Date Created: c. 1860s
Description: William Francis Lynch was born in Norfolk, 1 April 1801. At age 18, Lynch joined the Navy as a midshipman and became a lieutenant in 1828. Knowledgeable in many areas, including history, religion, botany, geology, and ornithology, he was eager to travel to new places. His pasion, along with a...
Description:
On June 22, 1807, the captain of the British warship Leopard, having been refused permission to search the U.S. frigate Chesapeake for deserters from the Royal Navy, ordered his men to open fire. On board the...
Date Created: C. 1957-1958
Description: Members of Operation Deep Freeze II designed medallions to raise money for building a chapel at Williams Air Operating Base, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. The Roman Catholic version (top left) depicts "Our Lady of the Snows". The Protestant one (top right) has a map of the continent and...
Description: Boatswain's Mate Reuben James served with Stephen Decatur during the Barbary Wars. During the fight to capture an Algerian gunboat, an American seaman placed himself Decatur and an enemy blade. This act of bravery is attributed to Daniel Frazier or to Reuben James, who is pictured here with...
Description:
The New York Chamber of Commerce raised a special subscription to reward Kearsarge's men. In addition to money, each man received a document recognizing his service to the Union cause and American commerce.
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Description: This rock was found in 1971 by Secretary of the Navy John Warner in the Wright Valley of Victoria Land, at the edge of the Merserve Glacier. The boulder's concave surfaces were formed by the grinding action of sand and gravel whirled by glacial streams.
Description: The expedition almost encountered disaster as the boats sped past the ruined bridge of Semakh, shown here in one of Lynch;s report illustrations. On a nearby bank of the river, the men encamped after their first day traveling on the Jordan River.
Description: The first battle between ironclads was sensational news. On March 22, 1862, Scientific American not only devoted several pages to the Battle of Hampton Roads, but also described the construction of both ships and provided an editorial on Monitor's success.
Description: On June 6, 1850, a boarding party from the brig USS Perry seized the slaver Martha just hours after she loaded a cargo of 1,800 Africans from Angola. Martha's skipper first thought Perry to be British, so he hoisted...
Description: This wooden figurehead from the early 19th century bears a striking resemblance to the Prince Regent, who later became King George IV. The two decorations on his chest are the Order of St. George and the Star of the Order of the Garter.
Description: The popularity of William Lynch's Narrative of the United States' Expedition of the dead Sea encouraged the U.S. Navy to continue scientific explorations. Access to more maps enabled safer passge through the areas explored and made things easier for military and civilian travelers.
Description: With silt constantly changing the depth of the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and adjacent waters, the boat's sailors would have often used this weight attached to a line to learn where the boat could go without grounding and to determine the composition of the bottom.
Date Created: June 6, 1767
Description: The legend cast into the breech ring of this Spanish 12-pounder gun shows that it was made at Barcelona on 6 June 1767. The royal cipher on the first reinforce is translated C III R, or Carolus III Rex, for Charles III, King of Spain form 1759 to 1788. Like many Continental guns, this one has an...
Date Created: March 28, 1795
Description: This Spanish 12-pounder, is named GENEROSO (Generous), presumably for its readiness to dispense its iron favors. Cast at Barcelona on 28 March 1795, it bears the serial number 2673 on the breech ring. A large elevated vent piece has been added at some time after the manufacture, and the vent field...
Date Created: November 21, 1803
Description: This 12-pounder, made at Barcelona on 21 November 1803, is slightly shorter than No. 14 and lacks a vent astragal and chase girdle; handles have also been omitted. A prominent vertical cutaway in the breech face, to the right of the cascabel knob, took a rear sight; three semicircular recesses at...
Date Created: May 1, 1767
Description: This Barcelona 12-pounder is EL TORO (The Bull), made on 1 May 1767. A V-notch rear sight is cast into the breech ring, with a small front sight blade on the swell of the muzzle. This simple arrangement indicates the importance of point-blank firing in the age of smoothbore gunnery. EL TORO passed...
Date Created: July 6, 1767
Description: This 12-pounder, EL TOSICO (The Poisonous One), is dated 6 July 1767. Like EL TORO, it was made for King Charles III and displays his cipher on the first reinforce. It was also a Mexican War trophy, and as an inscription on the breech face indicates - was lost and recovered at the Norfolk Naval...
