The U.S. Navy Museum: Our 2nd Day

On our second day with the Davis family, we went to church in the morning, came home for a quick lunch and then headed to D.C. to go see the The U.S. Navy Museum.  It was the first time for any of us to visit the museum and it was a BIG HIT!  Thanks Uncle Nate for thinking of the clever idea to go there!  

Wiki offers a great overview of the museum's highlights (I know it is a little long, but for those of you who are thinking about going you may enjoy reading it):

Dive! Dive! U.S. Navy Submarines

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 Forgotten Wars of the Nineteenth Century

This exhibit features artifacts from the Quasi-War with France, the Barbary Wars, the War of 1812, and the Mexican-American War. The centerpiece of this exhibit is a replica of USS Constitution’s gun deck.

Civil War

The Civil War exhibit shows the sorts of warships and equipment used by sailors of the Union and Confederate fleets. Models of the legendary ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, the commerce raider CSS Alabama, and USSKearsarge are on display.

Spanish-American War

This exhibit tells the story of the loss of the battleship USS Maine, public outrage and the beginning of the United States as a global power. On display are a number of weapons, items from the home front, a model and diagram of the strange USS Vesuvius, 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 important 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 largest 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 USS New York.

• The Home Front. Featuring a replica storefront and a small theater showing film from the World War II period, the home front exhibit is decorated with patriotic posters, aircraft-identification models, and personal items. The role ofWAVES 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 USS Fletcher, four gun batteries, an FG-1D Corsair, a Japanese MXY7 Ohka kamikaze aircraft, two atomic bomb casings, and models of the carrier USS Leyte and battleship USS Missouri, each around twenty feet in length.

Korea 1950-53: 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 even a chunk of the Inchon seawall are on display.

A fun "playground" for the kids! 

Faith was so proud of her little cousin Ruth Ann! 

The Alvin and Trieste
[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 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

After we got home, we enjoyed some take-out pizza and cookies with ice-cream.  The "big cousins" wrestled with Daddy/ Uncle Brad and then after the little ones were put into their beds, the adults watched The AMAZING RACE! It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.