Smoke Break Aboard USS Cumberland

The Naval Museum's USS Cumberland collection houses six different smoking pipes, all of different shapes and sizes. Most of the pipes shown in these photographs are made of clay. Clay pipes were simple to make, easily customized into different shapes, and affordable for enlisted sailors. Two of the pipes in the museum's collection have words on them; however, we are not sure if these words mark the name of the manufacturer or of the sailor to whom the pipes belonged. The names do not appear on Cumberland's roster from the day she sank. There is also one pipe with an oyster shell in it. Since the ship’s destruction, oysters have formed large colonies on Cumberland’s wreck.

During the Civil War, sailors liked to smoke in order to pass the time. In the 1860s, Americans still frequently used snuff boxes, but pipe tobacco use in the U.S. Navy increased significantly during this time period. A mid-19th century writer described the smoke pipe culture when he wrote, "Then you wish to hear something about tobacco and the way people use it? Well, light your pipe, give me a match for mine, and sit down here in the shade, and I will tell you what observations I have made at home and abroad."

In more than one Civil War memoir, writers mentioned that during their downtime, they would light a pipe and stare at the endless ocean. Raphael Semmes, commanding officer of CSS Sumter and Alabama, ensured his sailors' tobacco pouches were never empty. He would take tobacco from a captured ship and distribute it among his company. When Alabama was in port, U.S. diplomats frequently tried to convince Semmes' sailors to desert the Confederate cause by offering them lavish amounts of smoking tobacco.

Surprisingly, the Navy did make attempts to persuade people to stop smoking during the Civil War. The Navy Journal, a 19th-century sailor's magazine, implored: "Indeed, smoking is a vile, barbarous habit, which ought not to be tolerated in a civilized community. We beg that our readers who are slaves to this unnatural propensity, will read the following extract, AND SMOKE NO MORE." After the war, doctors at the Naval Academy noticed that some midshipmen smoked so much that the doctors feared it would permanently damage the midshipmen's ability to think and function before they reached the Fleet. Nevertheless, given the number of pipes on board Cumberland and the fact that the grog ration was on its way out, those words and other warnings fell on deaf ears.

The Hunt for Dead October 2012

On Friday evening, October 26, from 6-9pm, HRNM will host our family-friendly Halloween program, "The Hunt for Dead October." This is a yearly program that is always FREE of charge!

One participant at last year's event has her face painted and her skeleton scavenger hunt completed!

We will have a number of craft activities to do, including: make a ship wheel inside a giant inflatable whale; take part in the skeleton scavenger hunt; create your own puppet; and much more. In addition, this year we are featuring the Blue Jacket Puppet Play, "The Revenge of Bartholomew." See below for the first trailer for this puppet show.

Questions about the program? Contact Laura at laura.l.orr@navy.mil or 757-322-3108. We hope to see you at HRNM on October 26 for this fun program!

Bombardment of Fort Fisher, by James Madison Alden



This print is entitled Bombardment of Fort Fisher. The lengthy subtitle reads, "By U.S. Naval Forces under command of Rear Admiral D.D. Porter just previous to the assault of the Military and Naval forces under the command of Major General A.H. Terry, January 15, 1865.  To the Gallant Officers and Men with valor and skill that secured the Victory, the Print is respectfully dedicated by the Publisher."

Drawn by James Madison Alden and published by the New York City-based print shop William Endicott and Company (the same company that published the museum's USS Minnesota print), the print currently hangs in the museum's Civil War gallery.  It depicts the second major bombardment conducted by the massive U.S. Fleet in preparation for a major ground assault by 10,000 Union Soldiers of Terry's XXIII Corps and 2,000 volunteer Sailors and Marines from the fleet.  The print is centered around the Confederate batteries at Fort Fisher's "Mound Battery," located on the Southern end of the fort. From this vantage point, the viewer can see the entire length of the fort and appreciate the large number of ships the U.S. Navy brought to subdue it. Read more about this epic battle here.



