Uncategorized USS Monitor Center

“In the Land of Submarines”: Assessing Nishimura 3746

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Nishimura 3746 in 2020

Welcome to the second installment of our miniseries on Nishimura 3746, a Japanese midget submarine. We’re deep diving into an on-going project to resupport this one-of-a-kind vessel. Check out the first post in the series to learn about Nishimura’s history and how it arrived at the Museum. 

The purpose of the project is to lift the sub onto a custom cradle and move it to a more accessible location. The sub currently rests on its keel and is supported by several blocks. A proper support will protect the hull, provide safe access, and bonus, can be used as an exhibit mount when the time comes to display it!   Read more

Photography

Das Kamera

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Eastman Kodak 35mm Submarine Periscope Camera Mark I. Catalog #: 2001.0038.000001

From Memorial Day until Labor Day, The Mariners’ Museum is hosting $1 admission for every visitor. As part of our offerings, we are getting artifacts that aren’t normally on display out of their storage spaces to share with our visitors. I’ll admit that quite a few of my colleagues far outpace my maritime knowledge. If there is something I know, however, it is cameras. I did some digging into the collection and was surprised and thrilled to find something that falls into my area of expertise.

This is an Eastman Kodak 35mm Submarine Periscope Camera Mark I. Which might well be the longest title ever assigned to a camera. Before this little beauty came along, submariners were restricted to holding regular cameras up to their periscope lens, taking a photo and hoping for the best. It rarely, if ever, worked as planned.   Read more

Library & Archives

Exploring the Deepest Depths

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A model of the Trieste, here presented to The Mariners' Museum Assistant Director Harold S. Sniffen in 1961, is currently on display in The Mariners' Museum Defending the Seas exhibit

On Monday James Cameron, famed Canadian director of the two highest grossing films in history (Avatar and Titanic), made the first privately-funded and second-ever manned dive to the deepest part of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean.  The dive was the result of a years-long project privately funded by Cameron himself to construct a vessel capable not only of withstanding the tremendous pressure at such depths, but of filming the entire voyage in 3D.

The first manned voyage to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, which measures nearly seven miles deep, was part of a long history of scientific projects during the Cold War.  Project Nekton was the name given to the series of test dives and deep sea dives by the bathyscaphe Trieste, owned by the United States Navy.  On January 23, 1960, Trieste, crewed by Lt. Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard, reached the bottom of the Marianas Trench and spent about 20 minutes exploring its unknown depths.   Read more