A ghost ship rises

The USS Monitor had a short, eventful life during the Civil War - launched in New York on January 30, 1862 and lost at sea off Cape Hatteras, NC just eleven months later. With a unique low profile (its power plant and crew quarters were all below the waterline), this ironclad went out to battle the similarly armored Confederate ship, CSS Virginia (more popularly known as the Merrimack). The four hour battle off Hampton Roads was inconclusive as cannon balls bounced ineffectively between the two ships as if in a giant pinball machine.

The Monitor was discovered in 1973, upside down, some 240 feet below  the suface.  Today the ships' unique revolving turret, anchor, propeller, steam engine and several hundred small artifacts have been recovered and are on display at the USS Monitor Center at the Mariner's Museum.  This exhibit, combined with rare photographs and artwork, vividly retells the story of the great Merrimack-Monitor sea battle and the naval history of the Civil War. Our advice: Do not miss it.

You know the feeling. You read a book, hear a joke, eat a fine meal---and can't wait to share your find. That's the reaction you'll have when you visit The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News.  Although the museum was founded in 1930, it's still a relatively undiscovered treasure.

In addition to the classic Monitor Center, the treasures here are the varied ships that ride the seas. The "jewels" of the collection, spotlighted in a darkened room, are the sixteen miniatures ships crafted by August F. Crabtree. These exquisite models represent the labor of a lifetime---each is a work of art.  August Crabtree was born into an Oregon shipbuilding family in 1905. He worked for a time in a shipyard in Vancouver, but enjoyed carving models more than building full-size ships. When Crabtree worked in Hollywood, he created the model of Lord Nelson's ship in the movie, That Hamilton Woman.

The Mariners’ Museum purchased Crabtree's models in 1956. His work is exact in every detail. To outfit the tiny prehistoric men on the raft and dugout canoe Crabtree trapped a mouse for its fur. The models reveal the artistry inherent in the construction of ships such as Queen Hatsheput's Egyptian fleet, circa 1480 B.C., or a Roman merchant ship, circa 50 A.D.

Some of the models have historical significance, including the Mora on which William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 and Christopher Columbus's Santa Maria and Pinta.  Others are so intricately carved you’ll need to use the magnifying glass attached to the display case to see the details. The hull on a 1687 English 50-gun ship is carved with 270 human, animal, and mythological figures. An 1810 American brig is noted for its elaborate rigging.

The last of Crabtree's models was the first of Cunard's red-and-black funneled passenger steamers, the Britannia. One of the early passengers was Charles Dickens, who complained his cabin was "an utterly impracticable, thoroughly impossible and profoundly preposterous box."

Entrancing as the models are, they fill only one of the museum's fourteen galleries. The museum is also noted for the boardroom models done on a scale of one-quarter inch to a foot. These models were made by the shipbuilders for the ship owners' boardrooms. Many cruise ships are represented including the S.S. Rotterdam and the Queen Elizabeth I. The latter is done on a scale of three-eights inch to the foot and is over twenty-eight feet long. The room where these models are shown has as its centerpiece the steeple-type engine from the William Stewart; only a foghorn could add to the ambience.

Different ship modelers take turns working several days each week in the Carvings Gallery. Stop and chat a few minutes, and you'll get some good tips on how to get started building your own model ship from a kit. You'll also see all around you lifelike figureheads. The museum has quite a collection of these carvings which once graced the bows of tall ships. As you enter the museum you’ll see one of the most striking: the 1 1/2-ton gilded eagle with an 18 1/2-foot wingspan from the U.S. Navy frigate Lancaster. There are some unusual figures among the more traditional buxom female figureheads, such as an imperial-looking Queen Victoria, a threatening Hindu with a spear and even the Apostle Paul. When the Paul figurehead was purchased in Providence, Rhode Island, it was transported in an open rumble seat. The figure, wrapped in a blanket to prevent damage, looked so real that passersby took it for a dead body and called the police.

In the Museum's International Small Craft Center is the most complete international collection of small craft in the Western Hemisphere. The oldest range from primitive skin boats to dugouts from Louisiana, Jamaica and the Congo. There are experimental racing yachts like the Dilemma, a Dutch yacht called a jotter, a Brazilian raft, a Chinese sampan, a Norwegian four-oared boat, a Venetian gondola, a Spanish sardine boat, and a Portuguese kelp boat. A special exhibition features an incredible collection of mahogany Chris Crafts, including boats, engines, and photographs. The gallery setting suggests a 1930s dealer showroom.  It showcases three original Chris-Craft boats including the twenty-six-foot Miss Belle Isle, one of the oldest surviving Chris-Crafts.