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WBM march 2011
commissioned in 1908 at Norfolk,
Virginia, with a stately silver service
presentation ceremony held later that
year off the coast of Beaufort.
“It was donated to the armored
cruiser by the state of North Carolina
with great pomp and circumstance,”
says director of the Battleship North
Carolina, Capt. Terry Bragg.
Etiquette of the day
North Carolina’s presentation silver
service, manufactured by Dominick &
Haff of New York, was more than just
an object of beauty and intricacy.
“Captains or admirals, when they
pull into one of these ports in a foreign
country, they would have a huge
amount of socializing to do, but in
the name of the United States, so
they would actually use the silver,”
Langrock says.
Silver pieces in today’s battleship collection
include unusual electrified candelabras
on the punch bowl, a large pitcher
for ice water and a tray for ice cream.
“The Navy was then very proud
that we had electrified the ships,”
Langrock says. “They were showing
other countries, ‘Look at us. We have
electricity. We make ice on our ship.’”
Cigar service pieces also help tell the
story of yesteryear when smoking was
more widely accepted.
“The services really adhere to
the etiquette of the day,” Langrock
comments.
A 1910 Christmas menu from
the USS North Carolina (ACR 12)
includes cigars at the end of a long list
of delights such as roast Vermont turkey
and Virginia ham, shrimp salad,
green peas and mashed potatoes, plum
pudding and brandy sauce, apples,
oranges, mixed nuts and café noir,
Battleship museum officials say.
An honorary
continuity of history
“Formality is the heritage of the
Navy,” says Bragg, who spent 30 years
on Navy battleships.
The armored cruiser had several
adventures in its time, including carrying
President-elect William Howard
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