Picture Post - Annapolis Naval Academy Museum

Back in 2015 we had the opportunity to tour the Naval Academy grounds, including the chapel and the museum. The part that impressed us the most was the collection of model ships on the second floor of the museum. I took a ton of photos during that trip that you can see at the original post.

This time, since we had already been through the display in 2015, I was fascinated mostly with all of the small details of the models—the figureheads, the lifeboats, all of the filigree details. Ships were the pride and joy of their respective countries and were decorated as such. At some point, though, the bean counters discovered that a whole lot of money was being spent on artistic flair and put a Kabash on the whole thing. Here's the description of the order.

It's unfortunate, because we've lost something in the removal of this art. With the decoration of features from their homeland, there was some sense of the culture they were fighting to preserve. While we have evolved from some of the more socially unacceptable portions of those cultures, the art is still an important look into that portion of history, something I fear we are losing with our dismissal of art in our current culture.

If you ever find yourself in Annapolis, please take an afternoon and visit the Naval Academy. It's free and open to the public and is one of the best kept secrets out there.

Naval Academy Chapel

The famous pipe organ on the balcony

The crypt of John Paul Jones in the basement of the chapel

One of the ships carved out of bone by the French prisoners of war. They carved them from 
bones left from their dinners.

Bone carved ship

Bone carved ship

Bone carving

Bone carved ship

An Ironclad ship

An early submarine

A replica of the famous Iwo Jima statue

An afternoon stroll through the Naval Academy

We learned from some friends of ours last evening that there was a museum on the Naval Academy's grounds that was not to be missed. It happened to coincide with an afternoon with nothing to do, so we grabbed walking shoes and a thermos of water and headed that way late this morning. (Ed Note: if you're a true sailor who always carries a pocket knife with you, leave it behind on the boat when planning a tour of a military facility...) So, if you've never had the opportunity to go there, enjoy the following photo essay.

First stop was the Academy Cathedral. It holds services for all religions.

If only the non-military community could figure out how to do this...

The cathedral had two huge pipe organs. One in the front...

...and one in the back.

In the basement of the cathedral was John Paul Jones' crypt. Elaborate doesn't even begin to describe it.

I was going to try to keep track of each model and its name and history, but honestly it just got to be too difficult, so you'll just have to enjoy the images. If you happen to know the ship already then you're way ahead of me!

Then it was off to the museum, which houses one of the largest collections of old ship models in the country.

The original winch

An exhibit on the history of the sextant

I was fascinated with the figureheads. The details in these models are awe-inspiring.

There was heavy Chinese influence in the art on these ships.

This model was so small you had to look at it through a magnifying glass.

I honestly can't even remember who this was, but I was simply entranced by the luminosity of his face.

An Admiral's barge.
Admirals paid for these out of their own pockets, so their status was determined by how elaborate they were.

Hmmmm......

A steam engine model that actually worked if you pushed a button. Wonder if it would out-perform the Westerbeast??