Dahlgren Gun at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Two views of a Civil War-era cannon at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It was recovered from Building 268 when it was renovated to create the Duggal Greenhouse, which is not a greenhouse, but a large events space.  It currently sits across from Duggal, next to Building 313.

It's a Dahlgren gun, a type of cannon developed by John Dahlgren, "The Father of Naval Ordnance."  Dahlgren designed a new breed of cannon which had further range and accuracy, and most importantly was much safer, as previous cannons had a tendency to burst in the midst of their crews when fired. Dahlgren guns are identified by their distinctive soda-bottle shape.

The carriage looks like the drawing below, which identifies it as an 8 inch gun, but I've found photos of identical cannons, such as this one in Hartford, and people who seem to know a lot about cannons say it's a nine-inch. Either way, it was manufactured at the Fort Pitt Foundry in Pittsburgh in the 1860s. Wikipedia tells me that there were 355 8-inch cannons made, and 1,185 of the 9-inch, and this cannon has engraved on it "FP No 675," so I'm assuming it is indeed a 9-inch gun.

The Navy Yard is full of finds like this, often squirrelled away in corners. This cannon is intact, and I've seen one other that was refinished and looks new and fancy. And then the other day I found this, a pile of Dahlgren guns in a pile behind a building in a far corner of the yard. Probably too rusty and incomplete to be worth anyone's while to restore.

USCGC Dauntless in Dry Dock 1

Most of the Brooklyn Navy Yard has been turned into tech and industry, but there are still six working dry docks operated by GMD Shipyard. Dry Dock 1 is the oldest in the yard, completed in 1851, and has a viewing platform by it, allowing a close-up look at it, if you can get into the premises. The USCGC Dauntless was docked there for several weeks, being refurbished. This cutter was commissioned in 1968.

This view was my first attempt. Actually, this was my third attempt, after abandoning two initial tries. The proportions of it are all off, but at that point I was moving on.

Much better with this attempt, as viewed from a gap in the fence!

The mast.

Work was completed on the USCGC Dauntless and it set sail about a week or two ago.

City of Water - Brooklyn Navy Yard

Today is the eleventh annual NYC City of Water Day, so I figured it'd be a good day to share these two sketches of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as seen from the Manhattan side of the East River. I had some time to kill while in the Lower East Side a few weeks ago, so decided to draw a skyline view of the Navy Yard to include in the collection I'm doing as a Visiting Artist there.

As I was completing the wide landscape view, a huge cargo ship appeared in front of me and docked at Pier K, by the Lehigh Cement Company. It was the Algoma Integrity, a 33,000 ton self-discharging cargo vessel.

Prospect Park Urban Sketching

I regularly post sketches to the NYC Urban Sketchers Facebook page, but have never joined them for one of their outings. My schedule never seems to allow it. But this past Wednesday, they were in Prospect Park, at the The Boathouse, not far from my apartment, and I was free, so I joined up with them for a bit. I wasn't able to stay that long and so didn't get to meet many of them in person, but hopefully I'll have the opportunity to join future outings.

Brooklyn Fish Transfer, Brooklyn Navy Yard

Brooklyn Navy Yard exploration. Brooklyn Fish Transfer is Agger Fish Corp., an importer of fish. Their website says that monkfish and ankimo are their specialty.

Building 269 was Sub-Assembly Shop No. 2. I believe that 'sub' here is used in the sense of 'secondary' or 'subordinate,' as in sub-contracter, and does not refer to submarines, as the Brooklyn Navy Yard did hardly any work involving submarines. Here is a view from 1941, shortly after its construction. The large door in the center is the entrance in my drawing.

via Brooklyn Navy Yard Archives

Liberty

Drawn from Red Hook. Reading the full text of Emma Lazarus' poem is striking, given the current political climate, especially in regards to immigration. Hopefully, our country will soon return to the sentiments of 1883.