Naval Aviator Monument Ready for Take-Off
The first of five figures in the new Naval Aviator-Monument—a World War II ace—has a sponsor. Donald Rumsfeld is backing the memorial in honor of his father, an officer on board a World War II carrier in the South Pacific. Rumsfeld himself was a naval aviator (1954-57) and served as the youngest Secretary of Defense (1975- 1977) in U.S. history.
His $200,000 sponsorship has started an 18-month clock ticking that will complete the monument. It should be complete by early 1995 and unveiled at a ceremony in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. After going on a nationwide tour, it will be dedicated finally at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. The other four figures in the Monument represent the eras World War I, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam, and Desert Storm. Sponsorships for the remaining four figures are still available.
Orders are now being taken for signed, limited-edition two-foot-tall replicas. Color brochures are available, and an unlimited series of nine-inch-tall figures will be available at a later date. For more information, call the Museum Gift Shop at 800-AIR-NAVY.
Happy Birthday, Navy
March marks the bicentennial of the Navy Act of 1794, which authorized construction of the first six warships of the Federal Navy and in effect reestablished the U.S. Navy after it was disbanded following the defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War.
The Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C., and the “Old Ironsides” Bicentennial Foundation based in Boston have coordinated a package of events to commemorate the 200th anniversary of this landmark piece of legislation. Ceremonies are planned for the week of 21 March 1994 in Washington, D.C., and in the six cities where the frigates were constructed: Baltimore (Constellation), Boston (Constitution), Philadelphia (United States), Portsmouth, New Hampshire (Congress), Portsmouth, Virginia (Chesapeake), and New York (President).
Baltimore will host a celebration slated for 1300 on 27 March, featuring the Fort McHenry Guards reenactment group, various speeches, and refreshments, at the city’s Inner Harbor.
In a ceremony planned for Capitol Hill in Washington on the 21st, congressional leaders will present to officials of the Navy Department a joint proclamation formally commemorating the passage of the Navy Act of 1794. Likewise, local committees have slated programs of events for the other five port cities.
For more information, contact the Naval Historical Center at 202- 433-4201.
Pacific Conference Draws Vets and Historians
The victorious Allied campaign against Japan from August 1942 through August 1945 will be the focus of a three-day World War II in the Pacific Conference scheduled for 10 to 12 August at the Crystal City Hyatt Regency Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The gathering will feature historical discussions, contemporary films, displays, and book exhibits focusing on this dramatic clash of arms that so influenced the 20th century. Special tours, receptions, luncheons, and a banquet are also planned.
Speakers include veterans from all branches of the service, naval and military historians, and veterans and scholars from Japan, Australia, Great Britain, and Canada. The conference is sponsored jointly by the Naval Historical Center, the Naval Historical Foundation, the Marine Corps Association, the Marine Corps Historical Center, the Marine Corps Historical Foundation, the U.S. Naval Institute, the American Society of Naval Engineers, and the Naval Order of the United States. For details about the program, write to the Senior Historian, Naval Historical Center, 901 M Street SE, Washington, DC 20374-5060. For registration information, call Sally Cook, Meeting Coordinator, at 703-836-6727.
—L. Stallings
A Great Endeavour Down Under
A replica of Captain James Cook’s legendary ship, HM Bark Endeavour, recently slid down the ways during her launching in Fremantle, Australia. Though he was not the first to “discover” Australia and New Zealand, Captain Cook’s extraordinary 1768-1771 voyage in the Endeavour contributed significantly to navigational, biological, and geographical knowledge of that region. He also made enormous contributions to seamanship in general and is considered to be one of the greatest explorers in maritime history.
The Endeavour is one of the largest wooden sailing ships ever built in Australia. Her keel was laid in 1988, and she will be completely rigged and commissioned this spring.
After sea trials, the ship will operate out of Fremantle before undertaking her maiden voyage to Sydney. The Endeavour will adorn the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbor (near Sydney) and may visit other Australian capital cities. Plans are also in the works for her to sail to Britain, retracing the route of Cook’s homeward voyage, visiting Queensland ports and Darwin en route to her berth at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.
While in the United Kingdom, the Endeavour will be on public display in the Thames River and likely will visit Whitby in Yorkshire, where the original ship was built more than two centuries ago. She then goes on to Plymouth, where she will depart on a reenactment of her historic voyage to the Pacific and Australia.
The final cost of the ship is estimated at $16 million, a far cry from her origin- al $6,500. She was a three-masted collier bark, or coal carrier, easily converted for a scientific expedition and voyage of discovery. She was 110 feet long with a 30-foot beam, and she displaced 550 tons. The original vessel was much more crowded, with 90 crew members on board. Today, her crew numbers 36.
The charitable, nonprofit Endeavour Foundation must maintain a fund for the operation, maintenance, and support of the vessel—to the tune of $4,000 a day. The government may eventually take over her costs as a museum, but for now, smart merchandising will keep her afloat. More than 500,000 visitors have paid admission so far. For more information, write HM Bark Endeavour Foundation Pty. Ltd., A.C.N. 050 101 276, P.O. Box 1099, 1 Mews Road, Fremantle, W.A. 6160, call 61-9-336- 1399, or fax 61-9-335-7959.
