PT Boats at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 1942

These are photos of "patrol torpedo" boats (more commonly called "PT" boats) on board the "Liberty"-type cargo ship SS Joseph Stanton at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, August 1942. Specifically shown in the pictures are PT-107, -108, and -109 (not shown is PT-110). All four vessels had just finished shakedown cruises and were on board Joseph Stanton to be transported to Panama and then to the Pacific Theater. All four vessels participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign. PT-109 is easily the most famous of the group. Her commanding officer was Lieutenant (junior grade) John F. Kennedy and the patrol boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer. The crew's survival is one of the great epic stories of the war.

PT boats were the U.S. Navy's solution to fill a critical need for small patrol craft. Armed with two to four torpedoes and several light guns, the vessels served a variety of roles during the war, including as picket patrol vessels, for search and rescue missions, and for raiding. Like torpedo boats of the Steel Navy time period, these vessels required a certain amount of steel nerves to take into combat as the crews often pitted themselves against targets much bigger than themselves. Depending on the contractor, the PT boats came in several different versions. The three boats pictured are labeled "Elco," as they were built by the Elco Naval Division of the Electric Boat Company.

USS Norfolk Builder's Model

By popular demand, we present a picture of the builder's model of the large destroyer-type USS Norfolk (DL-1).  This particular model is made out of wood, and like many builder's models, is extremely simplistic in design.  Only the ship's hull, major weapons, and superstructure are present, and more detailed pieces of equipment, such as sonar, radar, radio masts, and smaller weapons are left off.  The purpose of any builder's model is to serve as a starting point for debate and discussion among stakeholders with the Department of the Navy.  Thus, it is pointless for the model-maker to place certain pieces on the ship when designers had not decided amongst themselves if the ship was going to have 3-inch/70, 3-inch/50, or 5-inch/38 guns as her main battery. 

For many years, this model was located at the quarterdeck for several different local commands, including Commander, Navy Region, Mid-Atlantic.  At the moment, it is in the museum's artifact storage facility.    

This particular model served as an example of a future U.S. Navy warship but also as an example of the future of U.S. Naval surface forces in the post-World War II environment.  Having been tested by opposing air and submarine technologies during the war, U.S. Naval surface forces needed a completely new type of platform to meet future threats.  Norfolk was the Navy's first attempt to make such a platform. 

Navy Put 'Em Across- USN World War I Enlistment Poster

This is a World War I U.S. Navy recruitment poster by famed artist Henry Reuterdahl that is currently on display in our World War I gallery.  The painting is one of Reuterdahl's most popular works.  With the sailor carrying a U.S. Army "Doughboy," his Springfield rifle, and gear, and the words "The Navy Put 'Em Across," the work is also very popular with active-duty and retired Sailors.  It should be noted, however, that Reuterdahl never intended the work to be a jab at the Army. 

What Reuterdahl did intend was to get young men to enlist in the U.S. Navy.  When he produced this work, he convinced artists such as James Flagg and Howard Chandler Christy to produce enlistment posters as well.  Flagg and Christy were both at first reluctant to produce work for the military.  With Reuterdahl's persuasion, they agreed.  The result was legendary works such as Flagg's I Want You and Christy's Gee I Wish I Were a Man, I'd Join the Navy! 

By 1917, Reuterdahl was already an accomplished artist and commentator of all things related to the  U.S. Navy.  When he first came to the United States from his home country of Sweden in 1893 to cover the Colombian Exposition for a Swedish magazine,  he was awestruck by U.S. Naval warships.  He decided to remain in America and made a living as a contract artist for many of America's leading weekly magazines.  He produced many of his works on the Spanish-American War and the Great White Fleet from his own eyewitness viewpoint.  As a writer, he served as a co-editor with British naval writer Fred Janes to roll out the Jane's Fighting Ships series of naval warship guides. You can read more about Reuterdahl's life and his art style in Volume 12 Issue 3 of The Daybook.

