Genealogy of the Bryan and Martin Families

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Alexander Martin Model Ship Gallery

Alex Martin (1883-1960) joined the United States Navy in 1899 at the age of 16 and served until his 21st birthday in 1904. Around 1931 he began building model ships, most of them entirely "from scratch", although he did purchase plans and some of the smaller parts, such as anchors, life boats, etc. He sometimes pilfered the gold chains from his wife's and daughters' jewelry to use as anchor chains, eyelets from shoes became portholes, and seeds from a plant in his yard were used to make ventilators. Alex entered his ships in several hobby shows in Dayton, Ohio, winning "Best of Show" in 1959. He had exhibited at the 1960 hobby show just a few weeks before his death. This album is a collection of newspaper articles about and photographs of the models he built. Most of them are no longer in the extended family, although a few still exist in the homes of his descendants. He gave away many of his models to his friends and acquaintances, and one even ended up in the White House when he sent it to Franklin D. Roosevelt as a present. I remember several ships for which there are no photographs, including the U.S.S. Hartford, one of his largest models at a little over 3' long, and a slave ship. This virtual album is the closest thing we have to a complete record of his work. Follow this link to read his memoirs, Hedunit: The Memoirs of an Ex-Blue Jacket, and this link to read, download, or order a print copy. The descriptions (to be added as time permits) of some of the ships in this gallery were written by Alex and included in a notebook he kept containing photographs of each model. The notes appear to be for a slideshow that he presented to various audiences.

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U.S.S. Preston

These destroyers are remarkably good looking. They have a sleek ferocity that is fascinating. Their job is not to stand up and be hammered, but to hit and run, to use cunning to get in their deadly blow and vanish. In their uniform grey color there is nothing to distract from the lean silhouette. To see them at full speed with a bow wave as high as the bridge, or sliding along the side of a sea looking as if they never would come upright again is enthralling. But, don't go aboard unless you want an attack of sea-sickness.

The construction department of the U.S. Navy was kind enough to furnish the building plans of the U.S.S. Preston (D.D. 327). The Preston was named for Lieutenant Samuel W. Preston who was born in Canada and died in battle while leading his men in the attack of Fort Fisher in 1865. She originally cost $1,000,000. Although the lines are of this particular ship, the differences between her and others of her class are so light that on a model they would be negligible. They were four stackers but the later ones today are two stackers. The overall length of the Preston is 314 ft., 4.5". Breadth is 31 ft. Depth amidships 20 ft. 8 ins. Displacement at water line 1,204 tons. The scale used to build this model is 1/10 inch equals 1 ft. This gives us a model 31.5 in. long, a convenient length for an exhibition model. The destroyer is equipped with 4 torpedo tubes and at the stern are two tracks projecting over the stern for the dropping of depth charges. Also, 4 four-inch rapid-fire guns and on the after deck one 3 inch anti-aircraft gun.


File namePreston.jpg
File Size964.31k
Dimensions3031 x 2410
AlbumsAlexander Martin Model Ship Gallery

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