous American fine china and porcelain dealer and distributor named "Jones, McDuffee & Stratton" located out of Boston. This company was established in 1871 and discontinued operations in 1966!
This firm was a fine china designer and collaborator (and largest distributor) with Wedgewood China for over 75 years and quite possibly this water cup was made by Wedgewood. However J.McD.&S worked with other china and porcelain manufacturers here in the United States and abroad as well. But the quality, pattern, and style of this water cup made for senior officers of the US Navy bears a distinct resemblence to that produced by Wedgewood in the late 19th century.
The above two photos to the left and right show both a Civil War era personal hygiene bathroom 6" high water tumbler and a large turkey server or turkey platter with the very fancy stylized USN insignia. We have personally seen fine china dinner and salad plates and soup bowls with the exact same stylized fancy USN insignia topmark on them so we know that an entire standardized dinnerware and tableware set was produced. The date of use for these items we believe are Civil War era and used circa 1860's to very early 1890's.
The photos above display a medium size (8.5" x 5.25") Serving or Chafing Dish with the exact same stylized USN as the turkey platter and fortunately it has been bottom marked "James M. Shaw & Co New York 1892". Note that this particular stylized USN monogram isn't as fancy or as pleasing as found on the other USN monogram above.
Now as you have seen from many of the pieces here, the James Shaw Company was very well known and active china distributor in providing fine china dinnerware to the US Navy.
This indicates that by having two serving pieces, turkey server and chafing dish, a much larger and more inclusive set of dinnerware was produced ca 1892 (and earlier) which most likely consisted of plates, cups, saucers, bowls etc etc.
However this particular pattern and topmark has been seen and used on many non-dinnerware pieces of Civil War era Union Navy equipment such as boat bumbpers, sinks, basins, water goblets, etc etc so it is safe to say that it was a "standarized" decorative insignia denoting naval ownership from at least the 1860s to 1892.
Above is a heavy and thick 10" serving bowl with footed pedestal bottom showing the more simple though stylized monogram USN as found on the turkey platter and candy or chafing dish. It is backstamped "James M Shaw Co, New York". This certainly solidifies the fact that this was another significant regulation pattern of dinnerware used by the US Navy ca 1890s, and possibly as early as the 1860s.
The above photos of a Civil War Union Navy leather docking bumper used aboard small row boats illustrates the stylistic "USN" monogram also found on both naval dinnerware and hygieneware, ca 1860s-1890s! Also note the period photograph of a row boat from the USS Onondaga on the James River and the leather bumpers deployed along the starboard side of the boat! This relatively plain monogram has also been found on a Civil War era Turkey Platter that is in the collection here at The Pirates Lair further attesting to the age and provenance of all of the articles.
Click Here For Further Photo-Historical Information and To Review Items Using the Stylized USN as a Topmark
Photos above and to the left are of a beautiful and finely made porcelain china bowl (8.75" high x 3.75" wide) manufactured by Greenwood China of Trenton, NJ and made "expressly for the U.S. Navy" for the James M. Shaw Co of NY dating this bowl from 1878 to 1930's (most likely post WWI and pre-WWII). This is a very simple yet elegantly made with a single blue stripe along the rim. We have never seen another example of this particular pattern and must assume that it was not a widely used one, and perhaps this was a "sample pattern" submitted to the Navy for evaluation.
It appears that the US Navy began training its Officer Corps in a standardized proper meal etiquette starting in the Naval Academy, quite possibly in earnest during the post-civil war 1880s and certainly in the 1890s as it was building its first all-steel coal-fired fleet.
At about this time the US Navy also contracted with various china manufacturers and their distributors to produce top-of-the-line worldclass china and tableware experimenting with official US Naval insignia "topmarks" to denote the specific rank of the Officer's mess or wardroom.
The formalized Naval insignia (or topmark) found on today's naval china and dinnerware initially consisted of a gold Eagle with a federal shield emblazoned across its breast and clutching a fluked fouled anchor with this pattern lasting from 1894 to 1908. This first official topmark was later transformed into two separate topmarks one consisting of a "fluked anchor with a steel stock" and the second into the "Department of the Navy Seal".
Above are 3 photographs illustrating a US Navy Large Meat Serving Platter (20" x 10") and backstamped "Greenwood China, Made Expressly For the US Navy, Jas. M. Shaw & Co, NY" which is the exact same backstamp as found on the above plain serving bowl. This "Chain Link" pattern is also found on Demitasse Cups and Saucers produced by Buffalo China Company! But besides the large meat platter shown above we have not observed and other china pieces using this "chain link" pattern, and perhaps like the plain bowl shown above this was a one-off or sample pattern made for evaluation purposes by the Navy.
We have evidentiary proof that the Navy began purchasing this elegant china in 1894 and ending in 11908 establishing this pattern and topmark as a single standardized pattern of china whose production which consisted of multiple producers spanning over 14 years of multiple production runs.
This white body with gold eagle and anchor pattern has been found on demitasse cup dated 1894, two dinner plates dated 1894 and 1898, a fish server dated 1898 all produced for the James Shaw Company by T. Haviland & Co. of France. A single dinner plate using this exact same white body with gold eagle and anchor was also found to be made by "O.P.C.O. Syracuse China" with a backstamp dating from 1897.
Recently discovered has been a dinner plate using the exact same topmark of golden eagle clutching fouled anchor made by Haviland of France imported through the James M. Shaw Co of NY with a backstamped date of 1908 (see photos below). So here is firm evidence that this particular topmark was used over a 14 year period.
The above photos illustrate two serving pieces (hard candy dish or receiving plate and a lead crystal decanter) both of which further reinforces the indication that this was a significant topmark insignia
Also Note that in the photo image of the US Navy China Demitasse Cup with a topmark illustrating an Eagle with Federal Banner clutching a Fouled Anchor with Stripe Highlights above the Eagle with feathery stripes or highlights extending out from below the Eagles wings. Also, the Eagle has a Federal Banner across it's breast. There are also 2 Stars shown to the left and right of the Eagle which could have represented the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans OR the rank of 2 Star Rear Admiral. (The current Department of Navy Seal adopted about 1905/1906 has two stars as part of the Seal, however these have been designated to be the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.)
We believe that this is evidence of the very first official "Navy Seal" which was the forerunner and basis for the later designed Department of the Navy Seal established pre-WWI in the early 1900's! With some very slight modifications made on/about 1941 it is still being used today over 100 years later! Something to be said for Naval Customs and Tradition!
Show above are two dinner plates with backstamped dates of 1894 and 1908 respectively by two different manufacturers showing absolute verifiable proof that this was indeed a signifcant topmark insignia standardized by the US Navy for use in its Officers Wardroom and Mess.
Above you will find a "one off" of sorts. This is another huge fish serving platter (22" x 10") which was part of the service used by The Secretary of the Navy ca 1890s to 1907.
In determining the provenance of this piece note the 4 Star Flag with Fouled Anchor to the left and the blue field Union Jack with 45 white stars to the right, along with the initials USN placed between. The 4 Star Flag with Anchor as depicted is the official flag used by The Secretary of the Navy, and the Union Jack showing 45 stars, one star for each state in the union, is very significant in establishing the date the fish server was in use and who the Secretary of the Navy was at that time.
Note the pedestalled fruit or pastry bowl to the left which has the exact same pattern as the fish server, however it is manufactured by Theodore Haviland of Limoges, France. Click Here for more photographs and analysis regarding this rare and historically significant pedastalled fruit or pastry server.
The Union Jack only had 45 Stars from 1896 thru 1907 as each star in the Union Jack represents a state. In 1896 Utah was added as the 45th state in the Union and an additional star was then added to the national flag and the union jack for a total of 45 stars. This number of states and stars remained the same for 12 years when in 1907 Oklahoma joined the Union as the 46th state, Click Here to Review List of States as Entered by Date into the Union).
Fish Server was manufactured between the 1890's and 1911. The fish server has an imprinted manufacturers backstamp located on the bottom of the piece with a capital "M" above the word "CHINA" which itself is above a capital "L". This was the backstamp or bottom mark used by the Maddock Lamberton China Company ca 1890's-1911! This backstamp has been adequately date documented and can be seen in Barbara Conway's authoritive "Restaurant China Identification Guide, Volume 2".
So from the evidence we can establish that this fish server was part of a much larger dinnerware service used by a Secretary of the Navy and based upon the Union Jack and manufacturers backstamp was produced ca 1896 to 1907 and used by Secretaries of the Navy even after that date until a new pattern was approved.
Through research it has been determined that during the period in question, 1896 thru 1907 there were six appointed Navy Secretarys so it is nigh impossible to determine which specific secretary had purchased or used this service. However it is reasonable to assume that since this china service was made for the Office and not the individual that it was actually used by a number of different Secretary's well into the early 1900s. Click Here To Review List of Secretarys of the Navy Additionally, yet only anecdotal, the initials USN shown being used on the fish server are in the older pre-WWI font and style. Click Here for more photographs and analysis regarding this rare and historically significant fish server.
Navy Seal to the Left is ca 1905/1906 to 1939 and the Navy Seal to the Right is Ca 1940 to Present Day
The above Department of the Navy Seals are both very similar with each using two concentric circles (inner circle of chain, outer circle of rope) with Department of the Navy sandwiched within them with two stars. However the topmark on the left was used from about 1905/1906 through 1939, while the one on the right was used from 1940 through to present day.
The differences between these two topmarks while slight clearly shows the topmark on the left having gold stripe highlights below the wings of the Eagle, the Federal Shield clearly emblazoned over the Eagle's breast, and the differences between the Fouled Anchor's which the Eagle is clutching.
The Navy Seal on left has the earlier original version that included gold stripes below the eagle's wings, had an "open" Federal Shield clearly showing a blank top field and vertical stripes, and the Fouled Anchor used was a Twisted Steel Stock which was used on the earlier 1894 and 1894 topmarks.
The Navy Seal on the right eliminated the gold stripes below the wings, made the Federal Shield "solid" almost being unseen over the body of the Eagle, and the Fouled Anchor now had a Straight Wooden Stock. This particular version of the Seal was used from 1940 through the 1970's.
The above two candy dishes which were also widely used as receiving (reception) plates or calling plates for personal cards illustrate the original and older Department of Navy Seal approved ca 1905. This particular seal was standardized and used on all china reserved for senior officer's and was part of the Great White Fleet effort in not only showing the world our military might but also that we knew how to dine in style, had manners, and were no longer the uncouth backwater "colonialists" which is how much of the world still viewed us. However each of these pieces also have a manufacturer's date code on the bottom indicating 1909 production, so as to provide us with a specific date of manufacture which helps to date the topmark. Note that both use the pre-WWII Department of the Navy Seal on the left showing 2 Stars denoted that this was used by a Rear Admiral.