Alden's work is rare in the respect that the vast majority of other images portraying the battle show it from the fleet side, looking at the fort from the outside. It is also unique in another respect. Throughout his career as an artist, cartographer, and executive assistant to Admiral David Dixon Porter, Alden painted over 670 works. Bombardment of Fort Fisher is the only one of Alden's works that has people in it, and is the only one that portrays a battle. A third factor that makes this illustration rare is that Alden only sold a few of his private works to the public. 

This is a typical  Battle of Fort Fisher illustration, with the fleet
in front and the fort toward the back.  This one was sketched
by T.F. Laycock and published by William Endicott.

 

As an artist, Alden specialized in sweeping landscape watercolors. He developed a talent for this while serving on the U.S. Boundary Commission expedition from 1857 to 1860. Charged with working with British Royal Engineers, the Commission's job was to finalize the exact location of the U.S.-Canadian border. Alden provided illustrations of important geographical landmarks that could be cross-referenced on a map. (Many of those works can be seen here). One art historian noted that Alden's training as a cartographer led him to reject the up-and-coming European schools of 19th century art, such as Romanticism and Impressionism. Rather, Alden believed his paintings should accurately portray the subject without the artist adding his own interpretation.  

Educating Sailors Throughout History

On Thursday, September 20, at 6pm, HRNM is hosting a program about the Navy's use of graphic novels as training tools. But to understand how the Navy began to use such a non-traditional format for teaching sailors, one must look back through history to see how the Navy has trained sailors in the past. Participants in the graphic novels program will view a small, temporary exhibit about the Navy's various ways of training over the years. Here is a preview of one exhibit panel about how the Navy trained sailors in the 20th century. If you're a former (or current) sailor and experienced any of these forms of training, comment and let us know your thoughts!

 The 1921 graduating class in front of Electrician.

During the 20^th century, sailors trained through hands-on experience, training manuals, and via experienced sailors. Most notably, the Bluejacket’s Manual was first issued in 1902. Additionally, the Navy recognized the need for establishing training schools around the country, including the training school at Naval Operating Base Norfolk (now Naval Station Norfolk). Norfolk’s training school included a full-scale ship, the Electrician, on which sailors trained for electrical work and other tasks. Electrician did everything except float.

Training films became popular in the 1940s. 

A couple decades later, the US Navy took advantage of motion pictures by creating training films. The Navy’s films trained sailors on a variety of subjects, including aircraft carrier flight deck safety, hygiene, escaping from disabled submarines, recovering sailors who have fallen overboard, landing aboard an aircraft carrier, firing gun turrets, and many other topics. Many of these films have survived to the present-day, including the ones you'll be able to watch at HRNM on Thursday evening, September 20. RSVP to laura.l.orr@navy.mil today for this FREE program! 

USS Winslow Model-1898 Torpedo Boat

This is a ship model of the torpedo boat USS Winslow (Torpedo Boat Number 5), currently on display in the museum's Spanish-American War gallery.  The late Bob Comet scratch-built the model over a period of two years (in other words, he did not use any prefabricated parts or plans).  Except for the smoke stacks and conning towers, the model is made entirely of wood.  The stacks and towers are made of brass.  The model won a silver medal at the Mariners' Museum's ship model contest in 1999.

The warship itself was part of a program to provide the U.S. Navy with squadrons of small warships to bring needed balance to a fleet made largely of big armored cruisers and battleships.  The program was more of a crash course instead of a well-thought-out doctrine, as the United States was the last major Navy to adopt a torpedo boat-building program.  Many navies had already begun working on large torpedo boat destroyers, the next logical step in the program.

The actual Winslow was built in Baltimore and based at Norfolk Navy Yard.  She displaced only 143 tons and was equipped with small one-pounder rifles and three torpedo tubes.  You will notice that the model is painted a dark olive green.  Most U.S. Navy warships during this time period had two different color schemes: a white/mustard yellow scheme during times of peace and a slate gray scheme during times of war.  For American torpedo boats, the hull was always painted a dark olive green color year-round.  This color made the boats stand out, and gave their company a sense of elan.  With a low free board, no armor plating, and the need to close to within 200 yards of a target, it took a very brave sailor to serve on an American torpedo boat.  Before the days of Naval aviators and Navy SEALS, torpedo boat sailors were the elite of the fleet (at least they thought so).   

