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17 April 2025 — Getting to Know the Historic Naval Ships Association
In a Sea History article back in 2000, the author described the experience of visiting a naval museum ship:
Volunteer tour guides, ranging from grizzled veterans to fresh-faced teenagers, tell the stories of the ships and their crews in ways that excite visitors as they walk through the narrow passageway and gain a sense of what it was like to take the ship into battle. Docents also make a point of describing how the crew spent their time in the cramped quarters aboard the submarine or frigate when not engaging the enemy. Just the very idea of being able to enter an artifact; to touch, feel, and even smell “the real thing” can be an exciting venture for parents and children alike.
Indeed, there is something about standing on the deck of a museum ship that you just can’t find anywhere else, a feeling of finding yourself physically in that ship’s story. But if visiting a museum ship is a little bit different from visiting a brick-and-mortar museum, well, running a museum ship is just as different, with a unique set of challenges. How much of the ship’s authentic structures and fittings do you change to accommodate visitors, and ensure a safe and meaningful guest experience? How do you maintain the ship itself, which has more complex—and expensive—maintenance needs than your average building?
| The HNSA annual conferences are an excellent opportunity to learn from others in the community, and also to explore the host ship. Photos courtesy HNSA. | In 1966 a group of five naval museum ship stewards, recognizing that they were part of a distinct subset of the maritime heritage community, met aboard USS North Carolina, BB-55, to share their hard-won insights and experience, and possibly to commiserate over the cost of marine paint. They founded the Historic Naval Ships Association of North America; The name was later shortened to the Historic Naval Ships Association (HNSA). Indeed, the author who wrote the passage quoted above was Channing Zucker, then-executive director of that organization. (Reader alert: most accounts of that meeting that we have today just describe a gathering of “five ships”; if you have additional documentation or more information about the process of HNSA’s founding, please reach out to us and help fill in the gaps in the official record.) Today, the HNSA fleet comprises 172 vessels, and you might notice that a few of those craft aren’t naval; the organization’s guidelines state: “All nonprofit historic ships and maritime museums open to the public are eligible for membership in HNSA, to participate in our annual conferences, share in our communications and notices about best practices in ship renovations, maintenance and visitor management, and to be part of the governance of HNSA.” The fleet counts among its members aircraft carriers, battleships, destroyers, submarines, small boats and various ancillary vessels, USCG vessels, a US Army tugboat, the remains of a Civil War ironclad, and a lightship. | HNSA’s newest fleet member is the retired fireboat John D. McKean, which served the New York City Fire Department under the designation Marine Company 1. Named for a marine engineer who lost his life in the line of duty, she was built in 1954 by John H. Mathis in Camden, NJ. The McKean was one of the vessels that responded to Manhattan after the attacks on September 11th to supply firefighters with water, and helped rescue passengers from US Airways flight 1549 when its pilots made an emergency landing on the Hudon River in 2009. She was retired in 2010; today she is owned and operated by the Fireboat McKean Preservation project and is berthed at Panco Petroleum Co. in Stony Point, NY. Photo courtesy David Rocco. | HNSA provides both a network for member organizations to help each other and a means of advocating for and amplifying the message of the museum-ship community. Its website serves as a jumping-off point to learn about the member ships, complete with a map to find ships near you, as well as a portal for members-only resources. (Be aware that the site is in the process of being updated, so some of the links are temporarily suspended until the behind-the-scenes refreshes are done.) The newsletter Anchor Watch is a platform for updates from leadership and updates from members of the fleet. The organization acts as liaison with governmental entities and maritime heritage organizations, and recognizes excellence with its awards program. Members can make use of a document repository of manuals and other resources, an educational-materials bank to adapt to their education programming, and special alerts about ship disposals that might contain useful spare parts. | | Visitors at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, MS, can learn all about the HNSA fleet member USS Cairo. Built in 1861 for the US Army at Mound City, IL, she was commissioned January 1862, one of the first ironclad warships to be built in the Western Hemisphere. She was active in the Battle of Memphis and the campaign to take Vicksburg. She was struck by two Confederate mines on 12 December 1862 and sank in the Yazoo River. Her wreck site was discovered in late 1956, and a three-year salvage process commenced. The vessel was severely damaged in the process, but the pilothouse and one of the cannons were recovered, along with artifacts including guns, the ship’s bell, and sailors’ personal effects. The surviving components of the ship have been preserved for display. Here we see the only known photograph of Cairo prior to her sinking (Photo: Library of Congress) and the remaining ship components today. (Photo: Michael Barera via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0) | | |
Of course, the HNSA item that you will be hearing about from NMHS in the months to come is the annual symposium, hosted by a different member ship each year, where members get together to exchange ship museum management information and technical expertise. Just some of the topics typically on the agenda are: educational programs, preservation methods, conservation techniques, collections management, insurance, exhibiting, fundraising and marketing their sites and programs. And I’ll bet there will still be some talk about the cost of marine paint. This year, the symposium and the Maritime Heritage Conference will be held together, rolled up into one great big maritime event, which will be a wonderful opportunity for networking, exchanging experience and ideas, and general cross-pollination covering the spectrum of topics of interest to the maritime heritage community. Registration is open now, and we and our conference partners, the Historic Naval Ships Association, look forward to seeing you there. No need to be a member of HNSA or NMHS—everyone’s welcome at this incredible event. Sign up here: https://seahistory.org/maritime-heritage-conference/.
Extra Credit
“HNSA Wrap Up: In Which We Make Rust Interesting”
Sea History Today is written by Shelley Reid, NMHS senior staff writer. Past issues can be read online by clicking here.
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