The 10" Square Plate is dated 9/09 representing September 1909 and was made by The Shenango China Co for L. Barth & Sons of NY which is glazed on the bottom of the piece. Barth & Son was a well known china distributor who apparently used Shenango to actually make this square candy dish. Obviously Barth received a Government Contract for this candy dish and they had Shenango produce it. Of even further rarity is that "Shenango China, New Castle, PA" is actually imprinted right into the clay which is rarely seen. Additionally, the Department of the Navy Seal has two stars to the left and right denoting a 2 Star or Rear Admiral. So, this particular plate was made in 1909 to be used by a 2 Star Rear Admiral.
The 8.5" Oblong Plate is actually dated 1918 and was made by Mayer China for the James A. Shaw & Co of NY. Again, we can easily surmise that it was the Shaw Company who was a knonwn china distributor which received a Government Contract to provide the Navy with Oblong Candy Dishes. Shaw happened to use Mayer China to produce this piece.
The Pirate's Lair actually has a number of these Oblong and Squarish Candy Dishes, (Receiving or Reception Plates) which are virtually identical to each other but all having different date codes! The first Oblong Dish is by James A. Shaw while the second one is bottom marked as being produced by Shenango with a 10-18 date code! We can readily see that standardizing on both a topmark design and a china pattern certainly helped the Navy to achieve competition from two different manufacturer's while also getting tableware which could sit side by side virtually indistinguishable from each other.
These antique candy dishes, receiving plates, serving bowls, and other antique naval dinnerware can be purchased by Clicking Here.
The above two photographs illustrate another square candy dish or reception plate (dated 10/06 or October, 1906) which is in blemish-free museum quality condition using the newly designed and approved Department of Navy Seal. This receiving plate or candy dish was actually manufactured by the Shenango Pottery Company (barely visible imprint into the china) who in turn made it for the Greenwood China company, who in turn it for the James M. Shaw Company of New York, who in turn had it "expressly produced" under contract for the U.S. Navy!!
The decanter to the right illustrates the 1905 Department of Navy Seal with similar highlights emanating from the feathers of the eagle.
This is the absolute earliest documented use of the Navy Seal as it is used today, over 100 years old! This and some of the other plates in our collection were most certainly used aboard at least one of the vessels which sailed with the Great White Fleet of 1908 in that they were obtained along with documents and photos of a sailor who was on that around the world voyage!
We have another square candy dish or reception plate identical to the two shown above but made by the Lamberton China Co for the Higgins & Seiter Co of NY and is dated November 1905. Having the same candy dishes or reception plates "expressly produced" by various manufacturer's certainly proves that the US Navy not only standardized the shown Navy Seal but also to very strict specifications for the types of china pieces it was purchasing, and obviously purchasing them in a big way.
All of these early produced china pieces were hand glazed which makes them very collectible within the antique china market. (The Department of Navy Seal appears to have been made from a hand glazed stencil, while the gold and white body were hand painted or glazed). But made "Expressly for the U.S. Navy" makes them significantly more rare and valuable.
The footed egg cup to the left is quite unusual and as far as we know is the only example of this particular pattern of topmark. Quite possibly this topmark is an "orphan" meaning that it was only briefly made, possibly for a particular or singular purpose, and did not become a standard Navy-wide insignia. This egg cup is dated 1918 and appears to have been made for the Jr.Officers Mess.
Of note is the gold rings at the foot and middle of the cup. Typically any gold found on a naval china piece was reserved for senior officers, however the square knot as shown was a topmark and insiginia was traditionally used for the Junior Officers Mess.
From the Revolutionary War through WWII the US Navy Officer's Mess was typically divided into three distinct sections: Jr.Officers Mess for the ranks of Ensign and Lt.Junior Grade, Wardroom Officers Mess for the ranks of Lieutenant, Lt.Commander and Commander. Captains Mess for the Captain or Commander of the Vessel.
The backstamp shows that this egg cup (and we assume an entire pattern of plates, cups, bowls, etc etc) was produced by Buffalo China and dated 1918 for a distributor. The indicated distributor is O'Beirne Bros. & Ly** of New York.
The two photo's above represent the two different fouled anchors the US Navy used as topmarks for the Wardroom Officer's Mess from the early 1900's to 1970's. The older gold fouled anchor topmark on the left was used from about 1900 through 1940. The newer blue anchor topmark on the right was used from about 1940 through 1970's.
The older "Twisted Arm Anchor" allowed the arm to be movable so that the anchor could be hauled up into the anchor hawser and secured when not in use. The fixed arm anchor would not allow it to be hauled up into a hawser for storage. The US Navy used both types of anchors. Both anchor types were used in the late 1800's to early 1900's.
The 3rd photo to the right shows some sailors inspecting a twisted arm anchor aboard a ship taken during Spanish-American War to WWI timeframe.
So far it appears that from the early 1900's through to WWII the US Navy used 2 basic topmarks for its official Naval china: the Gold Fouled Anchor and the Department of the Navy Seal. The Navy Seal itself was further differentiated by having 2, 3 or 4 Stars each denoting Admiral Rank.
Note the very intricate, detailed, and elegant design of the older golden fluked anchor with twisted steel stock which was used on the older 1894/1898 topmarks and early 1905-1939 Dept of Navy topmark! One can clearly see the links in the anchor chain. Properly producing this older topmark certainly took more time, skill and money, but it is certainly quite elegant and beautiful. The newer blue fouled anchor represented the Navy's change in it's official fouled anchor insiginia and was demonstrably plainer and less detailed. While nice, this new blue fouled anchor topmark could not compare with the older one.
It is unclear and so far undocumented if the Navy prior to WWII used different topmarks other than the Gold Anchor and Dept of Navy Seal. During WWII the Navy designed specific topmarks for the Warrant Officer's, Junior Officer's, Wardroom Officer's, Captains, Rear/Vice/Full Admirals and the Department of the Navy, Click Here to Review Official US Navy China and the Topmarks used for specific Naval Officer Rank .
The above demitasse cup and butter pat plate clearly illustrate the original Wardroom Officer's Mess topmark of the gold Fluked Fouled Anchor Insignia. The anchor presented is properly called a "naval fluked fouled anchor with twisted steel stock with chain fouling the anchor", and was used from the very early 1900's through 1940 in the Wardroom Officer's Mess and most likely in the Captain's Mess as well. Worthy to note, each type of fluked anchor design was also incorporated into the Department of the Navy Seal of the same era.
The Pirate's Lair has various china pieces using the above old anchor topmark with dates of 1933, 1935 and 1939 produced from a number of different china manufacturer's.
Above photographs illustrate one of the earliest uses of the traditional US Navy Fouled Anchor with Twisted Arm on Silverware! This piece was produced by the International Silver Co in the New Grecian or Grecian Pattern with a production date of 1913.
This surviving dinner fork was part of a larger set because we have a pair of tongs in the same pattern using the exact same fouled anchor monogram. This fouled anchor monogram also matches perfectly with the above gold fouled anchors on the china pieces.
Yes, we know that the King's Design was patented and used from the 1880's, and we know that the US Navy standardized on using this pattern with a fouled anchor at some time, but we have no hard evidence when this occured. Until we can find the hard evidence when the Navy began using the King's design with the fouled anchor this dinner fork is the earliest documented silverware with the fouled anchor.
| 1944 Shenango China Advertisement WWII US Navy China by Officer Rank Insignia Topmark |  Click Photo for Close Up View! | Hard Published Prima Facie Evidence of Naval Rank Insignia's used on US Navy China during WWII | Shows USN-Warrant Officer, Squareknot-Junior Officer, Fouled Anchor-Wardroom Officer, Burgee Pennant-Captain, 2 Star, 3 Star and 4 Star-Admirals | Priceless! |
| US Navy Anchor Specifications 1918 |  Click Photo For Close Up View! | Technical Illustration of the US Navy Anchor with Twisted and Movable Arm | The US Navy used the Twisted Arm Fouled Anchor in its earlier 1905 to 1939 Fine China and later used the Straight Fixed Arm Anchor as the topmark on its china | Very Kewl |
Below are links to other Antique Nautical and Naval Artifacts that may be of interest:
| Authentic 100+ Year Old Nautical Antique Trunks The Real Deal! Fully Restored Antique Trunks Like Sea Chests, Pirate Chests, Treasure Chests - Perfect as a Naval Retirement Gift, use as a Shadowbox and to store Uniforms and Service Memorabilia! |  Click Here To Review Sample Engravings | The Largest Selection of Antique Trunks on the Net to Choose From! |
| OPTIONAL - Trunk Wood Engraving Examples and Prices Custom Designed, Handcrafted, and Hand Lettered in Caligraphy on your Antique Chest |  Click Here To Review Sample Engravings | Personalize Your 100+ Year Old Antique Trunk in Perpetuity! |
| Antique Trunks as a Shadow Box and Storage Chest! Customer Photographic Examples of our Antique Trunks Being used as a Military or Naval Retirement Shadow Box and Storage Chest!! |  Click Here for Sample Shadow Box Photographs From Customers | Why just get a shadow box or a newly made trunk with no history! One of our 100+ Year Old Nautical Antique Trunks can be used for both a Shadow Box and Storage Chest for your Uniforms, Photograph Albums, and Memorabilia! |
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The following Text is soley for the consumption of Spiders, Bots and other Dark Denizens of the Internet: All nautical sea chests, or a domed sea chest also known as a camel back.
Navy history and navy dinnerware and navy tableware is fantastic. Produced by the James Shaw or James M. Shaw and Son Co of New York, NY. Also by Haviland of Limoges France.
All sorts of naval customs and naval history can be found here including Navy pitchers that look like amphora urns as well as antique pitchers and antique china or vintage china.
The Pirate's Lair loves US Navy history, and antique china. Along with naval customs and naval history using vintage china to document history is the best ever!
We have from the late 1800's to the mid 1970's china used during the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam era's. All of our history on antique china and vintage china is well documented yet it is completely un-official navy history. The documentation consists of photographs and artifacts of US Navy Dinnerware, US Navy Tableware and Vintage China all used in the 19th Century to mid 20th Century.
Much of the 1894 through 1918 navy dinnerware as through government contract with the James Shaw Company of New York, NY but actually producted by the Haviland Co of Limoges, France. The beautiful antique Navy Water Pitcher with its amphora like style was used along with similarly marked water basins, sinks, soap dishes and water cups.
This was completely documented by period 1907 photographs of a Captain's Cabin aboard the USS Texas an Armored Cruiser at the time.
Which US naval ship from 1905 is depicted on this photo? - History
The Online Library is the Photographic Section's readily accessible index to Naval and maritime history pictures.
Each entry provides a thumbnail image, a caption and the appropriate credit line. "Click" on the thumbnail to access a larger (average 50KB to 150KB) 96 dpi digital image that can usually be printed on letter-size paper.
To the best of our knowledge, all Online Library pictures are in the public domain and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose without requesting permission.