Date Created: 1788
Description: This can, appropriately, be called a "Decatur gun." No. 10 is a Spanish 27-pounder gun, cast at Barcelona in 1788 for King Charles III; it armed a gunboat captured in hand-to-hand combat by Decatur at Tripoli on 3 August 1804. Named CAMILLO (the Christian name Camillus), this Spanish gun...
Date Created: 1788
Description: This can, appropriately, be called a "Decatur gun." No. 13 is a Spanish 27-pounder gun, cast at Barcelona in 1788 for King Charles III; it armed a gunboat captured in hand-to-hand combat by Decatur at Tripoli on 3 August 1804. Named CORZO (the male roe deer, with the connotation of...
Date Created: 1829
Description: This piece, cast at Seville on 8 January 1829, was originally made as a 12-pounder smoothbore along the line of No.15. At a later date, it was converted to a 4.75-inch muzzle-loading rifle, a common expedient here and abroad in the mid-19th century when many old smoothbore guns were so modified. As...
Date Created: 1686
Description: This is the oldest piece in Leutze Park, a Spanish 6-pounder saker cast by Andres Melendez in 1686 for King Charles II (1665-1700), whose arms it bears in high relief on the first reinforce. The founder's name appears around the neck of the muzzle; the gun is named, as many period guns were....
Date Created: November 13, 1782
Description: This 6.5-inch Spanish howitzer was made on 13 November 1782 at Barcelona. Its prominent vent piece has two holes tapped in each side, possibly a vent cover. Trunnion markings give its weight as the equivalent of 726.01 English pounds, and refer to its material as bronzes viejos (old bronzes; that...
Date Created: December 3, 1767
Description: This 9-pounder is contemporary of Nos. 17 and 18, and it was made at Barcelona on 3 December 1767. COBRE... DE...AMERICA...on the left trunnion means that its founder used copper from the rich Spanish mines of Chile. Its PESO CASO (peso Castellano, Castilian weight) is marked on the right trunnion...
Date Created: December 18, 1790
Description: Bearing the proper name CAMBERNON, this 9-pounder of Charles IV (1788-1808) was cast on 18 December 1790. Though 23 years newer then EL GALGO, its lines are virtually identical. Trunnion markings show that it, too, was made from Chilean copper and weighs 1387.56 pounds.
Date Created: 1490
Description: This bronze, breech-loading 8-pounder gun was made in Spain in 1490. Conquistador Hern
Description: USS Hartford became David Farragut's flagship on January 28, 1862. She took part in the Battle of Mobile Bay, assisting in the capture of Tennessee, and continued to serve the Union cause until the end of the war.
Description: A part of the propulsion system, batteries were vital to the functioning of diesel-electric submarines. They supplied electricity for the propeller and periscopes, as well as for air circulation and interior lighting while a submarine was submerged. When the submarine cruised on the surface, the...
Date Created: C. 1940s
Description: Submarine Squadron 8 operated in the Pacific Ocean in World War II. At times based in Pearl Harbor, Midway and Brisbane Bay, the squadron's submarines hunted enemy ships off New Guinea, the Bismarck and Solomon Islands. Its base provided refits and services to other submarines patrolling the...
Date Created: C. 1940s
Description: During World War II this valve flushed the toilet when the submarine was submerged. First the crew member woyld determine that no air pressue existed in the system. The he would open the water valve to fill the bowl. When finished he opened a vent to start the disposal process. Next he pulled the...
Description: Abdul Mejid became the sultan of the Ottoman Empire in 1839. He was a reformer and tried to improve the lives of citizens of all clases through fair taxation, equal rights, and religious freedom, while enduring interference from foreign ambassadors in international affairs. Before proceeding with...
Date Created: C. 1847
Description: This entry from the log book of storeship Supply marks the date the ship left the New York harbor on 27 November 1847.
Description: In an irony of the War of 1812, the U.S. flotilla surgeon, Thomas Hamilton, purchased part of his medical kit from the Sheffield, England, firm of Hague and Nowill. Hamilton kept his instruments in a while pine field kit.
