AA-2026-CDD129
On the image
Somewhere in the western Pacific in the 1950s, a US Navy vessel sits in port with the unhurried posture of a ship that has recently stopped being urgent. Two sailors lean against the superstructure in the attitude of men who have discovered that the war is over but the Navy is not, and that the distance between those two facts is filled mostly with standing around on grey-painted steel. Signal flags run up the mast with the crisp formality the service required even when the message was essentially 'we are docked and nothing is happening.' The hillside settlement visible beyond the ship's quarter suggests a Japanese or Korean port — the kind of anchorage that in the postwar decade hosted a constant rotation of American vessels performing the peacetime mission of reminding everyone that America had vessels. The man in the foreground cap, caught at the bottom of the frame and apparently unaware he is in the picture, is the most relaxed person here, having correctly identified his role in this moment as spectator.
Visually related — by likeness
US Navy Vessel at Pacific Port, 1950s — Crew at Ease on Deck. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-CDD129. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/us-navy-vessel-at-pacific-port-1950s-crew-at-ease-on-deck.
@misc{aaAA2026CDD129,
title = {US Navy Vessel at Pacific Port, 1950s — Crew at Ease on Deck},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-CDD129},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/us-navy-vessel-at-pacific-port-1950s-crew-at-ease-on-deck}
}TY - ART TI - US Navy Vessel at Pacific Port, 1950s — Crew at Ease on Deck PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-CDD129 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/us-navy-vessel-at-pacific-port-1950s-crew-at-ease-on-deck ER -
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