For information concerning this mirror version, see: HyperWar Mirror of the Online Library.
To access the HyperWar home page, click: HyperWar
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions. |
AT LEFT, ABOVE: The Online Library's current Picture of the Month .
Click the picture to see a larger version. If you want more information about it, see Picture Data.
Previous Online Library front page pictures can be found in the Picture of the Month Gallery .
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SEARCHING THE ONLINE LIBRARY:
Online Library images are organized by subject. To locate specific subjects, follow the topic list below .
Note: As a result of the recent relocation of this website to a different server host, the Search Engine previously available has been lost. We hope that, sometime in the future, a similar search engine can be associated with the Naval History and Heritage Command's website.
Records of the Bureau of Ordnance
Established: In the Department of the Navy, by an act of July 5, 1862 (12 Stat. 510), which transferred the hydrographic functions of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography to the Bureau of Navigation.
Predecessor Agencies:
In the War Department:
- Office of the Secretary of War (1789-98)
- Office of the Secretary of the Navy (1798-1815)
- Board of Naval Commissioners (1815-42)
- Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography (1842-62)
Abolished: By an act of August 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 395), establishing the Bureau of Naval Weapons, Department of the Navy.
Successor Agencies: Bureau of Naval Weapons.
Finding Aids: William F. Shonkwiler, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Bureau of Ordnance, PI 33 (1951) Harry Schwartz, comp., "Supplement to Preliminary Inventory No. 33, Records of the Bureau of Ordnance," NM 51 (1965).
Security-Classified Records: This record group may include material that is security-classified.
Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Bureau of Ordnance in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government. Records of the Board of Naval Commissioners in RG 45, Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library.
74.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF ORDNANCE AND HYDROGRAPHY
AND OF THE BUREAU OF ORDNANCE
1842-1967
History: Responsibility for naval affairs, including naval ordnance, initially vested in the War Department, established by an act of August 7, 1789 (1 Stat. 49). Separate Department of the Navy established by an act of April 30, 1798 (1 Stat. 553). Ordnance functions handled by the immediate Office of the Secretary of the Navy, 1798-1815. Three-member Board of Naval Commissioners established by an act of February 7, 1815 (3 Stat. 202), to provide administrative assistance to the Secretary of the Navy, including that with respect to logistics of ordnance procurement and distribution. Board abolished by an act of August 31, 1842 (5 Stat. 579), with functions distributed among five newly established bureaus, including Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography, redesignated Bureau of Ordnance by an act of July 5, 1862 (12 Stat. 510), with hydrographic functions transferred to newly established Bureau of Navigation. SEE 74.1.
74.2.1 Correspondence
Textual Records: Letters and telegrams sent, 1842-1911, with registers, 1842-49, 1863. Letters received, 1842-85, with registers, 1842-61. General correspondence, 1885-1912 (1,600 ft.). Miscellaneous correspondence, 1906-17. Formerly security- classified general correspondence, 1912-44 (5,600 ft.) with indexes, 1914-43. History cards for correspondence, 1912-26.
74.2.2 Special collections of records
Textual Records: Reports and correspondence arranged by subject, 1849-1920, including reports and letters by John A. Dahlgren, 1849-70 correspondence and reports relative to experiments with torpedoes, 1864-84 reports on installation and operation of wireless telegraphy on U.S.S. Chicago and U.S.S. Iowa, 1904-5 and reports, photographs, and diagrams relating to damage to ship armor during the Battle of Jutland, 1915-20. Mixed files relating to organization, contracts, and weapons design and development, 1902-67 (5,684 ft.).
74.3 RECORDS RELATING TO VARIOUS SUBJECTS
1818-1942
74.3.1 Records relating to the manufacture and testing of guns,
gun parts, ammunition, and armor
Textual Records: Reports and correspondence relating to the inspection, manufacture, and testing of the 32-pounder gun, 1846- 48 naval gun, 1852-78 VIII-, IX-, and X-inch guns, 1855-57 Wiard steel gun, 1861-71 wrought iron gun, 1861-74 XI-inch gun, 1862-66 XII-inch rifled gun, 1863-64 XIII-inch gun, 1863 XV- inch gun, 1862-98 Woodbridge VIII-inch breech-loading rifle, 1883 6-inch breech-loading rifled gun, 1885-90 Hotchkiss rapid fire gun, 1884-91 and Gathman torpedo gun, 1897. Letters received relating to the Murphy Iron Wheel, 1862-63, and to the trial of the Puritan Gun Carriage, 1865-66. Reports of metals tested, 1870-84. Letters received concerning machine guns and small arms, 1871-84. Reports of tests and trials of Gatling guns, 1873, and the Lowell machine gun, 1878-79. Records of gun forgings, 1894-1902 carriage castings, 1889-93 and manufacture and inspection of armor plate, 1890-1902.
74.3.2 Records relating to gun exercise and target practice
Textual Records: Letters received from gunnery practice ships, 1870-74. Correspondence on long-range firing of heavy ordnance, 1911-18. Reports of ship inspections, 1855-72 target and ordnance practice, 1862-92 guns and powder, 1863-67 and gun exercises on ships, 1904-5. Miscellaneous ordnance reports, 1854- 72. English translation, n.d., of French naval gun exercise manual (1834). Instructions for firing large guns, n.d. Manual of diagrams of gun crew positions for firing, n.d. Journal of target practice on ships, 1916-17.
74.3.3 Records of guns and ordnance material
Textual Records: Registers of naval guns, 1842-1900 guns at navy yards and stations, 1818-70 gun carriages, 1883-1915 gun mounts for secondary batteries, 1888-1913 and guns for main and secondary batteries, 1898-1903. Lists of armament of naval vessels, 1841-1903 guns in navy yards and on ships, 1849 guns and mounts afloat, 1860-1942 (56 ft.) ships' ordnance allowance, 1899-1912 ordnance material on steamships, 1846-58, and on ships, 1865-70 and donations of condemned ordnance, 1897-98. Reports of the service of guns on ships, 1863-68 armament on vessels, 1863-71 the disposition of guns, 1863-95 and ordnance equipment supplied to ships, 1871-72.
74.3.4 Records relating to patents and inventions
Textual Records: Letters sent, 1842-52. Letters received, 1844- 71. Correspondence relating to examination of inventions, 1851- 80 license and royalty agreements, 1896-1926 and patent infringements, 1918-21. Reports on inventions, 1862-81. Ordnance patents, 1826-72. Patents and inventions file, 1917-25. Patent specifications, 1890-92. Patent specifications on explosive compounds, 1863-70.
74.3.5 Records relating to supplies, accounts, contracts, and
personnel
Textual Records: Letters received relating to methods of purchasing supplies, 1863-64, and civilian personnel duties, 1870. Correspondence relating to shipments of IX-inch guns, 1861. Journals of correspondence, 1845-60. Contract ledger, 1842-62. Ordnance contracts, 1842-76. Contracts, 1912-39 (86 ft.). Record of ordnance deliveries, 1836-76. Estimates of funds required, 1844-1906. Miscellaneous financial records, 1842-1921.
74.4 RECORDS OF SUBORDINATE UNITS
1900-44
Textual Records: Letters sent by Bureau Desks A (Chief of Bureau), B (Assistant to the Chief of Bureau), C (Chief Clerk), H (Armor), I (Supply), and M (Mount), 1912-17. Correspondence of Bureau Desk N (Mines and Nets) relating to submarine nets, 1916- 17 mine and torpedo inventions, 1918 and the mine depot at Yorktown, VA, 1919. Records of Bureau Desk M-A (Aviation Ordnance), consisting of correspondence, 1918 and working papers, 1918-19. Research data on guns and torpedoes, compiled by the Division of Research and Development, 1900-43. Letters received by the Division of Research and Development from Albert Einstein relating to his participation in the navy's torpedo research program, 1944. Formerly security-classified correspondence of the Production Division relating to test and experiment projects concerning equipment purchased under ordnance contracts, 1922-39.
74.5 RECORDS OF ORDNANCE BOARDS
1845-1911
Textual Records: Reports, correspondence, and other records of the Board on Navy Armament, 1845 Board on Rifled Guns, 1863 Board on Parrot 100-Pounder Guns, 1865 Permanent Ordnance Board, 1869-71 Board on Breech-Loading Rifles, 1869 Board on Naval Torpedo Boats, 1871-72 Naval Torpedo Boards, 1889, 1891, 1905- 11 Armor Factory Boards, 1891, 1897 Armor Plate Board, 1891-93 and Special Board on Armor Plate, 1895.
Architectural and Engineering Plans (40 items): Oversized blueprints of a proposed ordnance factory drawn for the Armor Factory Board, 1897. SEE ALSO 74.6.
74.6 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
1818-1965
Maps (31 items): Eastern branch of the Potomac River, showing channels and a battery at Washington Navy Yard, 1842-60 (2 items). Track of U.S.S. Constellation during its summer cruise from Buzzard's Bay, MA, to Cape Hatteras, NC, with a separate chart of Buzzard's Bay, 1876 (2 items). Naval magazine at Hingman and Weymouth, MA, 1905 (17 items). Plans of cities suggested for a naval armor plant site, 1916 (6 items). North Sea mine barrage, 1922 (4 items).
Architectural and Engineering Plans (24,944 items): Plans and drawings of the Louisville, KY, Ordnance Plant, 1915-65 (5,100 items, in Chicago). Numbered plans, tracings, and blueprints of guns, machinery, ordnance parts, and ordnance plants, including some plans of Confederate and foreign guns and some ship plans, 1818-1921 (17,000 items). Unnumbered plans of naval gun sights and gun mounts of World War I, 1918 (2,000 items). Blueprints of armor plating used on battleships, 1915-17 (320 items). Plans of machine tools used in the U.S. Naval Gun Factory, Washington, DC, 1910-18 (300 items). Plans for the construction of the Navy Nitrate Plant at Indian Head, MD, including site plans and blueprints of chemical converters and furnaces, 1918 (200 items). Formerly security-classified World War II ordnance drawings and plans of a bomb rack for naval aviation, 1942-43 (24 items).
SEE Architectural and Engineering Plans UNDER 74.5.
74.7 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1864-1946
Photographs (10,672 images): U.S. and foreign ordnance and ordnance tests, including armor, guns, shells, torpedoes, and mines and naval bases, buildings, personnel, trains, ships, machinery, and instruments, 1864-1922 (B, 3,160 images BB, 319 images). Artillery and carriages made in the Creusot works of Schneider and Company, France, 1874-81 (CS, 27 images). Naval ordnance used in Operation Crossroads, Bikini, Marshall Islands, and resulting underwater damage caused to ships, 1946 (BO, 3,000 images BU, 261 images BN, 249 images BT, 3,656 images).
