Half of scale model of hinged, 6x30 pontoon barge
notes: label: Description
content: Edge Artist Board cardstock scale model of a 6x30 Navy Landing Pontoon barge. The cardstock is folded into shape and held in place with glue and cellophane tape. Remnants of small pieces of thread are taped to the sides of the model, having broken in half from the other portion of the model. This particular half is marked in pencil with // B // on the sides and top. The underside of the model is stamped //CONFIDENTIAL//.
label: Description
content: This model likely dates from 1942-1943. According to an interview with Capt John N. Laycock, CEC, USN, from May 1944, he began experimenting in the late summer of 1942 on the idea of pontoon landing fields. He created drawings and a cardboard model of four pontoon barges that could be folded together for towing to a remote destination and then unfolded for use. Following the August 1943 Quebec Conference, British Lord Louis Mountbatten approached Laycock and asked him about the feasibility of a pontoon landing field. Laycock explained what was possible and days later was called upon by Professor John D. Bernal, one of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s scientific advisors. Laycock demonstrated his cardboard model to Bernal who remarked “Undoubtedly the Prime Minister will want to see this.” Laycock noted that he had to receive authorization in order to meet the Prime Minister.
label: Description
content: Days later, Laycock received word that the White House had been trying to find him. He reported this to Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, commander of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks (BuDocks), and shortly thereafter a British general (name unknown) called on Laycock to bring his cardboard model and drawings to see the Prime Minister. Laycock insisted on receiving formal approval from someone in the US Navy’s Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and provided the name of Admiral Oscar C. Badger, who, according to the general, granted permission. At some point then in late August 1943, Laycock went to the White House and was taken into Churchill’s bedroom to brief the Prime Minister about his pontoon models. With Churchill in bed, Laycock laid the models out on the bedspread and explained how they worked. The Prime Minister asked Laycock for estimates on the number of required pontoons to construct a floating pontoon airfield.
label: Description
content: In the ensuing months, BuDocks actually did construct a floating airfield in “Project Sock.” The field came together in Narragansett Bay and measured 1,800 feet long by 175 feet wide, with additional parking space measuring 50 feet wide connected by bridges to the primary runway. Aircraft actually did manage to safely land and take off from the airfield, but operations in anything beyond calm water proved the field woefully impractical and dangerous.
label: Description
content: It is believed that the two cardboard models (four separate pieces) stamped “Confidential” are the actual models brought to the White House and examined by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The cardboard and wood models are in far better condition with little sign of handling and were probably additional examples made to support “Project Sock.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Naval
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mildred Cole Laycock
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2019.0105.15.02
label: catalog number
content: 2019.0105.15.02
label: accession number
content: 2019.0105
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cardboard, tape, string (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 11/16 in x 4 1/16 in x 1/2 in; 42.38625 cm x 10.31875 cm x 1.27 cm