A quite rare, suberbly crafted, and extremely impressive........hull length five feet.......1883 pattern/builders model of the proposed all steel cruiser USS BOSTON. She is so named in gold across her stern and also featres a beautiful US shield on her bow.

After the American Civil War the US government, with no foreign colonies or other distant holdings to protect, pretty much let the navy decline to a less than third rate service. When President Garfield came to office in 1881 his newly appointed secretary of the Navy, William Hunt, was aware of European naval developments and realized something had to be done to modernize and rehabilitate the US Navy and its antiquated wooden hulled oceangoing fleet. A naval advisory board was formed and proposed grand plans. Then, President Garfield was asasinated late in 1881, and all came to nought. The spark was kept alive with the new president Chester A. Arthur, and after much political manouvering a Naval Bill was passed early in 1883 authorizing the building of four steel warships - three cruisers and a dispatch vessel.

Designs for the proposed steel warships had been proposed by Garfield's naval board, and more design work was done in the new Aurthur admistration. It was common practice for impressive and highly detailed models of proposed naval vessels to be built in order that admirals and others in positions of authority could view designs and innovations in three dimensions. In building its first 'modern' steel warships, one expected great care was taken with models of the proposed designs.

We believe this model was built for the purpose of representing a design for the proposed new steel USS BOSTON. Designer and builders models were built in this impressive size to convey the importance of a actual vessel and to be able to effectively display details and design features. This model represents a conservative naval design of the period with her main armament as twelve heavy 'broadside' guns with special indented gunports fore and aft for guns to fire directly ahead and astern. She is set up as a full rigged ship. This was standard at the time as most naval cruising vessels could not carry enough coal to operate continually under steam and relied heavily on sail both as mode of power and for steadying purposes. She does have some interesting innovative features. While her propeller is of the early two bladed design, the blades are variable pitch for reversing direction. A most interesting feature is the model is built to show that the propeller (corret term is 'screw') can be raised into a special cavity built into the stern to accomodate it. Part of the hoist mechanism is represented in the semicircular housing on the quarterdeck.

Another most interesting design feature of this model is that her Ram Bow was meant to be used as weapon. Though the 'ram' was a popular warship design feature in this period, almost all seagoing ships carried a bowsprit, often with jib boom as a necessity in manouvering a square rigged ship. Headsails carried thereon were most important in beginning to 'tack' the ship. However, a ship with a bowsprit could not use her ram because in the process of ramming an enemy she would dismast herself. This model however, has no bowsprit; provision for a foresail and two jibs is present ahead of the foremast, but these would not supply all the leverage required when manouvering under sail. Therefore this model displays a second 'rudder' mounted in front of the screw. The intention of this unique feature was to assist the vessel in manouvering without a bowsprit so that she could truly use her ram in combat! In this period, before the mass adoption of heavy breechloading cannon capable of relatively rapid fire and the delivery of large explosive shells, the ram was still thought of as a usable weapon.

The final, as built design for the USS BOSTON was somewhat more 'modern' as it featured heavy breechloading guns in turret mountings, though it still carried a full set of sails. It is fascinating to study this magnificent model - the ship never built - as a three dimensional artifact of naval history and a beautiful antique.

This beautiful and very impressive model is in excellent condition. It has had expert restoration sometime in the past and has a beautiful glazed mahogany case with front and rear opening doors which was likely specially built for it at that time.

Very few models of this type are to be found outside institutional collections and we are pleased to be able to offer this USS BOSTON

Dimensions: Model , 60" long x 40"high. Display case, 73" long, 43" tall, 27" wide.

Price: 12,500.00