Photographs, Glass Negatives, and Lantern Slides (793 images): Ordnance tools smoke bomb tests graphs and charts construction of the Fort Defiance Machinery Co., Defiance, OH machinery at the Russell Motor Co., Ontario, Canada, and the Linderman Steel and Machine Co. the Allied Fleet at Scapa Flow, Scotland minelaying guns ships machines naval railway batteries and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and his trip to Europe, 1917-21 (M, 113 images LS, 680 images).
Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.
This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.
Which US naval ship from 1905 is depicted on this photo? - History
The Culver-Union Township Public Library makes no representation regarding the accuracy of the information contained within these pages.
A 1958 postcard giving a beautiful, full-color view of the "Maxinkuckee" in all its glory, complete with apparently happy passengers. The blurb on the back describes the joys of touring the lake by boat.
Another 1952 postcard depicting the lower park area facing the beach. Again, the view is similar today. The stone fountain in the circle was one of several that went by the wayside during the 1980s. In the distance, the touring boat the Maxinkuckee appears to be visible.
Unusual view of the tourboat the Maxinkuckee, mentioned in previous pages of this gallery, as in appeared in this 1950s postcard.
Another, very similar view on another 1950s postcard very little seems to have changed in this area to the present.
A painting of the Maxinkuckee excursion boat by M.G. White, which hangs in the Culver Public Library's circulation area.
Another view of the Town Park in the 1950s, from the upper park area facing the beach. I'm surmising that the boat docked in this shot is, again, the tour boat the Maxinkuckee.
Postcard with caption "Speedboat Rides on Lake Maxinkuckee," possibly 1963?
Presumably from the 1950s, this postcard shows another view of the lake from the bluff in Vandalia Park's (today's Town Park) upper pavilion area.
The Maxinkuckee tour boat docked at the boat pier just west of Culver's town park, in a photo taken in the 1950s, and courtesy the Kim Amond collection.
The Maxinkuckee Boat can be seen in the background of this 1965 photo of the Amond family's Chris Craft. Visible are Kim Amond, Shirley Amond, and Capt. Frank Amond. From the Kim Amond collection.
Young Kim Amond and grandmother, Shirley, near the Maxinkuckee boat's usual summer dock in the town park in 1973. Visible is the bell that once rang to let passers-by know that the boat was preparing to launch (Kim is wearing Mrs. Amond's "Captain's" hat). From the Kim Amond collection.
(Left to Right) Shirley, Doug, and Amy Amond on the family's Chris Craft speedboat in 1966,with the Maxinkuckee tour boat in the background.
The Maxinkuckee is docked for winter in this January 1968 photo taken at the usual winter docking spot for the boat, near the boat's normal dock in the town park. From the Kim Amond collection.
A 1960s photo of a night-time cruise on the Maxinkuckee tour boat. Frank Amond is visible on the left. From the Kim Amond collection.
The Borkholder children joined the Amonds on this cruise in July, 1969. This photo shows some details of the interior of the Maxinkuckee boat. From the Kim Amond collection.
The Amonds' Family Funster cabin cruiser on Lake Maxinkuckee, with Eddie Amond (son of Maxinkuckee Captain Frank) in the window, in this photo taken in the late 1940s. From the Kim Amond collection.
Several views of the captain's hat worn by Shirley Amond, wife of Maxinkuckee tour boat captain Frank Amond, for many years. Shirley is also remembered for being stationed at the top of the hill in Culver's town park and ringing the bell to alert passengers that the boat was about to embark on another journey. From the Kim Amond collection.
A view from the back yard of the Edgington cottage on Lake Maxinkuckee's west shore the Maxinkuckee tour boat can be seen going by the pier.
Mark A. Roeder, in his History of Culver and Lake Maxinkuckee, writes, "one famous vessel on Lake Maxinkuckee was neither a steamer, launch, or sail boat. She was the motorless flat barge known as "The White Swan." She had ornate upper and lower decks for dancing and was towed from place to place. She was often decorated with garlands of white flowers and lighted by Chinese lanterns. In her later days she was dragged onto the shore and converted into a building called Crook's Hall, owned by Captain Crook. It was later used as an apartment house. Much of Crook's Hall, located at the top of Harding Court, was built out of 'The White Swan.'"
Later, Roeder expanded on the later career of "The White Swan":
"Crook's Hotel was located at the top of Harding Court and is still standing (a large house at the top of the hill, painted gold). This was the same Capt. Crook that ran boats on the lake. The dance pavillion, the White Swan, was dismantled and the material used to construct much of the building. It was earlier known as Lord House, named after its owner. Apparently Capt. Crook didn't like the name and changed it to his own."
"Pavalion on Lake Maxikuckee," reads this 1910 postcard depicting the pavilion at Vandalia Park.
A "stereoscope" image of the White Swan Dancing Pavillion on the Lake. This image comes from the collection of Ted Schenberg.
"Captain Crook's Home and Hotel," circa 1904. today the house is the Helber House.
"The Three-Masted Square Rigger the O.W. Fowler," a 1956 postcard. Details were given on the back of the card, presented in the second image above.
The O.W. Fowler is depicted in this beautifully-photographed 1972 postcard.
The final docking of the O.W. Fowler 3-masted schooner took place in 1983 and is commemorated in this article from the Culver Academy's Vedette newspaper, "Requiem for a Windjammer." The photo at right, which accompanied the article, shows the Fowler at sail alongside the Admiral Yarnell replica warship, which sank in 1979. The Fowler was replaced by the almost identical R.H. Ledbetter (which in fact used the original Fowler masts), which is presently still in use at the Academy.
An undated postcard of the O.W. Fowler.
Another postcard of the O.W. Fowler.
The July 11, 1984 Culver Citizen newspaper reports here on the dedication of the new R.H. Ledbetter 3-masted schooner at Culver Academies, a boat which replaced the retired O.W. Fowler and used 3 of the latter boat's original masts. The Ledbetter is still in use by the Academy today.
The Admiral Rodman, part of the Summer Naval School Program in an undated, colorized postcard. Apparently this boat at one time was a mainstay at the Naval School? Anyone with further information is welcome to contact us
"Watching the Culver Summer Naval Cutters" postcard, 1910. 
Another postcard from the 1905-1910 era, captioned "Cadet Drill."
"Culver Naval School Cutters" on the Lake, an undated postcard.
A 1909 postcard: "Culver Summer Naval School Cutters Under Sail."
"Cutters in Tow on Lake Maxinkuckee," a 1907 postcard.
"Summer Naval School, Lake Maxinkuckee," an undated postcard.
"A Cutter Under Sail, Summer Naval School," a 1907 postcard.
A 1911 postcard shows a Cutter Drill, part of the Summer Naval Program on the lake.
An unusual and interesting image of "Maneuvers on Sailboats" in the Summer Naval Program at CMA
"Naval Cutters in Tow," a postcard from circa 1906.
"A Cutter Race," part of the aforementioned 1937 CMA postcard from Ted Schenberg's collection.
"A Naval Tournament," says this 1906 postcard.
"Passing in Review in the Regatta, Summer Naval School," an undated, colorized postcard provided by Jim Croy.
"Sailing Race -- Naval Cutters," a 1906 postcard.
The crew boat teams that can be heard today on the lake echo this 1909 postcard, "Toss Oars."
"Cutter Race, Summer Naval School."
Part of a collection of postcard images of Culver Academy copyrighted 1913, generously loaned the library by Martha Payson Ryman.
A postcard of Culver Military Academy sailboats on Lake Max. 
"Sailing in the Bay, Maxinkuckee Lake," reads the caption on this undated postcard, probably from the early 20th century. The bay is almost certainly Aubbenaubbee Bay, home of the Culver Military Academy.
"A Woodcraft Canoe Trip Down the Tippecanoe River," part of the aforementioned 1937 CMA postcard from Ted Schenberg's collection.
"Under Sail, Lake Maxinkuckee," part of the aforementioned 1937 CMA postcard from Ted Schenberg's collection.
"Landing Drill -- Culver Summer Schools," a 1923 postcard.
A 1908 postcard of the Culver Naval Summer Camp on parade. Supplied by Peter Dutcher, from his website.
Two sailing postcards depicting the Summer Naval School the left card from 1956, the right from 1959, courtesy Peter Trone.
Contents
Right elevation, deck plan, and hull section as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1902
HMS Jupiter was laid down by J & G Thomson, Clydebank at Clydebank on 26 April 1894 and launched on 18 November 1895. Ώ] In February 1897 she was transferred to Chatham Dockyard, ΐ] where she was completed in May 1897. Ώ] The ship was 421 feet (128 m) long overall and had a beam of 75 ft (23 m) and a draft of 27 ft (8.2 m). She displaced up to 16,060 t (15,810 long tons 17,700 short tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two 3-cylinder triple expansion engines powered by eight coal-fired cylindrical boilers. By 1907–1908, she was re-boilered with oil-fired models. Α] Her engines provided a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h 18 mph) at 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW). The Majestics were considered good seaboats with an easy roll and good steamers, although they suffered from high fuel consumption. She had a crew of 672 officers and enlisted men. Β]
The ship was armed with four BL 12-inch Mk VIII guns in twin turrets, one forward and one aft. The turrets were placed on pear-shaped barbettes six of her sisters had the same arrangement, but her sisters Caesar and Illustrious and all future British battleship classes had circular barbettes. Α] Β] Jupiter also carried twelve QF 6-inch /40 guns. They were mounted in casemates in two gun decks amidships. She also carried sixteen QF 12-pounder guns and twelve QF 2-pounder guns. She was also equipped with five 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes, four of which were submerged in the ship's hull, with the last in a deck-mounted launcher. Β] Jupiter and the other ships of her class had 9 inches (229 mm) of Harvey armour, which allowed equal protection with less cost in weight compared to previous types of armour. This allowed Jupiter and her sisters to have a deeper and lighter belt than previous battleships without any loss in protection. Α] The barbettes for the main battery were protected with 14 in (360 mm) of armor, and the conning tower had the same thickness of steel on the sides. The ship's armored deck was 2.5 to 4.5 in (64 to 114 mm) thick. Β]
The First Moroccan Crisis
On March 31, 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany arrives in Tangiers to declare his support for the sultan of Morocco, provoking the anger of France and Britain in what will become known as the First Moroccan Crisis, a foreshadowing of the greater conflict between Europe’s great nations still to come, the First World War.
The kaiser did not have any substantive interest in Morocco neither did the German government. The central purpose of his appearance was to disrupt the Anglo-French Entente, formed in April 1904. The Entente Cordiale, as it was known, was originally intended not as an alliance against Germany but as a settlement of long-standing imperialist rivalries between Britain and France in North Africa. By its terms, Britain could pursue its interests in Egypt, while France was free to expand westward from Algeria into Morocco, the last territory that remained independent in the region. France subsequently signed an agreement with Spain dividing Morocco into spheres of influence, with France receiving the greater part.
