We have recently put on display the latest masterwork of museum volunteer Bob Comet, the steel hulled patrol gunboat USS Nashville (PG-7). Bob spent several hundred hours planning, research, and building the model. He included several little details on the ship such as models of the ship's company and the ship's two mascots.
Launched in the early 1890s, Nashville was the first ever warship built by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company. This warship filled a critical gap in the Navy's need for vessels capable of patrolling coastal areas and rivers. She served in every major and many of the minor conflicts of the United States between 1893 and 1920s including the Spanish-American War, the Filipino Insurrection, and World War I.
Bob has built several other models for the museum and is currently working on a model of the War of 1812 brig Niagara. He can be seen at work in the museum's gallery most Tuesdays.