The U.S. Navy Museum is one of ten official Navy museums,[1] and is part of the Naval History & Heritage Command, the official history program of the United States Navy.
The U.S. Navy Museum was established in 1961 and opened to the public in 1963. As one of 15 Navy museums throughout the country, it is the only one that presents an overview of U. S. naval history. Permanent and temporary exhibitions commemorate the Navy's wartime heroes and battles as well as its peacetime contributions in exploration, diplomacy, space flight, navigation and humanitarian service.
Known for 40 years as the U.S. Navy flagship museum, The U.S. Navy Museum celebrates a legacy of educating the public. In the tradition of its predecessors on the Washington Navy Yard beginning in 1865, the current museum features a collection that dates from 1800. The museum's collection moved twice before Admiral Arleigh Burke established the current museum, Building 76, in 1963 to create an American naval history museum comparable to those in Europe. The U.S. Navy Museum continues to embody Burke's vision of sharing the Navy's history and traditions with the world.
The tradition of collecting naval artifacts in the United States began in the early 19th century under the command of Thomas Tingey, the first commandant of the Washington Navy Yard. The first artifact collected was a French gun, cast in 1793 at Lyons, captured during the Quasi-War with France, 1798–1801. From this modest beginning, the collection grew as the U.S. Navy fought in more battles and explored the high seas during the early years of the American republic.
As the Navy's collection of artifacts grew, so did the need for a space to display them. In 1865, the former Paint Shop opened as the Museum of Naval Relics and Weapons, where the Dispensary is today. This museum was amongst America's earliest federal museums. Listed as one of Washington's most popular tourist attractions in Morrison's Strangers Guide to Washington, the collection impressed visitors with such artifacts as a gun from Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés (used during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire), and the sloop Kearsarge's original sternpost containing a shell she received during her fight with the Confederate raider Alabama off the French coast.
In 1913 the museum's artifacts were moved to Building 120. The museum shared space with the Seaman Gunner's Quarters and the Recruiting Office. This site is now a parking lot west of the Washington Navy Yard. The building was demolished in 1927, which left the Navy's collection of artifacts in storage for eight years. In April 1935, the third museum opened in building 40, at the north end of the Breech Mechanism Shop constructed between 1887 and 1899. When World War II ended, the yard officially changed its name to the Naval Gun Factory. Hence, the museum became the Naval Gun Factory Museum. After gun production ceased, Admiral Burke obtained the entire building in 1961 to house a new and more complete collection of artifacts.
Today, the U.S. Navy Museum is the only naval museum to chronicle the U.S. Navy's history from its creation to the present. Artifacts like USS Constitution's fighting top, the world's deepest diving submersible, Trieste, and the khaki uniform of former Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz make The Navy Museum's collection second to none.
Close to 94,000 individuals visit The U.S. Navy Museum annually. Admission to the museum and its programs is free. The museum is architecturally accessible.
Visiting the National Museum of the U.S. Navy
A view of the U.S. Navy Museum as seen from Willard Park. Periscopes from the submarine exhibit are visible to the left.
The National Museum of the United States Navy and the associated Cold War Gallery are open to the public. Both facilities closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 14, 2020, and reopened on June 1, 2021. Because the museum is on the grounds of an active military installation, visitors must either present valid government/military credentials, be accompanied by someone who has such credentials, or apply for a day pass at the on-site visitors' center. Upon entering the museum, visitors can see the fighting top from USSConstitution, as well as a statue of Boatswain's Mate Charles W. Riggin, made from melted dimes.
This large room is dedicated entirely to the history of American submarines. The room features a pair of working periscopes, targeting computers, and battle flags.
The American Revolution and the French Alliance
The U.S. Navy's violent beginning is documented near the museum's entrance with a video kiosk, weapons, and depictions of early American Navy heroes.
This exhibit tells the story of the loss of the battleship USSMaine(ACR-1), public outrage and the beginning of the United States as a global power. On display are several weapons, items from the home front, a model and diagram of the strange USSVesuvius(1888), and the uniform of Admiral George Dewey.
Polar Exploration
The story of Admiral Richard Byrd's 1928 voyage to the South Pole is told through photographs and equipment from his and other subsequent voyages.
Navigation
Vitally crucial throughout history, navigational techniques and various pieces of equipment are explained in a small exhibit on the history of navigation at sea. The room is filled with charts, chronometers, and meteorological equipment.
U.S. Navy in World War I
This exhibit detailing the U.S. Navy's brief involvement in the First World War explains the dangerous task of submarine-hunting and showcases models of warships of the period, a captured German flag, and footage of a U.S. Navy railway gun in action.
In Harm's Way, The Navy in World War II
The most extensive section of the museum, In Harm's Way, is divided into three sections.
The Atlantic Theater. This exhibit details convoy protection, the capture of U-505, the breaking of the German Enigma code, and the role of the Merchant Marine, as well as weapons and equipment used by both sides of the war for Europe. A wide variety of cannon, rifles and sidearms are on display along with a high-altitude flying suit, the diving log of U-505 and the XAF Radar Receiver from the battleship USSNew York(BB-34).
The Home Front. Featuring a replica storefront and a small theater showing a film from the World War II period, the home front exhibit is decorated with patriotic posters, aircraft identification models, and personal items. The role of WAVES is detailed in the exhibit.
The Pacific Theater. The area dedicated to the war in the Pacific dominates the World War II section of the museum, featuring a full-size replica of the bridge of the destroyer USSFletcher, four gun batteries, an FG-1D Corsair, a Japanese MXY7 Ohka kamikaze aircraft, two atomic bomb casings, and models of the carrier USSLeyte(CV-32) and battleship USSMissouri(BB-63), each around twenty feet in length.
Korea 1950–1953: The Navy in the Forgotten War
Uniforms and equipment, along with videos and other artifacts, bring the often-ignored Korean War into focus. Captured Soviet weapons, models of aircraft and warships, and a piece of the Inchon seawall are on display.
Other exhibits
The display of Trieste seen at the museum's Undersea Exploration exhibit.
The deep submergence vehicle Trieste is the highlight of the Undersea Exploration exhibit. A small exhibit on the Steel Navy (1883–1909) is in the north end, as well as on the Battle of Trafalgar, which features a short film on naval artillery based on the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
In popular culture
The Navy Museum was featured in Ephemera, the Season 17 Episode 16 episode of the CBS TV series NCIS.[3][4]
Future plans
On October 13, 2020, then-United States Secretary of the NavyKenneth Braithwaite announced that a new National Museum of the United States Navy would be designed and built, with construction and installation tentatively slated for 2025. He stated that the facility will be located near the Washington Navy Yard, but outside its security perimeter so that visitors can enter without the need for credentials or a day pass.[5]
↑ USS South Dakota is memorialized at Sioux Falls, S. Dak., where memorabilia and parts of the ship are displayed within an outline of the main deck. A screw from South Dakota is on display outside the U. S. Navy Museum.
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