Morris Island, South Carolina. U.S. Fleet offshore

Decorative as they were, the protruding quarter galleries served as the captain's and officers' toilet facilities.

They're interestingly absent from a slew of sailing ship plans though, although many of them did have quarter galleries for real. Examples include the modified plans for the razee sloops Cumberland and Macedonian, and the lengthened frigates Sabine/Santee. The unmodified plan that most notably is missing it is the sloop Constellation's. There are several I'm unsure about, like the sloops Albany and Plymouth and brig Burrows (unbuilt). The sloops Saratoga and Portsmouth recieved them, even though they lack them in plans and I'm not sure when they got them, but St Marys never did, which makes her stand out in Post-Civil War photographs.
 
I'm glad you like it! It's the only photo of Cumberland I've seen myself. One detail I like about it (and there are so many) is it shows Cumberland has quarter galleries. Her plans as a razee don't show them and probably because of that, most of the paintings I've seen of her leave them off. Examples include:View attachment 157420 View attachment 157421

In the Civil War era, the USN painted over most decoration and molding, including both the bow and the quarter gallery windows. Sometimes they even completely removed the fake window molding, leaving the quarter gallery smooth. There was one real small window, usually the top half of the fake center window on the gallery. In this photograph of the similarly-razeed USS Macedonian, you can really see this because of the quarter gallery catching the light. You can make out a similar window on Cumberland in the photograph I linked earlier.

View attachment 157422


Crazy good stuff, thank you again! Love to know whose idea it was to just paint over those things. Did not know that, either, that they'd painted over so much. Provides less target or just uniformity?

Had no idea any photo of Cumberland existed- appreciate you bringing it here!
 
Crazy good stuff, thank you again! Love to know whose idea it was to just paint over those things. Did not know that, either, that they'd painted over so much. Provides less target or just uniformity?

Had no idea any photo of Cumberland existed- appreciate you bringing it here!

It was just the style of the time, an evolution of the Nelsonian Checker into an era of financial austerity in the post-war years. Picked out molding was falling out of favor everywhere, even in Europe. Except for painting ou the stripe often during the Civil War, it was the US Navy standard for nearly half a century. One issue with the longer stripe is it over-emphasized the sheer (height of the bow and stern over the middle) of some ships like Niagara. Some time around 1880 (+- 5 years or so), it got replaced by a new standard paint scheme, all black with a narrow white stripe at the waterline and spar deck levels. It was a handsome, modern scheme.

Constellation was built well into that era (1850s), yet still has all the moldings, they were just immediately painted over. She had the appropriate paint scheme at points in recent years before her latest scheme. This is a great picture showing off what they did at the time. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/90/47/a29047a1b62cbdf124745c0f1a09f383.jpg and how she is now http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/6780743.jpg I actually think she looks better in the 1880s scheme though, which she only wore for a couple decades (by WWI she had the paintscheme she has now). https://www.history.navy.mil/conten...ent/mediaitem/image.img.jpg/1434659925952.jpg

This shot of the frigate Minnesota is interesting. Full gilded eagle figurehead and then full gilded trailboards beneath it. https://www.history.navy.mil/conten...ent/mediaitem/image.img.jpg/1436235489012.jpg

The aforementioned Niagara https://www.history.navy.mil/conten...ent/mediaitem/image.img.jpg/1459480300678.jpg

Also compare Constitution in an 1858 refit, http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WuUfhMHD2...A/TaB7Nq0gRUo/s1600/uss+constitution+1858.jpg during the Civil War (center, flanked by Santee (l) and Macedonian (r)) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8T1xsEQev2c/UcGzfaoTBOI/AAAAAAAAAUA/mW3N5Czb0l8/s1600/School+ships.jpg and in modern times. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...px-USS_Constitution_fires_a_17-gun_salute.jpg
 
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