The Navy Museum, Part One

As I mentioned the other day, one of our first stops in D.C. was the Navy Yard as The Nuke had to take care of something at work. As it would take less than an hour or so, she dropped us off at that building in the opening photo.

I spent the next 90 minutes snapping photos and saying "Wow!"

I said "wow" a lot that morning, to the tune of over 270 photos. So that would be around 3 pictures a minute. Not that rapid a pace sure, but that was punctuated with a lot of "wowing" and wandering from exhibit to exhibit. They have the most amazing collection of model ships, here are just a few.

USS Vermont, 74-gun Ship of the Line

USS Constitution, 44-gun Frigate

Cutaway model of a standard Royal Navy 110-gun Ship of the Line, or First Rate

Left, USS Saratoga, 26-gun Corvette, right USS Niagara, 20-gun Brig

Another view of Saratoga and Niagara

I didn't get this one's name, she looks like a converted East Indiaman. Anyone know?

Captain John Paul Jones' Bonhomme Richard, converted East Indiaman of 42 guns.
Victor over HMS Serapis off Flamborough Head, 23 September 1779

The only problem I found in taking photos at the museum was the glare off of the display cases. I suppose if you look close enough, you might see the reflection of the Old AF Sarge, arms askew, taking photos with his cell phone. (Yes, I left the good camera in the suitcase. Dumas! Not the French pronunciation by the way.)

These models are obviously from our early history. From the Revolutionary War through the War of 1812. There are some exhibits about the Quasi-War as well. Uh, Sarge, Quasi-War?

The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought almost entirely at sea between the United States of America and the French Republic from 1798 to 1800. After the toppling of the French crown during the French Revolutionary Wars, the United States refused to continue repaying its debt to France on the grounds that it had been owed to a previous regime. French outrage led to a series of attacks on American shipping, ultimately leading to retaliation from the Americans and the end of hostilities with the signing of the Convention of 1800 shortly thereafter. W

One of the original six frigates (which included Constitution) gained fame during that little conflict, USS Constellation. She was later rebuilt as a sloop of war/corvette and is currently a museum ship in Baltimore. Old Ironsides gets a lot of the press, but the old Constellation (a 38-gun frigate as designed) did some yeoman work, back in the day.

Scene depicting the action of 9 February 1799, when the USS Constellation (left), commanded by Captain Thomas Truxtun, captured the French frigate L'Insurgente (right).

Ship's bell, USS Merrimac. Yes, that Merrimac.

USS Hartford, David Farragut's flag ship at Mobile Bay.

Off the stern of Hartford is the CSS Tennessee.

Battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864 (1890), by Xanthus Russell Smith.
The monitor ships are CSS Tennessee (left), shown surrendering, and USS Chickasaw (foreground). Admiral Farragut's USS Hartford is right, and USS Winnebago, left.

CSS Tennessee (later USS Tennessee), Admiral Franklin Buchanan's flagship at Mobile Bay.

CSS Virginia, ex-USS Merrimac.

USS Monitor

Ship's bell, USS Hartford

Part of the stern post of the USS Kearsarge

Shot from CSS Alabama embedded in that stern post.

CSS Alabama

USS Kearsarge

USS Kearsarge, a Mohican-class sloop-of-war, is best known for her defeat of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama during the American Civil War. The Kearsarge was the only ship of the United States Navy named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire. Subsequent ships were later named Kearsarge in honor of the ship. W

"The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama" by Édouard Manet

I love this museum and can't wait to get back there and do a more in depth visit. I really have just scratched the surface.

Next time...

USS Olympia (CA 6), Commodore Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay

Oh, they have ship models galore.