Angered by its exclusion from the decisions made about North Africa, Germany believed that the Anglo-French Entente went a long way towards the creation of a new diplomatic balance in Europe itself. An international convention had guaranteed the independence of Morocco in 1880 Germany now saw that the friendship between two of Europe’s most powerful nations threatened to override this, and thus also posed a challenge to Germany’s own influence in Europe and the world.
With much pomp and circumstance, Wilhelm—whose ship had faced gale-force winds on its passage to North Africa𠅊rrived in Tangiers on March 31, 1905. In what would be known as the open door speech, he announced that he looked upon the sultan of Morocco as the ruler of a free and independent empire subject to no foreign control and that he himself would always negotiate with the sultan. He also stated that he expected Germany to have advantages in trade and commerce with Morocco equal to that of other countries. Wilhelm’s sensational appearance marked an aggressive departure from the German foreign policy under the legendary Otto von Bismarck, who as chancellor had united the German empire in 1871 and had advocated conciliatory gestures towards France and other European rivals as a key part of German foreign policy.
Although Germany had intended aggressive action in Morocco to place a wedge between France and Britain, it in fact had the opposite effect, strengthening the bond between the two countries due to their mutual suspicion of Germany. What began as mere friendship turned, after the First Moroccan Crisis, into a type of informal military alliance, including conversations between the British and French governments and military staffs and later, a mutual defense agreement with a third country, Russia.
In the wake of the kaiser’s appearance, an international conference convened in Algeciras, Spain, in January 1906 to conclude an agreement about Morocco. The resulting convention awarded France a controlling interest in Moroccan affairs, but guaranteed equality of trade and economic freedom for every nation and limited any colonial action by any nation without consultation with the other signatories. A Second Moroccan Crisis flared in April 1911, when the French pushed troops into the country, claiming to be defending the sultan against riots that had erupted in Fez but actually violating the terms of the Algeciras convention. In response, Germany sent its own warship, the Panther, which arrived in the port of Agadir on May 21, intensifying the enmity between the two nations and, by extension, their allies.
Slightly more than two years before the outbreak of World War I, then, the two Moroccan crises left no doubt that the traditional power balance in Europe had shifted into large blocs of power, with Germany relatively isolated on one side𠅎njoying only lukewarm support from Austria-Hungary and Italy𠅊nd Britain, France, and Russia on the other.
Which US naval ship from 1905 is depicted on this photo? - History
| Vessel Type EC2: The Liberty Ship JUMP TO: [ Victory Ships | Tankers | Other Types ] --> Introduction "We did it before and we can do it again!" So echoed the clarion call to American shipbuilders to mobilize for construction of a new fleet of troopships in 1941.(The image above depicts the unloading of U.S. Liberty Ships at Khorramshahr, Persia, during WW II. The image is reproduced by permission from the Richard H. Jansen Exhibit in the U.S Army Art Collection Online Gallery.)
"Built by the mile and chopped off by the yard," and delivered at the rate of one a day, American ingenuity and can-do — facing a global challenge at the end of 1941 — transformed its shipbuilding industry and produced more than 2,700 Liberty ships in five years to move men and materiel to the front. (In the photo at left, a small armada of Henry J. Kaiser's "Liberty Fleet" awaits delivery. The Liberty ships — a vast new fleet for the war effort — was built in a national "Virtual Shipyard" that harnessed skills, resources, and facilities all across America. From 1941 to 1945, the United States increased its shipbuilding capacity by more than 1,200% and produced over 2,700 Liberty Ships, 800 Victory Vessels, 320 T-2 Tankers, and various other commercial and naval auxiliary vessels for a total of 5,200 ships constructed for the period. This accomplishment required a revolution in shipbuilding, or, more precisely, ship production. Under the ingenious leadership of Henry J. Kaiser, yards were laid out along revolutionary principles as assembly plants for the 30,000-plus components, produced in thousands of factories in more than thirty-two states, that went into the making of a Liberty Ship. Modular construction techniques were created which forever changed the face of shipbuilding, portable units for continuous welding were developed, and conventional tools and ways were abandoned. Shipbuilding technology was advanced by at least 20 years during this period and man-hour requirements were reduced by about one-third of those previously required in construction of similar ships. Perhaps most remarkable was the diversity of the Americans who built Kaiser's "Liberty Fleet" — probably only one in 200 had seen a shipyard before and 25% had not ever seen the sea. Many of his executives had not previously faced ship construction problems, and so they approached their new tasks — as indeed the whole organization did — with open minds and no preconceived theories about conventional shipbuilding, but with the determination to get things done quickly, efficiently, and with the minimum wastage of time, materials, and labor. Top of Page To find Liberty Ship List Launching dates, consult the Liberty Ship Database at http://www.uh.edu/ 3040 B. Charney Vladeck 2316 C. Francis Jenkins 0464 Dan Beard 2761 E. A. Bryan 0081 F. A. C. Muhlenberg 0425 G. H. Corliss 1718 H. G. Blasdel 2976 I. B. Perrine 2709 J. C. Osgood 2175 Kate Douglas Wiggin 1958 L. H. McNelly 2390 M. E. Comerford | A Look at Liberty Ships Liberty ships formed the backbone of a supply line that enabled the Allies to wage total war against the Axis Powers during World War II. In what has been called "the most stupendous building program the world will probably ever see", some 2,700 Liberty ships — making up nearly three-quarters of the 40 million dead-weight tons of shipbuilding in the United States during the war — were built at an average cost of US$1.6 million each in 18 shipyards.
Baltimore's Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard was the largest and most efficient of its kind. Upon seeing the design for the Liberty ship, which was based on a British ship first built in 1879, President Roosevelt named her "the ugly duckling." Ten to twelve months were required in 1917-18 to build an oceangoing ship. Liberty ships, though a third larger, were built in 1943 in as little as 16 days in regular production in one of the most efficient yards. America's wartime shipbuilding capacity for oceangoing vessels is 2,000 or more annually, provided manpower and materials are available. A Liberty ship could carry an amount of cargo equal to four trains of 75 cars each. A shipyard with 50 ways built 69 riveted ships aggregating 517,000 deadweight tons in 1919. In 1943 a 12- way Maritime Commission yard turned out 205 welded ships totaling 2,150,000 tons. United States shipyards, responding to a Presidential directive to build 16 million deadweight tons of shipping in 1943, exceeded the goal by 20 percent, building a total of 19.2 million tons. Only 1.1 million tons were built in 1941, and 8.0 million in 1942. The first Liberty ship, the Patrick Henry, was launched on September 27, 1941, at Baltimore, MD. The sponsor was Mrs. Henry A. Wallace, wife of the then Vice-President. She was built to a standardized, mass-produced design. The 250,000 parts of a Liberty were prefabricated all over the country, and the 250-ton sections, complete with portholes and mirrors, were miraculously welded together in as little as four and a half days once production hit its stride. The Liberty (officially an EC2) was 441 feet long and 56 feet wide. Her three-cylinder, reciprocating steam engine, fed by two oil-burning boilers, produced 2,500 hp and a speed of 11 knots. Her five holds could carry over 9,000 tons of cargo, plus airplanes, tanks, and locomotives lashed to its deck. A Liberty could carry 2,840 jeeps, 440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition. Libertys carried a crew of about 44 and 12 to 25 Naval Armed Guards. Some were armed with the following armament: 4-inch stern gun, two 37-mm bow guns, four .50-caliber machine guns, and/or two .30-caliber machine guns. Libertys sailed with no name painted on their bows so as to give the enemy no hint as to their mission or cargo. About 200 Libertys were lost to torpedoes, mines, explosions, kamikazes, etc. during WW II. The War Shipping Administration was created by Executive Order in February, 1942. It had complete control over United States ocean shipping for the duration of the war. The Liberty ship Robert E. Peary was built in a West Coast shipyard in the world's record time of one week flat. Services of more than 40 skilled trades were required to build a Liberty ship. Every Liberty ship had its own distillation system to make sea water drinkable. Forty-one percent of all of the ocean-going shipbuilding in United States merchant shipyards since 1913 was done in the single year of 1943, when 1,896 vessels were built. The Maritime Commission in 1937 embarked on a ten-year program to build 500 cargo ships. The cargo ships built between that time and March 1, 1945 included more than 2,500 Liberty ships, about 450 C-type cargo vessels, 550 oceangoing tankers, 175 Victory cargo ships, and a variety of military, coastal, and smaller craft. Trained personnel of the American Merchant Marine increased from about 55,000 on December 7, 1941 to 215,000 in March 1945. The Liberty ship construction program of the Maritime Commission, after producing more than 2,500 ships in 3.5 years, ended in 1945. Female workers constituted 13 per cent of the 700,000 merchant shipyard employees in 1943, and 18 per cent of the 585,000 total in October 1944. Despite the tremendous wartime merchant shipping losses suffered by the United Nations, they were replaced in the aggregate before the end of 1943 by production in American shipyards. The Nation's wartime merchant shipbuilding capacity was increased considerably by building ocean vessels on the Great Lakes. The only way of getting these large vessels to salt water was via the Chicago drainage canal and Illinois-Mississippi river system to New Orleans. Superstructures were removed to get under Chicago bridges, and steel pontoons were attached to the sterns for the river trip, to lift them out of shallow water. Some yards building Liberty ships delivered the 441-foot vessels in 16 days in regular production. The first Liberty ship required 244 days to build. By the end of 1945, the average building time for all Liberty shipyards was under 40 days. The first Liberty ship was named after Patrick Henry. The last 100 were named for merchant seamen who died in wartime service. One hundred and fourteen Liberty ships carried the names of women eighteen Liberty ships were named for African-American individuals. There are 121,000 board feet of lumber in a Liberty ship and 72,000 square feet of plywood. A Liberty could carry 440 light tanks, or 2,840 Jeeps, to battle fronts. Improved loading methods and speedup of turn-around added the equivalent of about 125 ships to the East Coast merchant fleet in each of the three months before D-Day in France. In the last half of 1942, construction of dry cargo ship tonnage in United States shipyards was three times that lost by sinkings. In the first half of 1943, construction outstripped sinkings 5 to 1 and in the last half of the year the ratio was 10 to 1. In 1939, as a result of a huge shipbuilding program which began with the formation of the United States Maritime Commission under the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, my brother got a job with the Chickasaw shipyard. With war clouds gathering fast on the horizon, rebuilding the American merchant