VIEW THIS EMAIL AS A WEBPAGE

2 March 2023 — Our 12th Annual National Maritime Awards Dinner is on 9 May. This week, we highlight one of the awardees.

There is nothing like coming together as a community of like-minded individuals to enjoy each other’s company and share in the common interests that draw us together. That is what makes the Society’s gatherings and events such great places to connect, or reconnect, and speak the common language of all things maritime.

This year's 12th National Maritime Awards Dinner on 9 May at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, will celebrate three driving forces of the maritime community and their outstanding contributions: Congressman Joseph D. Courtney, USS Constitution Museum, and Oyster Recovery Partnership.

In this week's e-news installment, we highlight Congressman Courtney's success in delivering funding for US Navy shipbuilding and submarine procurement and look forward to telling you more about USS Constitution Museum and Oyster Recovery Partnership in upcoming editions of A Cause in Motion. You can read more now about all our awardees in the new spring issue of Sea History magazine!

For more information about the dinner and to register, please click here.

2023 marks the 12th year we have gathered for the National Maritime Awards Dinner. Photo: NMHS.

The Society’s galas always prove to be lively events, and this one should be no exception: the effervescent Gary Jobson, America’s Ambassador of Sailing, is our master of ceremonies for the evening’s festivities. Our honorees will be introduced via videos produced by award-winning documentarian Richardo Lopes and Voyage Digital Media.

Distinguished artist Patrick O’Brien has curated the 2023 NMHS Maritime Art Gallery, an invitational exhibition that showcases contemporary works by some of today’s most notable marine artists. All works are for sale, with a portion of proceeds benefitting NMHS. Click here for a preview of the exhibition; you need not attend to make your purchase. 

Samuel F. Byers, Dinner Chair, Philip J. Webster, Founding Dinner Chair, and NMHS Chair CAPT James A. Noone, USN (Ret.) look forward to welcoming you and offer their sincere thanks to our National Maritime Awards Dinner supporters:

Commodore Sponsors

American Cruise Lines

Classic Harbor Line & Richard Scarano

Voyage Digital Media & Richardo Lopes

William H. White

Table Hosts

The Byers Foundation

 VADM Al Konetzni, USN (Ret.)

McAllister Towing and Transportation Co., Inc. 

CAPT James A. Noone, USN (Ret.)

Oyster Recovery Partnership

SEACORP

Philip J. and Irmy Webster 

For more information about the dinner and to register, please click here.

Congressman Joseph D. Courtney of the Second Congressional District of Connecticut with CAPT Kenneth Curtin, Commanding Officer of SUBASE New London, and other US Navy leaders celebrate the long-awaited completion of the new Pier 32 at SUBASE New London in November 2022. Photo: Rep. Courtney.

NMHS will be recognizing Congressman Joseph D. Courtney for his continued success in delivering funding for US Navy shipbuilding and submarine procurement, most recently as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023 and the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act. As chairman of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, he helped structure crucial investments in some of our greatest sources of US national strength: service members, innovation and technology, and our allies and partners. We also salute his work in obtaining funding for the Naval Submarine Base New London, the Navy's "First and Finest Submarine Base." For championing funding for the production of two Virginia-class attack submarines per year with the Electric Boat division at General Dynamics, he was given the nickname "Two Sub Joe" or, as Mohegan tribal leaders have dubbed him, "Two Iron Fish;" his support for Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines was invaluable as well. 

Virginia-class submarine USS Oregon (SSN-793) takes on supplies from the tug John P. Wronowski. Photo: US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Wesley Towner.

Representative Courtney is also co-chair, along with Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA), of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, a group founded to provide a forum for members of Congress to discuss shipbuilding issues, to support increased shipbuilding efforts for the Navy to increase national security, and to foster awareness of shipbuilding issues. In this setting, Congressional representatives, industry leaders, and officers of the sea services share views on domestic shipbuilding.

We look forward to telling you more about our other awardees in upcoming installments of A Cause in Motion.