# Navy And Marine Memorial

The Navy and Marine Memorial, is a monument honoring sailors of the United States Navy, 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. It is located in the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Lady Bird Johnson Park on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C.
Nicknamed "Waves and Gulls," the memorial depicts seven seagulls above the crest of a wave. It is cast from aluminum and the base is made of green granite from New Hampshire.
The memorial reads:
   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.

## History

Following the end of World War I, the Navy and Marine Memorial Association formed for the purpose of establishing a monument to who lost their life at sea during the war. Retired Navy Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske chaired the Executive Committee of the Association. The Committee had several prominent members including Charles Francis Adams then Secretary of the Navy, Dwight F. Davis former Secretary of War, James J. Davis former Secretary of Labor, Curtis F. Wilbur former Secretary of the Navy, Andrew W. Mellon former Secretary of the Treasury, Hubert Work former Secretary of the Interior, Rear Admiral Benson, Admiral Edward W. Eberle, Rear Admiral F.C. Ballard, T.B. O'Connor and Major John A. Lejeune.
The Association raised funds from several prominent individuals including Richard F. White of New York who contributed $7,500, Col Robert M. Thompson to contributed $5,500, Vincent J. Astor who contributed $5,000, William H. Vanderbilt who contributed $5,000 and J. Pierpont Morgan who contributed $2,750. Fundraising included campaigns to raise funds from school children.
The Memorial Association selected Harvey Wiley Corbett for the architectural design of the monument and Ernesto Begni del Piatta as the sculptor. The Association estimated the monument would cost $500,000. Corbett submitted a design to the National Commission of Fine Arts in March 2024 of a memorial that would be 30 feet high and 32 feet long at the base with steps that would extend 200 feet and include memorial plaques. Del Piatta's sculpture would feature 7 seagulls with 5 foot wingspans soaring over a crashing wave. Corbett requested that the monument be placed at the tip of Hains Point.
The initial design of the monument included a bronze sculpture with seven seagulls flying above the crest of a wave. The base of the monument was to be built with flowing steps of New Hampshire sea green granite designed to evoke waves on the sea. Del Piatta produced an initial model of the sculpture in 1924 which the Association used to fund raise.
In 1924, Congress passed S.J. 86 authorizing placement of a monument on public grounds in Washington D.C. with the condition that the location and design be approved by the National Commission of Fine Arts and that the federal government was not required to pay for creation or maintenance of the monument.
The Commission of Fine Arts approved a monument site on the southeast corner of Columbia Island on November 10th, 1930. A ground breaking ceremony was held on December 3, 1930 with Navy Secretary Charles Francis Adams turning the first shovel at the selected site on the southeast corner of Columbia Island. Further ground work was delayed by the construction of the nearby George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The sculpture was cast in aluminum in an Aluminum Company of America foundry in Cleveland. By the time casting was completed, the Association had run out of funds and could not pay the approximately $18,000 due to ALCOA. Congressman Sol Bloom of New York negotiated an agreement to settle the outstanding balance for $13,000. Congress passed House Joint Resolution 342 in 1934, providing $13,000 to ship and install the monument on a temporary base. The ground was broken on the memorial in 1930, with the foundation completed the following year and it was installed on October 18, 1934, but work on the base and landscaping was postponed due to lack of funding.
A dedication ceremony was held on May 30, 1935. Congress passed H.R. 3234 in 1939 which authorized $100,000 which included $5,000 for unpaid architect fees, $44,384 in unpaid sculptor fees to del Piatta, and the remainder for NPS to construct a finished base for the monument. The authorization required worked to be completed within a year. During a Deficiency Hearing to consider appropriation of the $100,000 NPS Assistant Director Arthur E. Demaray was not able to provide a great degree of detail on the need for the appropriation in response to questions about previous expenditures. His testimony ended with the conclusion that if Congress did not appropriate funds that "we would not have this very difficult job thrust upon us." Congress failed to appropriate the funding, however and took up the issue in the appropriations for 1941. Work began anew the following September, and was completed by the end of 1939. Del Piatta died before it could be completed.
The base was originally concrete but replaced by the Works Progress Administration. It stands 35 feet (10.6 m) tall and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. It is the first aluminum memorial in Washington, D.C.