marine fleet became a priority, even before Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese plunged this country into war, it became a global war involving fighting the Japanese in the Pacific, and the Germans and Italians in Europe. Many cargo ships were needed fast to carry food, war materials, and other items to the fighting fronts. New shipyards had to be built and much unskilled labor had to be recruited quickly and trained, to turn out the many freight carrying vessels that became a necessity. It was in this fashion that the famous Liberty ships were born. There were over sixteen hundred Liberty ships built by eighteen shipbuilders and twenty engine makers, under eighteen U.S. Navy classifications. These classifications included cargo, troop-carrying, hospital, general stores, technical and scientific research, aircraft repair and supply, aircraft ferry, radar station ship, miscellaneous auxiliary ships, experimental minesweepers, radar picket ships, and distilling ships. During World War I, 2,500 merchant ships were built, constructed of wood and steel, and these totaled 6.5 million dead weigh tons under World War I conditions. But a short while later, the shipbuilding industry in America deteriorated. To catch up with demand and foreign competition, new conditions were outlined to meet the challenges that came as a result of World War II. An attempt was made to standardize the shipbuilding programs, producing three standard types of ships. Trying to satisfy the various demands of ship owners and operators was a real challenge. Some owners demanded a tall circular funnel while others wanted a squat pear-shape structure. Until 1940, Great Britain was carrying the load of supplying cargo ships for its own survival. At the same time German submarines were sinking cargo ships faster that the British could produce them. To overcome the submarine threat and to catch up with adequate tonnage, the British shipbuilding industry brought their problems and plans to America for our country to become involved in the mass production of ships. In the initial stages of America's shipbuilding program, the two shipbuilding firms of Todd Shipyards and Henry J. Kaiser's West coast operations played a leading role. Producing quantity replaced building ships featuring quality. The slogan of the industry was," to build the ships by the mile and chop them off by the yard". When the British shipbuilding experts first arrived in America, the goal was to produce two thirty-ship "Ocean" contracts and this was the initial project involving Todd and Kaiser. The first of these "Ocean" vessels, named the "Ocean Vanguard" was launched on October 15, 1941. The Liberty ship was an emergency product intended for war use and was expendable. Built in our country's shipyards, the Liberty ships were of the same type as the "Oceans". They stemmed from the British design. In 1941, Congress authorized nine new emergency shipyards, two of which built the British order of sixty "Ocean" vessels, plus authorizing the construction of two hundred new vessels. In April 1941, Congress authorized transfers of merchant and naval vessels to Britain under a "lease-lend" program initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt. By the end of the war, Congress had expanded the shipbuilding programs several times. There were many changes made to the Liberty ships from the original British protypes. In the interest of fast construction, modifications were made to facilitate welding and to avoid the need for furnaced plates by giving a slight curvature to the whole ship. Some changes which seemed to be of lesser importance in the beginning, turned out to be very important. For example, the unstrengthened square hatch corners and the sheerstrake cut in the way of the accommodation ladder. Rearranging the superstructure to accommodate the whole crew in a single midship house was a major hull alteration. It also economized on piping, heating and outfitting. Since Patrick Henry coined the expression, "Give me liberty or give me death," the ship "Patrick Henry" was the first of the many Liberties that slid down the waves. It was launched on Sept. 27, 1941. Of the shipbuilding companies, J.A. Jones Construction Company had two shipyards: one in Brunswick, Ga., and one in Panama City, Fl. The Panama City yard operated under the name of Wainwright Yard. The Maritime Commission persuaded Jones to first install a shipyard in Panama City. Eventually, Brunswick also got a shipyard. Before Wainwright Shipyard was built, Panama City had a population of 20,000. Three years later the population had jumped to 60,000. The shipyard firm, in addition to building Liberty ships, also built needed housing, restaurants, and other facilities to attract workers. It also delivered milk to the community and supplied them with tools, trucks, and furniture on credit. If there were any losses involved, these were offsetted against profits from the company's other activities. In October 1943, Wainwright Shipyard stopped making Liberty ships temporarily, switching to making a special type of ship carrying army tanks. Later it also produced a transport for carrying boxed aircraft. Wainwright Shipyard produced 66 Liberty vessels, costing 2,020,000 dollars each, plus 8 vessels for army tank transporting and 28 vessels for transporting boxed aircraft. There were many ships lost during the war, particularly from sinkings by submarines. Britain lost 1,190 ships. Other allies and neutral countries lost 980 vessels, while the enemy lost 1,000 ships altogether. When World War II ended, more than forty million tons of new shipping was owned by the USA. Our country was again a leading maritime nation. During the war, 130 shipping companies operated America's merchant fleet as agents of the government. Now, many of these companies wanted to continue in business for their own commercial investment purposes. There were also many foreign companies wanting to acquire some of America's wartime merchant fleet. Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis was one of these, and there was a lot of controversy over his negotiations on the subject. Many of the American shipyards now had to reverse gears and go into dismantling and scrapping the Liberty ships. The wartime Liberty ships speed averaged 11 knots per hour, which was considered slow in comparison to the post-war need for ships traveling 15 knots per hour. Captain (Master) | |
| Deck Department | Engine Department | Steward's Department |
| First Mate | Chief Engineer | Chief Steward |
| Second Mate | First Assistant Engineer | Chief Cook |
| Third Mate | Second Assistant Engineer | Second Cook |
| Deck maintenance man | Third Assistant Engineer | Baker |
| Boatswain (Bos'n) | Deck Enginee r | Messman (6) |
| Carpenter | Oiler (3) | Galleyman |
| Able seaman (6) | Fireman/watertender (3) | |
| Ordinary seaman (3) | Wiper (2) | |
| Naval Armed Guard | Purser-Pharmacist's Mate | |
| Lieutenant, JG or Ensign | Radio operator ("Sparks") | |
| Gunners, radio operators, and signalman (12 to 27) |
Black gang - the engine room crew, the name originating on coal burning ships.
Bos'n - deck supervisor, unlicensed.
Messman - waiter and dishwasher.
Ordinary seaman - the lowest grade for the deck department.
Purser-Pharmacist's mate - bookkeeper and medic.
Wiper - a general handyman in the engine room.
- ROBERT J. BANKS
- GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER
- WILLIAM COX
- FREDERICK DOUGLASS
- PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
- JOHN HOPE
- ROBERT S. ABBOTT
- JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
- GEORGE A. LAWSON
- JOHN MERRICK
- JOHN H. MURPHY
- EDWARD A. SAVOY
- HARRIETT TUBMAN
- ROBERT L..VANN
- JAMES K. WALKER
- BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
- BERT WILLIAMS
The Shipyards There were eighteen shipyards located along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts, as well as the Great Lakes, the latter region producing vessels limited in their size by facilities for getting then to sea (the St. Lawrence Seaway had not yet opened).
| Alabama DryDock and Shipbuilding | Mobile, AL |
| Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard | Baltimore, MD |
| California Shipbuilding Corp. | Los Angeles, CA |
| Delta Shipbuilding Corp. | New Orleans, LA |
| J A Jones | Brunswick, GA |
| J A Jones | Panama City, FL |
| Kaiser Company | Vancouver, WA |
| Marinship | Sausalito, CA |
| New England Shipbuilding East Yard | Portland, MA |
| New England Shipbuilding West Yard | Portland, MA |
| North Carolina Shipbuilding | Wilmington, NC |
| Oregon Shipbuilding | Portland, OR |
| Permanente Metals Corp No 1 Yard | Richmond, CA |
| Permanente Metals Corp No 2 Yard | Richmond, CA |
| St Johns River Shipbuilding | Jacksonville, FL |
| Southeastern Shipbuilding | Savannah, GA |
| Todd Houston Shipbuilding | Houston, TX |
| Walsh-Kaiser Company | Providence, RI |
| In the early days of the program it was evident that the sheer quantity of ships was essential and the solution was "ship built by mile and chopped off by the yard." New shipyards were created by a syndicate formed by Todd Shipyards Inc., and the Henry J. Kaiser group.
Once the production lines got under way, the time taken to build a Liberty at Fairfield dropped to as little as 28 days. On the average, it took 592,000 man-hours to build a Liberty Ship. The construction of one Liberty ship required 3,425 tons of hull steel, 2,725 tons of plate, and 700 tons of shapes, which included 50,000 castings. The Kaiser shipyard in Oakland, California, built the from keel laying to launching, in 4 days, 15 hours, and 30 minutes. The PEARY was then outfitted, painted, taken on sea trials, the crew was trained, and the vessel fully loaded with 10,000 tons of cargo. The PEARY sailed seven days after the keel was laid.
2830 Nachman Syrkin 2926 O. B. Martin 1655 P. T. Barnum 2017 R. C. Brennan 0479 S. Hall Young 2304 T. A. Johnston 1811 U.S.O. 2100 Vachel Lindsay 2097 W. B. Ayer 0244 Zachary Taylor Triggering or FuzesThe first USA designed mine, the Mark 5, was of the "Horned" type. Horns were made of soft metal such as lead and held a glass ampoule containing battery acid, usually potassium-bichromate. The lower end of the horn contained an electric battery minus the electrolyte. Contact with the horn broke open the acid container, energizing the battery which then heated a platinum wire in a mercury fulminate detonator, thus exploding the mine. By definition, this was a weapon with limited range and fields needed to be densely packed in order for it to be effective against shipping. However, such close-laid fields ran the risk of one mine setting off adjacent mines as fraternal kills. The "K-pistol" of the Mark 6 used a copper antenna which extended upwards to just below the surface. This was connected by a relay to a copper plate on the outside of the mine. Seawater acted as the electrolyte of a battery which would be formed when a ship with a steel hull approached and touched the antenna. The current running down the antenna operated the relay and exploded the mine. This method allowed each mine to cover a wider area, meaning that fewer mines could be used to cover a given area than with the horn type. In modern terms, the "K" device exploited the Underwater Electric Potential (UEP) effect. Magnetic triggers were originally only used on ground (bottom) mines. This is because, if they were moored, the changing of the magnetic field as they rose and fell with the tide would set them off. Near the end of World War II, a trigger that measured the total field around the mine was developed. This device added up the fields in such a way that the tides did not affect it. Acoustic mines measure sound of certain frequencies, usually those of propeller, engine and sonar noises. Pressure detector fuzes measure the pressure wave created by a ship moving through the water. These were simultaneously developed by both Germany and the USA during World War II, but both held off deploying them for fear that the technology would be captured by the other side. They were first used in combat off the Normandy beaches and were heavily used against the Japanese home islands near the end of the war.
