The Ark

Check out this amazing crew shot of USS Arkansas (Battleship No. 33) assembled on deck, circa April-Sept 1914. Note the sweeping collection of mascots (monkey, dogs, cats, a goat, and birds), as well as the ship’s baseball championship pennant flying, among other awards and trophies. (Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph NH 96594) Inset of the above. I count a retriever, a goat, and at least seven parrots in this one sample. Plus a monkey and a mouser. The third U.S. Navy ship to bear the name of the Diamond State, Arkansas was laid down on 25 January 1910 at Camden, launched just a year later on 14 January 1911, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 September 1912, Capt. Roy Campbell Smith (USNA 1876) in command. Smith is surely the skipper shown in the image, as he remained the proverbial Noah on “The Ark” until October 1915. A closer look at Smith. Note the parrot and Ark’s accumulation of trophies and loving cups. At the time, she carried the fleet’s…