April 10, 2017

Navy Artifact Collection Begins Settling In at Collection Management Facility

What career fields in the U.S. Navy require licenses and expertise to operate fork lifts, patience - and lots of it - to vacuum spots no larger than an artist's brush head, the ability to very neatly wrap the oddest shaped objects, and reliance upon diverse, advanced degrees? Answer: museum specialists and technicians at the U.S. Navy's Collection

Feb. 2, 2017

NHHC Curators Preserve Enterprise Story

Fifty-five years after she first entered naval service, USS Enterprise (CVN 65) will be officially decommissioned tomorrow. The Navy's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier has played a pivotal role in defending freedom around the world for more than a half century; from the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nov. 18, 2016

NHHC Reviews U.S. Navy Wrecks in South Pacific Waters and Prepares to Bring New Life to Disturbed Artifacts

The following post is about the conservation of artifacts that were removed, without authorization from the U.S. Navy, from the wreck of USS Salute. In partnership with the government of Brunei, U.S. Navy and Royal Brunei Navy divers this week completed a dive on the ship's wreck in which they honored the service of those lost when the ship sank,

Aug. 4, 2016

Savage Coating: NHHC Conservators Team With USNA to Solve a History Mystery

The remains of Royal Savage, approximately 50 timbers and 1300 artifacts, were excavated in the 1930s and brought to the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology (UA) Branch in July 2015. Most of the Royal Savage artifacts were removed from Lake Champlain more than 80 years ago and received only minimal treatment which

June 17, 2016

Savage Buttons Reveal Secrets of Revolutionary War Shipwreck

When the Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology and Conservation Laboratory received over 1,000 artifacts from the Revolutionary War shipwreck assemblage of Royal Savage last summer, conservators recognized that a number of these artifacts were personal effects of the sailors and officers who sailed aboard the

July 17, 2015

Old Ship, New Tale: The Story of Conserving Royal Savage

Recently, the remains of an old, and somewhat forgotten, revolutionary war ship, the Royal Savage made their way from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C. It is a unique experience for an underwater archeologist to partake in the research and preservation of a Revolutionary War - era ship, especially one that directly contributed to our

Feb. 15, 2015

Navy and America Remember the Maine through Artifacts

It was a call to arms not unlike "Remember the Alamo" 62 years earlier. While that Texas bravado has endured the decades, memory may falter on a similar outcry: "Remember the Maine!" Or at least why it should be remembered at all. Unlike the Alamo, in Texas during its fight for independence in 1836, the Maine in this instance was not the state, but

Jan. 3, 2014

Return of USS HOUSTON Artifacts to NHHC

Last week, the Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) received a trumpet and ceramic cup and saucer from World War II cruiser USS HOUSTON. The artifacts were returned to the US Naval Attache in Canberra, Australia after their unsanctioned removal from the wreck site and made a journey of more than 10,000 miles

March 25, 2013

The Conservation of Enfield Rifle Barrels from USS Tulip

The Naval History and Heritage Command's (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) manages the Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory which is primarily tasked with the documentation, treatment, preservation, and curation of artifacts from US Navy sunken military craft. Artifact conservation is an integral part of any archaeological investigation