An inky black ship steaming on a painted ocean presented atop an unusual sailor's made artifact of fine characteristics, the ship is no other than the near-immortal battleship U.S.S. NEVADA, and the hand that made the knot-work canvas cover was a member of her crew.
From her 1912 genesis at the Quincy, Mass. yard of the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., the famous Captain William S. Sims took her helm. Over the next three-plus decades her record speaks for her training and quality. She would sweep the North Sea during World War I duty, serve in the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets between the World Wars, and cruise Brazil, Australia and New Zealand to demonstrate the advances of the American Navy. On Dec. 7, 1941, anchored off Ford Island, she had the freedom of mobility that the eight other battleships in pearl harbor were denied, and as she returned fire and struck up steam, she was struck by a torpedo and several bombs. Continuing to battle, her officers chose to beach her at Hospital Point rather than risk blocking the harbor mouth, and still her crew continued to fight. After such tragic losses, NEVADA earned some revenge, in the capture of Attu, the land bombardment of the Germans during the Normandie Invasion, further bombardment of Toulon, and then in service in the Pacific and off Japan, pounding enemies at Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the Japanese home island. After a stint in the occupation of Tokyo Bay after the war, she was chosen as a target vessel for the atom-bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. Refusing to surrender, she survived to be brought back to Hawaii and sunk with honors, including seven battle stars for WWII service, off the coast.
Proudly displayed yet partially obscured, the American Naval Ensign rides high, the crisp blue sky set with an amber sunset and the water fluid. The ship was inked directly from observation, down to the turnbuckles at the rails. A sailor artifact which caries quality of workmanship and pride of ownership, it serves the NEVADA's memory well.
