Hello readers and welcome back to the Library blog! I have a special treat for you today: a glimpse at the birth of the fastest ocean liner ever built, the SS United States! Launched in 1952, the United States was at that time the largest passenger ship ever constructed in the United States.  She served [...]

I left you in my last post with the purchase of the S.S. United States by the SS United States Conservancy in the summer of 2010.  The Conservancy had saved the historic vessel from the scrapyard, but what do they plan to do with the ship? The donations from the “Save Our Ship” campaign allowed the [...]

As Jay discussed in a previous post, The Port of Call blog would like to begin a conversation about the famous S.S. United States, a ship with a fabled history that was built right here in Newport News.  As a current history major and future Museum Studies student,  I am very passionate about the conservation [...]

Readers of this blog will have noticed our determination to bring you as much news about the wreck of Costa Concordia as we can.  Adam Frost has talked to you about the character of Captain Schettino, about the removal of the dead and of the thousands of tons of fuel from the hull of the ship, [...]

Last week, a very large collection of items relating to passenger liners from the late 1800s up to the 1980s landed at the Museum.  Besides a large number of artifacts, over 14,000 archival items, ranging in description from menus to brochures to stationery to family snapshots, were donated by Mrs. Norma D. Beazley from her [...]

Last week I took a few minutes to visit the Conservation wet lab to visit Monitor‘s main engine, the first time I had seen it with the tank drained. Before I say anything about this experience, I ought to say that I love steam engines, have loved them ever since I was a child.  Like [...]

We have been following with interest the story about the USS Olympia (C6), the famed protected cruiser that served as Admiral Dewey’s flagship at Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. The cruiser is the only survivor of that war, and the oldest American steel warship afloat. She fired the opening shot in the action that [...]