Annapolis is the Place
Maintaining a mix of history and discussion of current issues, the U.S. Naval Institute will examine the Normandy Invasion, the Downsizing from Desert Storm, and the Future of the Service Academies at its Fourth Annapolis Seminar on 27-28 April. The U.S. Naval Institute also will hold its 120th Annual Meeting and honor award winners. For more details see the ad on the inside back cover or call 1-800-233-8764.
Up the Slot and Time of the Aces
Two new monographs commemorate the 50th anniversary of World War II.
Up the Slot: Marines in the Central Solomons, by Major Charles D. Melson, USMC (Ret.), tells of the New Georgia campaign, where Marine raiders, defense battalion troops, and Army units fought jungle terrain and the enemy to capture Japan’s newly built strategic Munda airfield.
Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944, by Commander Peter B. Mersky, USNR, details the exploits of Marine pilots, as well as Army Air Corps and Navy aviators, from Guadalcanal to Bougainville. It offers information on aces, Japanese pilots, and World War II aircraft.
Both monographs, published by the History and Museums Division of the Marine Corps Historical Center, contain numerous photographs, drawings, and maps. They can be purchased from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402-9328.
— A. Ferrante
New Ships Join Historic Naval Ships Association
The Historic Naval Ships Association welcomes aboard two new organizations representing the vessels Commander and Le Pelican. A World War I patrol boat, the 62-foot Commander today cruises on the Hudson River out of Highland Falls, New York. But in 1918, she was stationed at the New York Navy Yard helping to fit out submarine chasers and supply the Rockaway Air Station. Le Pelican is home ported on the St. Lawrence River at Montreal and is a replica of Pierre Le Moyne D’Iberville’s flagship. She fought a battle in Hudson Bay in 1697, in what is known in the United States as King William’s War.
The Liberty Memorial Act of 1993 authorized the proceeds from the scrapping of two ships each in the reserve merchant fleet to benefit the Liberty ships Jeremiah O’Brien and John W. Brown, and the Victory ship Lane Victory. All three hope to sail off Normandy, France, on 6 June, to help represent the 7,000 vessels that took part in the D-Day invasion. The Jeremiah O’Brien plans to depart San Francisco on 2 April, to reach England on 19 May, and—in addition to Normandy—to visit Chatham, London, Cherbourg, and Rouen.
The battleship North Carolina (BB-55) has opened a spectacular new permanent exhibit demonstrating the loading of 16-inch shells in the number three turret. The Wilmington, North Carolina, floating museum often offers special activities and programs highlighting the history and workings on board.
At Battleship Cove (Fall River, Massachusetts), the after engine room of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (DD-850), a World War II Gearing (DD-710)-class destroyer, is receiving a complete overhaul. The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. is home to the Admiral Arleigh Burke National Destroyermen’s Museum. Battleship Cove’s star attraction, however, is undoubtedly the battleship Massachusetts (BB-59).
The National Congressional Medal of Honor Museum has opened on the hangar deck of the carrier Yorktown (CV-10) at Patriots Point, South Carolina. Attending the dedication ceremony were 120 recipients of the nation’s highest military honor.
HMCS Haida, homeported at Toronto and known as the “fightingest ship” in the Royal Canadian Navy, celebrated her 50th anniversary and stars in a video about her history, “If Only She Could Talk.” Contact the HMCS Haida Naval Museum, 955 Lakeshore Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 3B9 Canada.
Maryland Attack Group members will do battle with their model ships when the Mid- Atlantic Maritime Festival gets under way in April.
The Blueback (SS-581), a Barbel (SS-580)-class attack submarine launched in 1959, is among the last diesebelectric combat submarines and for a time carried naval officer John H. Dalton, now Secretary of the Navy. The submarine is scheduled soon to become part of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland.
—J. Cheevers
A Lot for Sail at the Mid- Atlantic Maritime Festival
The Mid-Atlantic Maritime Festival is the first event dedicated exclusively to the maritime arts in the United States. The second annual festival is slated for 22 to 24 April in the historic town of Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Featured will be a collection of high- quality paintings from many renowned maritime artists, a display of museum- quality ship models, an exhibit of maritime photography, a gathering of nautical antiques and crafts, concerts, publications, vessels, and seafood. This year’s festival will also feature an exhibit of marine life and will include lectures and demonstrations of ship-model building and painting by the Washington Ship Model Society and members of the Nautical Research Guild, Inc. The U.S. Navy and Merchant Marine will be there exhibiting ship models, and a demonstration of radio- controlled ships on a small pond near the center of town will include the Maryland Attack Group, whose model ships fire guns that hit and sink their opponents. Craftsmen will race the clock to build a 12-foot dory from a pile of wood, screws, and a set of plans.
Proceeds from the festival will benefit neglected and abused children. Admission is $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for children (6-12). A weekend (3-day) pass is $8.00. For more information call Kathy Baker at 410-820-8606, Will Howard at 410-822-5553, or the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce at 410- 822-4606.