Description: The lugger Surprize (Captain Gustavus Conyngham) was purchased at Dunkirk, France, and outfitted as a Continental cruiser. Under the guise of a smuggler she sailed on May 1, 1777. Two days later in the English Channel, Conyngham seized Prince of Orange, a...
Description:
The Battle of Lake Borgne was an essential prelude to the American victory in the Battle of New Orleans. A large British fleet, carrying about 10,000 troops, anchored east of Lake Borgne on December 9, 1814. According to plan, the British would move...
Description: In this lithograph of the action on September 10, 1813, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship, Lawrence, is crippled by heavy British gunfire. Perry and his 12-year-old brother are rowed through heavy fire to the Niagara. With this ship, Perry breaks...
Description: Fatally rammed by Virginia, the sloop Cumberland fired futilely on the ironclad until rising waters forced the crew to abandon the guns.
Description: Citation: On board the flagship USS Hartford, during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. Although a patient in the sick bay, O'Connell voluntarily reported at his station at the shell...
Description: Born on Long Island in 1755, Thomas Truxtun went to sea at the age of 12. Three years later, he was snatched from the deck of a merchant ship and impressed on board a British man-of-war. Truxtun was promised advancement if he would remain in the Royal Navy, but he obtained his release and returned...
Date Created: c. 1800s
Description: This Chinese porcelain punch bowl was made for Commodore Thomas Truxtun who served in the Revolution and went on to become the first captain of the USS Constellation in 1798. While a merchant in Philadelphia, Truxtun ordered this monogrammed bowl and one almost identical to it...
Date Created: C. 1940s
Description: In World War II, submarines used a torpedo data computer (TDC) to calculate their firing solutions. The TDC recorded the submarines course and speed. Once an enemy ship was spotted, the periscope was raised and bearing were taken of its position. Later, radar also helped establish the coordinates...
Description: The expedition reached Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee on 7 April five days out of Acre. Badly damaged in an earthquake in 1837, the town showed few signs of prosperity. To Lieutenant William F. Lynch, his stay was unfortunately memorable for a flea infection of his hotel bed.
Date Created: 1858
Description: This is a U.S. Army 24-pounder howitzer, made from an 1844 model. Markings on its trunnions show that it was made at Boston in 1858 by Cyrus Alger and Company. The initials B.H. on the muzzle face are those of Major Benjamin Huger, then an inspector of ordnance for the Army and later a major...
Description: For decades Holland labored to produce a workable engine-powered submarine. Success finally came in 1898 when Holland, which revolutionized undersea warfare. The Navy purchased and commissioned the boat in 1900 after it passed a rigorous set of tests. The boat served as a training craft during her...
Description: The Navy, inspired by German successes with the V-2 rocket and experimentation with an underwater V-2 launching system in World War II, worked to develop conventional and nuclear ballistic missile systems for American submarines. Under Vice Admiral William Raborn's direction, a 130-foot...
Description: As a military observerfor the United Nations mission to Liberia, Lieutenant David Augustin, based at the Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., patrolled a remote northwest corner of Liberia from January through July 2008. His unit, Team 6 Voinjama, met with local town leaders to...
Description: The protruding timber, called a cathead, on each side of the ship near the bow served as part of the anchor gear and in the rigging of the bowsprit sail. At the end of this beam rested a decorative carving of a lion's face. This ornamental woodcarving traces its history back to the English...
Description: Simple pieces of iron hardware, eyebolts served many essential functions on board warships like Hartford. They acted as guides or anchors for standing and running rigging on ships and their boats. The cables attached to gun carriages and ship bulwarks were tied to eyebolts,...
Description: An authentic watch bell from the frigate USS Merrimack, built in Boston Navy Yard and commissioned in 1856. During her years of service in the United States Navy, the ship traveled to the West Indies and to Europe as well as the Pacific coast of South and Central America. In 1861...
Description: This piece, mounted on the eastern entrance to Leutze Park, is a Venetian 5.75-inch bronze howitzer captured during the Barbary Wars. On the second reinforce is a winged lion, its paws resting on an open book. This is the ancient symbol of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of Venice. The...