Like many places and organizations, the Museum takes the health and safety of our staff, volunteers, and visitors seriously. That is why the Museum is closed until May 1st. 

The Museum might be closed, but staff is still working hard to provide new digital content. We have added a page to our website, At Home Activities, as well as boosting content on our social media and blog.

Brushing up on naval history while staying at home? Staff is still available to answer any Navy and enlisted sailor questions.

Wishing everyone good health.


-NMAS

Due to COVID-19 all events through May 1 have been cancelled. Watch our website and Facebook page for events after May1.
Noteworthy Scuttlebutt
Other News and Interesting Bits
DIY Soap Scrimshaw
NMAS At Home Activities

During these days at home, NMAS has created our new "At Home Activities" spot on our website.  

Here you will find several different coloring pages, directions on how to create an at-home Victory Garden, a DIY soap scrimshaw, and more added regularly!
Share your at home collection by tagging your photos with #museumathome
Stay up-to-date

Stay up-to-date on all things NMAS related by checking out our FaceBook page.

Here, you will find announcements related to news and events, but also fun posts like trivia, shared posts from our sister museums, and more!

Be on the look out for interactive posts, like our Museum at Home post. We invite viewers to share their at home collections by tagging them with #museumathome and posting in the comments. See what staff has in their offices and add yours!
Official Apollo 13 Crew Photograph. Photo Courtesy of NASA.
Sailor's Attic: Stories from the National Museum of the American Sailor

Fifty years ago this month, the famed Apollo 13 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida destined for Far Mauro on the moon. Unfortunately, this would not come to pass.

This month, learn about how Captain Jim Lovell used his prior Navy training to remain calm during this time of chaos and uncertainty to bring all of the Apollo 13 crew safely back home. 

Click here to read the full story.

For more stories from the American Sailor, visit the blog's  archives  section.
Inside Building 42
Learn what's going on inside the Hostess House
Seaman 2nd Class Robert Willwerth played this Navy Bugle while he was stationed at Naval Station Great Lakes in 1946.
Artifact Spotlight: Grace McNally WWI Shadow Box

The bugle in the NMAS collection dates from the 1940's and is similar to bugles used here at Great Lakes in 1911. 

What exactly is a Bugle? A  regulation U.S. Navy bugle is made of brass and is in the Key of "G". A bugle has five key parts, which include the mouthpiece, the tube, the bell tube, the bell, and the tuning slide.
Main parts of a bugle

The official " Manual for Buglers ", originally dating from 1919, is one in a series of Navy Training Courses prepared by the Bureau of Naval Personnel. This was meant, " to help the Bugler to learn his duties in minimum time." Designed for self-study, there are six chapters, The Bugler, Sounding the Bugle, Reading Music, Starting your Practice, Bugle Practice, and The Calls. 

What exactly does a Bugler do? The bugle is used as a warning call for the ship. According to the manual, there are over 100 different calls including two of the most recognizable,  Evening Colors  and Taps . The calls are broken up into three main categories: Routine, Emergency, and Routine and Emergency. An example of a "Routine" call would be  Attention to orders  or  Drill Call,  an "Emergency call" would be  Man Overboard  or  Torpedo Defense Quarters.  In addition, a sample of a "Routine and Emergence Call" would be  Watertight Doors  which would be "sounded as a signal to secure the ship below the water line for the night during maneuvers or fog." 

Today, the bugle is still used and its sound is distinctly recognizable.

To learn how to donate to our collection, click   here .  
"A sailor without a tattoo is like a ship without grog: not seaworthy"- Samuel O'Reilly
Marked by the Sea: Tattoos in the United States Navy

Our newest exhibit,  Marked by the Sea: Tattoos in the United States Navy,  will not be opening in May, but it is still on for 2020.

This exhibit will showcase th e history of tattoos, how tattoos became a symbol of and for sailors, and some notable tattoo artists like Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins.

Staff is busy working away to make it one of our most interesting and interactive exhibits ever!
Mission Statement
As an official Department of the Navy Museum under the Naval History and Heritage Command, the National Museum of the American Sailor's mission is to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of the United States Navy's Enlisted Sailor for the benefit of the US. Navy and the people of the United States