Norfolk's Land-Locked Warship

From our collection, we present two group photos standing at attention in front of a large wooden battleship at Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads (now Naval Station Norfolk). The first photo (above) is a company of electrician's mate sailors who just graduated from the base's electrician school.   The second photo (below) shows the band from a Washington, D.C.-based Boy Scouts of America troop.  Not much is known about the band's visit to the base and any assistance would be greatly appreciated. 

In the early part of the 1900s, the Navy had to keep up with the rapidly changing field of wireless communications and electronics.  To meet the demand, it established several electrican schools across the country. The school at NOB Hampton Roads took its education program a few steps farther to provide true hands-on training.  It built a first of its kind simulator: a 3/4-scale model of a Pennsylvania-class battleship out of wood with all the bells and whistles of a real battleship (except for the ordnance!).  Christened USS Electrician, the land-locked warship became a popular backdrop for pictures. 

Naval Station Norfolk's electrician school is still operating today in the same building that it operated out of at the time of these two photos (near McClure Field).  Additionally, the Navy continues to use mock warships to provide real world training in critical areas such as damage control and engineering.  One well-known simulator is USS Buttercup.

1862 "Views of Norfolk and Portsmouth" Engraving

This is an engraving entitled, "Views of Norfolk and Portsmouth from the U.S. Naval Hospital."  It is currently on display in the museum's Civil War gallery.  At first glance, the print appears to be an illustration of the two cities and the Portsmouth Naval Hospital (at right) as they appeared before the war.  After all, everything looks calm and peaceful with U.S. Naval warships at anchor and people going about their daily routine. Upon closer inspection, however, the printmaker issued the work in 1862, the year Union forces occupied the region and when Confederate forces put the Gosport Navy Yard to the torch. One would expect to see a bit more evidence of the war in the print.

When one compares this print with the one below, we get an answer to why the print's looks are deceiving.  The printmaker took an older print (the one below), redrew the same city scenes, scratched out the civilian ships, and replaced them with U.S. Navy ships. 

The print-making firm of Edwars Sachse and Company of Baltimore drew, colored-in, and published both prints.  Sachse and his artists specialized in accurate urban landscapes and building scenes in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., like this one of Norfolk and Portsmouth.  The firm published prints of various parts of Washington, D.C., Fort Monroe, the Virginia Military Institute, the University of Virginia, and the U.S. Capitol, among many others.  Many of their drawings are "bird's eye" or "aerial views" that gave the viewer a spectacular three-dimensional view.  The firm's print of Baltimore is considered to be its finest.  According to one art historian, Sachse's artists spent three years drawing nothing but buildings in Baltimore to construct the print.  Like many 19th-century lithographers and other forms of mass-produced art, Sachse was originally from Prussia, the birthplace of lithography.  He emigrated to the United States in the 1840s. 

The tag line, "Published,  C. Bohn, 681 Penn. Ave, D.C. and Old Point Comfort," also appears on the print.  Bohn appears to have been Sachse's marketing agent and writer.  It does not appear that he was an artist.  His most notable work is an 1856 tourist's guide to Washington, D.C. called Bohn's Hand-book of Washington, D.C.

Gearing Up for War at Norfolk Naval Shipyard

This two-page photo spread appeared in the September 1, 1941, issue of Life magazine. The photos show a busy Norfolk Naval Shipyard shortly before America's official entry into World War II.  The photograph specifically shows the Yard's Pier Number 3, and the photographer took the picture from Building 163.

At the far left are USS Texas (BB-35) and USS Ranger (CV-4).  Two unidentified destroyers (possibly USS Rowan (DD-405) and Stack (DD-406)) sit in front of Texas.  The Presidental yacht/ex-U.S. Coast Guard cutter USS Potomac (AG-25) is docked in front of Ranger.  The pre-World War I and hard working ocean tug/ex-U.S. Coast Guard cutter USS Acushnet (AT-63) sits at right, awaiting her next job.   At the time, Norfolk  Naval Shipyard was also building the battleship Alabama (BB-60) and repairing the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, along with several other projects. 

