This is the last of the photos Frank sent me of his carved subs. He still has others he could photograph and share, but they remain packed away in storage.

This is the USS Bass





On a related note, Frank has asked me if I would help him find other museums that he could donate his remaining subs in his collection.

As I've mentioned, Frank's models reside in numerous maritime museums as well as public and private collections. However, he still has many more that he would like to find a home for. If you are connected to a maritime, military, or other historical museum, please PM me, I'll send you my e-mail address and we can discuss this further. I would like to help him preserve them and share them with others.

Impressive!

Every sub you show made by Frank I realise how mediocre I am
He makes them - I glue mine

Ohhh I still have sooooo much to learn

Thank you once again for sharing, Steve
Can (as usual) give my Congratulation and state my admiration for his work!

Skipper

Man, that is nice.

I've always admired those "whitteler"folks. I don't do well with carving wood, i can barely cut a straight line using a table saw :-)

Hello Steve. Please pass on to Frank how impressive his work is. It is amazing that he carves everything himself. You should try to get one to use in your library display. It might help him find a home for his work.

P.S. Ask him to join here again!

I considered asking him for one for the library, but really, I would rather they went to a museum. In a museum they'll be someplace that has environmental controls that will extend their preservation or at least an far greater effort will be made to do so. That wouldn't be possible in a library. (With the exception of special collections)

At any rate, I'd like to see them go someplace where several thousand people would see them each year.

And, I will pass on everyone's comments and I will ask him to join again.

Steve, I'm pretty sure they have a museum at the Submarine Base at Groton, CT. That would be a perfect place for them. Other than trying a Google search for an address, I don't have any contact information. I do know that my son will be on orders this summer somewhere in that area around the beginning of June for 6 weeks, and he can find out some information if we don't get anything sooner.

Tom

Tom,

That's a great idea! I'll suggest it to Frank and see what he says about it. Yeah, I can't think of a better place than that!

Excellent idea!

And I even found their website:

http://www.ussnautilus.org/


And this edited update, a direct quote from their mission statement:

Preserving the physical legacy and experiences of submariners for presentation to the widest possible audience.

Tom

Tom,

I saved the page and I sent Frank a note the other night regarding this and suggested that this would be a more than viable option.

Thanks again for the suggestion and the leg work

More like "finger" work actually! :-)

On a more serious note, I hope that the museum will take them. It certainly fits in perfectly with their stated mission.

My dad was a WW II vet (aviation engineering construction battalion in the CBI Theater) and he, like so many of his generation is gone. As a world, we owe so much to these fine men and women and I hope that their legacy, in the form of something tangible such as these models, can be preserved for future generations to appreciate.

Hand Salute!

Tom

I fully agree. That said, it is also up to us and those following to keep those future generations engaged.

Again, thanks for your help.

Tom,
I heard from Frank today in regards to donating his subs to the Groton museum. It seems that some of them are already there. He said that he donated several to them 20 years ago. Apparently he contacted them again recently to donate the remainder of his collection. However, they declined the offer. It seems that they produce their models "in house".

There was also a maritime museum in Middletown, Ct. that he donated to. (I'm sorry, I can't recall the name and like an idiot, I mistakenly deleted the e-mail. I'll e-mail him again for the name.) It was established and ran by two brothers who have since died. I guess he donated several subs as well as books and patrol logs to them. He's uncertain if the museum still exists.

If anyone can verify this museum is still in operation could you please let me know?

So, I guess we're back to square one.

Let's see, they say their mission is to commemorate the lives of former submariners through collections, and then they hire in house model builders.

Guess that makes sense. NOT.

What about the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk?

http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/hrnm1.html

I'd suggest the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, but they already have a TON of stuff.

Tom

Hey Tom T.

Yeah Frank is something else, he told me he prefers to use Fir and Cedar as opposed to Bass. I guess it's easier to carve. In the case of the cedar, not only do you have a nice looking boat, but it makes your home smell good too.

Tom H.
I'll suggest the Hampton Roads museum as well. It seems that a lot of the museums he's approached with his subs would rather have their examples constructed by a "professional". I fail to understand this. His are to museum scale and are in my opinion,as good as can be machined by any professional.