ContentsIn December 1758, Pitt the Elder, in his role as head of the British government, placed an order for the building of 12 ships, including a first-rate ship that would become Victory. [2] During the 18th century, Victory was one of ten first-rate ships to be constructed. [3] The outline plans were based on HMS Royal George which had been launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1756, and the naval architect chosen to design the ship was Sir Thomas Slade who, at the time, was the Surveyor of the Navy. [4] She was designed to carry at least 100 guns. The commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a dry dock for the construction. [5] The keel was laid on 23 July 1759 in the Old Single Dock (since renamed No. 2 Dock and now Victory Dock), and a name, Victory, was chosen in October 1760. [6] In 1759, the Seven Years' War was going well for Britain land victories had been won at Quebec and Minden and naval battles had been won at Lagos and Quiberon Bay. It was the Annus Mirabilis, or Wonderful Year, and the ship's name may have been chosen to commemorate the victories [7] [8] or it may have been chosen simply because out of the seven names shortlisted, Victory was the only one not in use. [9] [10] There were some doubts whether this was a suitable name since the previous Victory had been lost with all on board in 1744. [10] A team of 150 workmen were assigned to construct Victory ' s frame. [11] Around 6,000 trees were used in her construction, of which 90% were oak and the remainder elm, pine and fir, together with a small quantity of lignum vitae. [12] The wood of the hull was held in place by six-foot copper bolts, supported by treenails for the smaller fittings. [11] Once the ship's frame had been built, it was normal to cover it up and leave it for several months to allow the wood to dry out or "season". The end of the Seven Years' War meant that Victory remained in this condition for nearly three years, which helped her subsequent longevity. [13] [14] Work restarted in autumn 1763 and she was floated on 7 May 1765, [15] having cost £63,176 and 3 shillings, [16] the equivalent of £8.7 million today. [Note 1] On the day of the launch, shipwright Hartly Larkin, designated "foreman afloat" for the event, suddenly realised that the ship might not fit through the dock gates. Measurements at first light confirmed his fears: the gates were at least 9½ inches too narrow. He told the news to his superior, master shipwright John Allin, who considered abandoning the launch. Larkin asked for the assistance of every available shipwright, and they hewed away enough wood from the gates with their adzes for the ship to pass safely through. [17] However, the launch itself revealed significant problems in the ship's design, including a distinct list to starboard and a tendency to sit heavily in the water such that her lower deck gunports were only 4 ft 6 in (1.4 m) above the waterline. The first of these problems was rectified after launch by increasing the ship's ballast to settle her upright on the keel. The second problem, regarding the siting of the lower gunports, could not be rectified. Instead it was noted in Victory ' s sailing instructions that these gunports would have to remain closed and unusable in rough weather. This had potential to limit Victory ' s firepower, though in practice none of her subsequent actions would be fought in rough seas. [18] Because there was no immediate use for her, she was placed in ordinary and moored in the River Medway. [19] Internal fitting out continued over the next four years, and sea trials were completed in 1769, after which she was returned to her Medway berth. She remained there until France joined the American War of Independence in 1778. [20] Victory was now placed in active service as part of a general mobilisation against the French threat. This included arming her with a full complement of smooth bore, cast iron cannon. Her weaponry was intended to be thirty 42-pounders (19 kg) on her lower deck, twenty-eight 24-pounder long guns (11 kg) on her middle deck, and thirty 12-pounders (5 kg) on her upper deck, together with twelve 6-pounders on her quarterdeck and forecastle. In May 1778, the 42-pounders were replaced by 32-pounders (15 kg), but the 42-pounders were reinstated in April 1779 however, there were insufficient 42-pounders available and these were replaced with 32-pounder cannon again. [18] First battle of Ushant EditVictory was commissioned (put on active duty) in March 1778 under Captain John Lindsay. He held that position until May 1778, when Admiral Augustus Keppel made her his flagship, and appointed Rear Admiral John Campbell (1st Captain) and Captain Jonathan Faulknor (2nd Captain). [16] Keppel put to sea from Spithead on 9 July 1778 with a force of around twenty-nine ships of the line and, on 23 July, sighted a French fleet of roughly equal force 100 miles (160 km) west of Ushant. [21] [22] The French admiral, Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers, who had orders to avoid battle, was cut off from Brest, but retained the weather gage. Manoeuvring was made difficult by changing winds and driving rain, but eventually a battle became inevitable, with the British more or less in column and the French in some confusion. However, the French managed to pass along the British line with their most advanced ships. At about a quarter to twelve, Victory opened fire on Bretagne of 110 guns, which was being followed by Ville de Paris of 90 guns. [23] The British van escaped with little loss, but Sir Hugh Palliser's rear division suffered considerably. Keppel made the signal to follow the French, but Palliser did not conform and the action was not resumed. [23] Keppel was court martialled and cleared and Palliser criticised by an inquiry before the affair turned into a political argument. [23] Second Battle of Ushant EditIn March 1780, Victory ' s hull was sheathed with 3,923 sheets of copper below the waterline to protect it against shipworm. [12] On 2 December 1781, the ship, now commanded by Captain Henry Cromwell and bearing the flag of Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, sailed with eleven other ships of the line, a 50-gun fourth-rate, and five frigates, [24] to intercept a French convoy that had sailed from Brest on 10 December. Not knowing that the convoy was protected by twenty-one ships of the line under the command of Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen, Kempenfelt ordered a chase when they were sighted on 12 December and began the battle. [24] When he noted the French superiority, he contented himself with capturing fifteen sail of the convoy. The French were dispersed in a gale and forced to return home. [24] Siege of Gibraltar EditVictory ' s armament was slightly upgraded in 1782 with the replacement of all of her 6-pounders with 12-pounder cannon. Later, she also carried two carronade guns, firing 68-lb (31 kg) round shot. [25] In October 1782, Victory under Admiral Richard Howe was the fleet flagship of a powerful escort flotilla for a convoy of transports which resupplied Gibraltar in the event of a blockade by the French and Spanish navies. No resistance was encountered on entering the straits and the supplies were successfully unloaded. There was a minor engagement at the time of departure, in which Victory did not fire a shot. The British ships were under orders to return home and did so without major incident. [26] [27] Battle of Cape St. Vincent EditIn 1796, Captain Robert Calder (First Captain) and Captain George Grey (Second Captain), commanded Victory under Admiral Sir John Jervis's flag. [16] [28] By the end of 1796, the British position in the Mediterranean had become untenable. Jervis had stationed his fleet off Cape St Vincent to prevent the Spanish from sailing north, whilst Horatio Nelson was to oversee the evacuation of Elba. [29] [30] Once the evacuation had been accomplished, Nelson, in HMS Minerve, sailed for Gibraltar. On learning that the Spanish fleet had passed by some days previous, Nelson left to rendezvous with Jervis on 11 February. [31] The Spanish fleet, which had been blown off course by easterly gales, was that night working its way to Cadiz. [30] The darkness and a dense fog meant Nelson was able to pass through the enemy fleet without being spotted and join Jervis on 13 February. [32] Jervis, whose fleet had been reinforced on 5 February by five ships from Britain under Rear-Admiral William Parker, now had 15 ships of the line. [33] The following morning, having drawn up his fleet into two columns, Jervis impressed upon the officers on Victory ' s quarterdeck how, "A victory to England is very essential at the moment". Jervis was not aware of the size of the fleet he was facing, but at around 0630 hours, received word that five Spanish warships were to the south-east. [28] By 0900 hours the first enemy ships were visible from Victory ' s masthead, and at 1100 hours, Jervis gave the order to form line of battle. [34] As the Spanish ships became visible to him, Calder reported the numbers to Jervis, but when he reached 27, Jervis replied, "Enough, Sir. No more of that. The die is cast and if there are 50 sail, I will go through them". [35] The Spanish were caught by surprise, sailing in two divisions with a gap that Jervis aimed to exploit. [28] The ship's log records how Victory halted the Spanish division, raking ships both ahead and astern, while Jervis' private memoirs recall how Victory ' s broadside so terrified Principe de Asturias that she "squared her yards, ran clear out of the battle and did not return". [36] Jervis, realising that the main bulk of the enemy fleet could now cross astern and reunite, ordered his ships to change course, but Sir Charles Thompson, leading the rear division, failed to comply. The following ships were now in a quandary over whether to obey the Admiral's signal or follow their divisional commander. Nelson, who had transferred to HMS Captain, was the first to break off and attack the main fleet as Jervis had wanted and other ships soon followed his example. [37] [38] The British fleet not only achieved its main objective, that of preventing the Spanish from joining their French and Dutch allies in the channel, but also captured four ships. [38] The dead and wounded from these four ships alone amounted to 261 and 342, respectively more than the total number of British casualties of 73 dead and 327 wounded. [39] There was one fatality aboard Victory a cannonball narrowly missed Jervis and decapitated a nearby sailor. [38] — Naval architect Sir Robert Seppings, describing defects aboard Victory, September 1796 [40] On her return to England, Victory was examined for seaworthiness and found to have significant weaknesses in her stern timbers. She was declared unfit for active service and left anchored off Chatham Dockyard. In December 1796 she was ordered to be converted to a hospital ship to hold wounded French and Spanish prisoners of war. [16] [41] However, on 8 October 1799, HMS Impregnable was lost off Chichester, having run aground on her way back to Portsmouth after escorting a convoy to Lisbon. [41] She could not be refloated and so was stripped and dismantled. Now short of a three-decked ship of the line, the Admiralty decided to recondition Victory. Work started in 1800, but as it proceeded, an increasing number of defects were found and the repairs developed into a very extensive reconstruction. [41] The original estimate was £23,500, but the final cost was £70,933. [9] Extra gun ports were added, taking her from 100 guns to 104, and her magazine lined with copper. The open galleries along her stern were removed [40] her figurehead was replaced along with her masts and the paint scheme changed from red to the black and yellow seen today. Her gun ports were originally yellow to match the hull, but later repainted black, giving a pattern later called the "Nelson chequer", which was adopted by most Royal Navy ships in the decade following the Battle of Trafalgar. [42] [43] The work was completed in April 1803, and the ship left for Portsmouth the following month under her new captain, Samuel Sutton. [16] [44] Vice-Admiral Nelson hoisted his flag in Victory on 18 May 1803, with Samuel Sutton as his flag captain. [16] The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson (Volume 5, page 68) record that "Friday 20 May a.m. . Nelson . came on board. Saturday 21st (i.e.the afternoon of the 20th) Unmoored ship and weighed. Made sail out of Spithead . when H.M.Ship Amphion joined, and proceeded to sea in company with us" – Victory's Log. Victory was under orders to meet up with Cornwallis off Brest, but after 24 hours of searching failed to find him. Nelson, anxious to reach the Mediterranean without delay, decided to transfer to Amphion off Ushant. The Dispatches and Letters (see above) record on page 71 "Tuesday 24 May (i.e. 23 May p.m.) Hove to at 7.40, Out Boats. The Admiral shifted his flag to the Amphion. At 7.50 Lord Nelson came on board the Amphion and hoisted his flag and made sail – Log." On 28 May, Captain Sutton captured the French Ambuscade of 32 guns, bound for Rochefort. [45] Victory rejoined Lord Nelson off Toulon, where on 31 July, Captain Sutton exchanged commands with the captain of Amphion, Thomas Masterman Hardy and Nelson raised his flag in Victory once more. [46] Victory was passing the island of Toro, near Majorca, on 4 April 1805, when HMS Phoebe brought the news that the French fleet under Pierre-Charles Villeneuve