During the Spanish-American War, Winslow served with a squadron of four ships blockading the northern Cuban port of Cardenas.  During this blockade, the squadron commodore decided it would be a good idea to assault the town.  The assault went badly as Spanish coast defense gunners had already mapped out the harbor.  Several Spanish shells found their mark and disabled Winslow.  The USRC Hudson steamed over and towed Winslow out.  Read more the dramatic rescue in The Daybook, Volume 14 Issue 4.

Actual USS Winslow, 1898

HMS Shannon-USS Chesapeake Print

This is a colored print of the epic battle between the Norfolk-built frigate USS Chesapeake and British frigate HMS Shannon that occurred on June 1, 1813 off the coast of Boston.   The engraving can be seen in the museum's gallery.  On the illustration are the words "To Captain Broke, the Officers, Seaman of the Shannon-This view of their boarding & capturing of the American frigate Chesapeake of Boston, the 1st of June, 1813, after a sanguinary conflict of 15 minutes, is with great respect, dedicated to them and admirers of British Valor. (Signed) G. Webster."

"G. Webster" refers to architect, stonemason, and artist George Webster of London (specifically, according to writing on the print, "21 White Lion Street, Pettionville").  He produced the original sketch of this illustration.  Webster nominally made his living working alongside his father and brother rebuilding mansions, churches, and parks in the western part of England.   He also had a talent for drawing, and the Royal Navy was one of his favorite subjects.  For this image of Chesapeake and Shannon, he worked with Sir Captain Charles L. Falkiner to ensure accuracy.   Falkiner was one of Shannon' senior officers and one of the officers who led boarding teams over to Chesapeake.

Webster turned over the original sketch to Joseph Jeakes, also of London, to colorize the illustration and reproduce the print in color. For this print,  Jeakes used the aquatint technique of printmaking.  Widely used in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the process is used to create vivid color reproductions. The resulting collaboration between Webster and Jeakes produced a graphic depiction of the battle that accurately captures the violence of the battle in a way that other similar prints have not.

Having assembled one of the best-trained ship's companies in the world, Shannon's commanding officer Captain  Philip Bowes Vere Broke led his crew to a deceive victory over Chesapeake and took the American frigate by boarding her.   Despite the American captain uttering the legendary phrase "Don't Give Up the Ship!," the British did capture the ship and scored the greatest victory of the Royal Navy over the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812.  Even though the battle was short, casualities were very high and it was one of the bloodiest single ship actions in the Age of Sail. Read more about the battle here.

Sailors Training For Land Battles, 1915

These pictures show recruits at Norfolk’s St. Helena Naval Training Station, 1915.  The sailors are conducting a series of drills and mock battles for the public.  For much of its early history, the Navy frequently assembled Sailors from the ship’s company and a ship’s Marine detachment into armed landing parties.  By World War I, the Navy was training sailors at shore installations in the latest doctrines in small arms tactics.    The Sailors operating under guidelines set for by the Landing Force and Small Arms Tactics manual.  First published in 1905, the manual closely followed the U.S. Army’s Infantry Drill Regulations.  Among other pieces of advice, the Navy’s manual provided instructions on how to climb a wall as a group, how to handle unarmed mobs, and how to clear a street riot.   With the onset of World War I, the Navy updated the manual and renamed it the Landing Force Manual.  It remained in print through the 1950s.

Sailors in these pictures are using the Lee Straight Pull Rifle (formally known as the “Lee Rifle, Model of 1895, caliber 6-mm”).  Though the Navy had adopted the more modern Winchester Springfield rifle by 1915, the Lee Rifle was still being used by training platoons.  The artillery gun is believeved to be a 3-inch field gun.

St. Helena Naval Training Station was located in the Berkley section of Norfolk, across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk Naval Shipyard.  The Navy stood up the facility in the 1890s as a boot camp for Navy recruits.  The facility was soon considered to be too small to accommodate the thousands of new recruits needed for World War I.  By 1917, the recruits were moved to the new Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads (modern-day Naval Station Norfolk).