Appearing in the same issue of Life was the above picture of 14-inch gun barrels from Texas.  The barrels had just been removed from the battleship and were awaiting transport to be re-sleeved.  Looming over them is Norfolk Navy Yard's distinctive "Hammerhead" crane.

Battle of Malvern Hill Engraving

This is a colored, woodcut engraving of the U.S. Navy's James River Flotilla supporting the Army of the Potomac during the July 1-2, 1862 Battle of Malvern Hill.  It shows the ironclads USS Galena and Monitor, along with the wooden gunboats USS Jacob Bell and Mahaska at a section of the James River known as Turkey Point.  This engraving is in the museum's Civil War gallery. This illustration is widely used by many museums and media sources to show the Navy's involvement in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign.

Prominent English-born artist Charles Parson produced the original sketch and then handed it over to the Anglo-American print firm of Virtue, Yorston & Company out of New York.  Parson's talents as an artist were in high demand in the mid-19th century.  He worked for several of the nation's leading print shops, including Endicott & Company; Currier & Ives; and Virture, Yortson & Company.  In 1863, Harper's Weekly hired him as chief artist and he remained there for several years.  He in turn mentored several up-and-coming artists, including Winslow Homer. 

While the print makes a fine addition to one's living room, it does not do much for the historian.  Parson produced the illustration without the benefit of an eyewitness sketch. Compare this illustration to a Harper's Weekly engraving of the same event (above).  The Harper's Weekly engraving was based on an eyewitness drawing from an unknown Naval officer.  Notice there are only two ships, Galena and Mahaska.  However, one shouldn't be too hard on Parsons.  All four ships were present during this final phase of the campagin and participated in covering the Army of the Potomac's retreat at different phases of the battle.

Ship's Bell- USS Merrimack/CSS Virginia

This a ship's bell  used on the ironclad CSS Virginia when Confederate forces converted the ship.  It is on display in the museum's Civil War gallery.   Inscribed on the bell are the words, "Bell from Ironclad Merrimack."  The bell is one of three different bells with a claim to the ship.  The other two are with the Museum of the Confederacy and the National Museum of the United States Navy.

Ship bells from this time period were very similar to bells used for civilian purposes (such as church bells).  They were cast with an alloy appropriately called "bell metal." This alloy was a mixture of 67% to 75% copper and 25% to 33% tin, depending on the size of the bell.  The smaller the bell, the more tin the metallurgist used. 

In the late 19th to early 20th century, however, the U.S. Navy moved away from this formula and toward "admiralty" or "naval" brass in many of its bells.  This formula uses at least 69% copper, 30% zinc, and only 1% tin.  This alloy has far better corrosion prevention properties, which would be particularly important for a bell exposed to salty ocean water year-round. 

This particular bell is on loan from the Chrysler Museum of Art.  Before it became the art museum that it is today, Chrysler used to be the City of Norfolk's museum for science, industry, and local history.  In his book Ironclad Down: The USS Merrimack-CSS Virginia from Construction to Destruction, Carl Park told the story of this bell.  In short, it was salvaged from Virginia in the 1870s; given to St. Paul's Church in Portsmouth, VA; cracked and melted in a fire that ravaged Portsmouth in 1907; sold to a scrap dealer in Baltimore; rescued by vigilant citizen; handed down through family members; and eventually donated to the City of Norfolk's museum.  Of course, Park also notes that the bell could be a fake. The woman who allegedly rescued the bell recorded having a reproduction of Virginia's bell cast in Baltimore from scrap metal allegedly from the ironclad.

Looking at the bell itself provides evidence that lends credence to its being original.  On the side of the bell, you will notice that the metal seems melted as if it had been in a fire.  However, we welcome other opinions and ideas!