had escaped from Toulon. While Nelson made for Sicily to see if the French were heading for Egypt, Villeneuve was entering Cádiz to link up with the Spanish fleet. [47] On 9 May, Nelson received news from HMS Orpheus that Villeneuve had left Cadiz a month earlier. The British fleet completed their stores in Lagos Bay, Portugal and, on 11 May, sailed westward with ten ships and three frigates in pursuit of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 17 ships. [48] They arrived in the West Indies to find that the enemy was sailing back to Europe, where Napoleon Bonaparte was waiting for them with his invasion forces at Boulogne. [49] The Franco-Spanish fleet was involved in the indecisive Battle of Cape Finisterre in fog off Ferrol with Admiral Sir Robert Calder's squadron on 22 July, before taking refuge in Vigo and Ferrol. [50] Calder on 14 August and Nelson on 15 August joined Admiral Cornwallis's Channel Fleet off Ushant. [51] Nelson continued on to England in Victory, leaving his Mediterranean fleet with Cornwallis [52] who detached twenty of his thirty-three ships of the line and sent them under Calder to find the combined fleet at Ferrol. On 19 August came the worrying news that the enemy had sailed from there, followed by relief when they arrived in Cádiz two days later. On the evening of Saturday, 28 September, Lord Nelson joined Lord Collingwood's fleet off Cádiz, quietly, so that his presence would not be known. [53] Battle of Trafalgar EditAfter learning he was to be removed from command, Villeneuve put to sea on the morning of 19 October and when the last ship had left port, around noon the following day, he set sail for the Mediterranean. [54] The British frigates, which had been sent to keep track of the enemy fleet throughout the night, were spotted at around 1900 hours and the order was given to form line of battle. [55] On the morning of 21 October, the main British fleet, which was out of sight and sailing parallel some 10 miles away, turned to intercept. [56] Nelson had already made his plans: to break the enemy line some two or three ships ahead of their commander-in-chief in the centre and achieve victory before the van could come to their aid. [57] At 0600 hours, Nelson ordered his fleet into two columns. Fitful winds made it a slow business, and for more than six hours, the two columns of British ships slowly approached the French line before Royal Sovereign, leading the lee column, was able to open fire on Fougueux. Around 30 minutes later, Victory broke the line between Bucentaure and Redoutable firing a treble shotted broadside into the stern of the former from a range of a few yards. [58] At a quarter past one, Nelson was shot, the fatal musket ball entering his left shoulder and lodging in his spine. [59] He died at half past four. [60] Such killing had taken place on Victory ' s quarter deck that Redoutable attempted to board her, but they were thwarted by the arrival of Eliab Harvey in the 98-gun HMS Temeraire, whose broadside devastated the French ship. [61] Nelson's last order was for the fleet to anchor, but this was countermanded by Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. [62] Victory suffered 57 killed and 102 wounded. [63] Victory had been badly damaged in the battle and was not able to move under her own sail. HMS Neptune therefore towed her to Gibraltar for repairs. [64] Victory then carried Nelson's body to England, where, after lying in state at Greenwich, he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral on 9 January 1806. [65] Final years afloat EditThe Admiralty Board considered Victory too old, and in too great a disrepair, to be restored as a first-rate ship of the line. In November 1807 she was relegated to second-rate, with the removal of two 32-pounder cannon and replacement of her middle deck 24-pounders with 18-pounders obtained from other laid-up ships. She was recommissioned as a troopship between December 1810 and April 1811. [66] In 1812 she was relocated to the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour off Gosport, for service as a floating depot and, from 1813 to 1817, as a prison ship. [67] [66] Major repairs were undertaken in 1814, including the fitting of 3 ft 10 in (1.2 m) metal braces along the inside of her hull, to strengthen the timbers. This was the first use of iron in the vessel structure, other than small bolts and nails. [68] Active service was resumed from February 1817 when she was relisted as a first-rate carrying 104 guns. However, her condition remained poor, and in January 1822 she was towed into dry dock at Portsmouth for repairs to her hull. Refloated in January 1824, she was designated as the Port admiral's flagship for Portsmouth Harbour, remaining in this role until April 1830. [66] Victorian era EditIn 1831 the Admiralty issued orders for Victory to be broken up and her timbers reused in other vessels. [66] A public outcry against the destruction of so famous a ship led to the order being held in abeyance and Victory was left, largely forgotten, at a Portsmouth mooring. [66] The Admiralty officially designated the ageing vessel as a tender for the port admiral ' s flagship HMS Wellington, and permitted civilian visitors to come aboard for tours. [69] The ship briefly returned to the public gaze on 18 July 1833 when the queen in waiting, Princess Victoria, and her mother, the Duchess of Kent, made a visit to her quarterdeck to meet with veterans of the Trafalgar campaign. [67] This generated a surge of interest in the vessel, and an increase in civilian visitor numbers to between 10,000 and 12,000 a year. Victoria returned for a second visit on 21 October 1844, creating a further burst of interest that lifted annual visitors to more than 22,000. [69] In late April 1854, Victory sprang a leak and sank. All on board were rescued [70] and the boat was subsequently raised. [71] In 1887 she sprang a catastrophic leak and it was only with some difficulty that she was prevented from sinking at her mooring. [69] The Admiralty thereafter provided a small annual subsidy for maintenance, and in 1889 Victory became the home of a signal school in addition to being a tender. The impact of so much human traffic also left her increasingly decrepit, particularly in the absence of Admiralty funding for repairs. Sir Edward Seymour visited the vessel in 1886 as Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth and recalled in 1911 "a more rotten ship than she had become probably never flew the pennant. I could literally run my walking stick through her sides in many places." [72] The school remained on Victory until 1904, when training was transferred temporarily to HMS Hercules. [73] Despite her reuse as a school, Victory continued to deteriorate at her mooring. In 1903 she was accidentally rammed by HMS Neptune, a successor to the vessel that had towed her to Gibraltar. Emergency repairs prevented her from sinking, but Admiralty again proposed that she be scrapped and it was only the personal intervention of Edward VII that prevented this from occurring. [74] Interest in the ship revived in 1905 when, as part of the centenary celebrations of the Battle of Trafalgar, she was decorated with electric lights powered by a submarine moored alongside. [74] In 1910, the Society for Nautical Research was created to try to preserve her for future generations, but Admiralty was unable to help, having become embroiled in an escalating arms race thus by the time Frank H. Mason published The Book of British Ships in 1911, Victory ' s condition was described as "..nothing short of an insult". [75] [76] A few glimpses of the ship in 1918 are to be seen towards the end of Maurice Elvey's biopic of Nelson created in that year. [77] In dry dock EditBy 1921 the ship was in a very poor state, and a public Save the Victory campaign was started, with shipping magnate Sir James Caird as a major contributor. [78] On 12 January 1922, her condition was so poor that she would no longer stay afloat, and had to be moved into No. 2 dock at Portsmouth, the oldest dry dock in the world still in use. [79] [78] A naval survey revealed that between a third and a half of her internal fittings required replacement. Her steering equipment had also been removed or destroyed, along with most of her furnishings. [69] The relocation to No. 2 dock sparked public discussion about Victory ' s future location. Suggestions in contemporary newspapers included the creation of a floating plinth atop which she could be preserved as a monument, either in Portsmouth or adjacent to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Others proposed a berth beside Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames, or as land-based structure in Trafalgar Square. Despite popular support, these options were not seriously entertained by Admiralty. The naval architects who had surveyed the ship reported that she was too damaged to be moved Admiralty formally adopted their advice and No. 2 dock thereafter became Victory ' s permanent home. [69] During the initial restoration period from 1922 to 1929, a considerable amount of structural repair work was carried out above the waterline and mainly above the middle deck. On 8 April 1925, Victory was temporarily refloated within Portsmouth's No.2 dock, to adjust the supporting cradle and so that Victory's waterline would be at the a same level with the top of the dry dock. [80] This last refloating of HMS Victory was recorded by Pathé news cameras. [81] [82] In 1928, King George V was able to unveil a tablet celebrating the completion of the work, although restoration and maintenance still continued under the supervision of the Society for Nautical Research. [78] Restoration was suspended during the Second World War, and in 1941, Victory sustained further damage when a 500 lb. bomb [83] dropped by the Luftwaffe broke her keel, as can be seen in Plate 1 in The Anatomy of Nelsons Ships by C Nepean Longridge (1955), destroyed one of the steel cradles and part of the foremast. On one occasion, German radio propaganda claimed that the ship had been destroyed by a bomb, and the Admiralty had to issue a denial. [84] In the 1950s, a number of preventive measures were instigated, including the removal of bulkheads to increase airflow and the fumigating of the ship against the deathwatch beetle. The following decade saw the replacement of much of the decayed oak with oily hardwoods such as teak and Iroko, which were believed to be more resistant to fungus and pests. [85] The decision to restore Victory to her Battle of Trafalgar configuration was taken in 1920, but the need to undertake these important repairs meant this was not achieved until 2005, in time for the Trafalgar 200 celebrations. [86] Victory ' s fore topsail was severely damaged during the Battle of Trafalgar, perforated by upwards of 90 cannonballs and other projectiles. It was replaced after the battle, but was preserved and eventually displayed in the Royal Naval Museum. [87] 21st century EditIn November 2007, Victory ' s then commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander John Scivier, paid a visit to USS Constitution of the US Navy, which is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat. He met Constitution ' s commanding officer, Commander William A. Bullard III, and discussed the possibility of arranging an exchange programme between the two ships. [88] Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Victory has been the flagship of the First Sea Lord since October 2012. Prior to this, she was the flagship of the Second Sea Lord. [89] [90] She is the oldest commissioned warship in the world and attracts around 350,000 visitors per year in her role as a museum ship. [91] The current and 101st commanding officer is Lieutenant Commander Brian Smith, who assumed command in May 2015. [92] In December 2011, Defence Equipment and Support awarded an initial five-year project management contract to BAE Systems, with an option to extend to ten years. The restoration is worth £16 million over the life of the contract and will include work to the masts and rigging, replacement side planking, and the addition of fire control measures. It is expected to be the most extensive refit since the ship returned from Trafalgar. In her current state she has no upper masts and minimum rigging. It is expected that it will be over 12 years before these are replaced. [93] [94] Since this contract was placed, the most significant change has been on 5 March 2012, when ownership of the ship was transferred from the Ministry of Defence to a dedicated HMS Victory Preservation Trust, established as part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. [95] According to the Royal Navy website, the move was "heralded by the announcement of a £25 million capital grant to support the new Trust by the Gosling Foundation—a donation which has been matched by a further £25 million from the MOD". [96] Victory has also undergone emergency repair works to prevent the hull decaying and sagging. The hull is moving at a rate of half a centimetre each year, about 20 cm over the last 40 years although there are plans to create new hydraulic supports that will better fit the ship. [97] The ship will benefit from a £35 million restoration project, utilising Scottish elm and oak trees as wood for the restoration project. [98] [99] Over the two centuries since Victory ' s launch, numerous admirals have hoisted their flag in her: Comments:Write a message |
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