Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial
The Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial is a monument dedicated to the sailors of the United States Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives during World War I, and other wars after.
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Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial
Located in Lady Bird Johnson Park on the west banks of the Potomac River, this memorial portrays 7 seagulls straight above a wave. The 35-foot-tall structure, nicknamed “Waves and Gulls” and devoted in 1934, has an engraving honoring those who served in the Navy and the sailors of the Coast Guard, the United States Merchant Marine, the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, and others who died at sea during World War I and other times. The statue is cast from aluminum in a foundry in Cleveland and the base is made of green granite from New Hampshire.
The inscription on the monument says:
‘To the strong souls and ready valor of those men of the United States who in the Navy, the Merchant Marine and other paths of Activity upon the waters of the world have given life or still offer it in the performance of heroic deeds this monument is dedicated by a grateful people.’
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Interesting Facts on the Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial
- The memorial was designed in 1922 by Harvey Wiley Corbett and sculpted by Ernesto Begni del Piatta, who died before it could be completed,
- After its completion in 1940, the Memorial is the first aluminum monument in Washington, DC.
- According to a literature from the National Park Service, the swirling waters, the cavernous wave, the whirling birds portray the dangers faced by those who have ‘gone down to the sea in ships and have done business in great waters.’
- Original plans called for an elaborate superior-quality green granite base to simulate the movement and color of the sea, but the funds were not available for a project of that magnitude. In fact, it took eighteen (18) years from the design to full completion of the monuments because of several problems on funding it met during construction.