Genealogy of the Bryan and Martin Families
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.» Alexander Martin Model Ship Gallery «Prev «1 ... 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 ... 58» Next» » Slide Show
Roman Galley
The Roman galley or bireme is one of the earliest of seagoing ships. They were fighting ships and during an action were propelled and maneuvered by the rowers who were slaves chained to the thwarts and under the lash of slave drivers who walked up and down the gangways with long, snake-like ships, and when a slave died, mostly from exhaustion, he was unchained and cast overboard.
The heavy ram bow spears and the curved stern were characteristic of the galley of this period. Notice the two steering paddles on each side of the stern. She could capture another craft by maneuvering alongside and breaking off the oars with her bow spears, making the victim helpless to escape and becoming the prisoner in action of the victor.
They had large glaring eyes on each side of the bow so the ship could look ahead and frighten an enemy.
| File name | Roman Slave Galley.jpg |
| File Size | 723.7k |
| Dimensions | 3023 x 2406 |
| Albums | Alexander Martin Model Ship Gallery |
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