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Scenes on Board A Man-of-War. U.S.S. Saratoga.

Hatton & Hart: New York, [ca. 1880]. Oblong folio, original navy blue cloth, with gilt stamped title, image of vessel, photographers’ names and owner’s name on upper cover, watered silk endpapers. 20 large format albumen photographs mounted on 20 stiff leaves; all photos approx. 7” x 9”.

A rare and engaging photo album capturing life aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga during the 1880s.

The men of the ship are shown performing bayonet and sword-fighting exercises, training to repel boarders, taking lessons below deck (Boys at School, Gunnery Instruction, Knotting and Splicing), manning the guns, gathered in “A Rally,” and presenting what appears to be a lovely roast of some sort to an officer on deck. Also included are shipboard portraits of Commander W. H. Whiting, groups of officers, the marine guard, the race boat’s crew, the berth deck cooks, the band, and quartermasters at the helm.

The Saratoga was launched in 1843 and was the third US Naval vessel so named. She first saw service off the coast of Africa, where in addition to protecting American interests she also was involved in suppressing the slave trade. During the war with Mexico she saw service under the command of David Farragut. Following the Mexican surrender the Saratoga sailed as one of Perry’s Black Ships in his mission to open trade with Japan. After a brief return to the African slave patrol, she returned to American waters and participated in the Atlantic blockade during the Civil War. At war’s end the Saratoga began patrolling the Eastern Seaboard, and was eventually converted into a training ship in 1880, the role in which she appears in the present album.

The photographers, Hatton & Hart, appear to have made something of a specialty of photographing naval vessels. Two similar albums, documenting the U.S.S. Swatara and the U.S.S. Alliance respectively, are recorded in OCLC. The present album is not recorded. The ownership inscription of Commander Donald C. McNeil appears on the front paste-down.

CONDITION: Good, rubbed along the extremities and at a few spots on the boards, binding slightly loose, endpapers foxed, damp-stain at upper right corner of mount only on first stiff leaf, touch of foxing to the first photo; some photographs lighter than others, but generally in nice condition.

Item #3030

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