Ship Model, Tobacco Ship <I>Brilliant</I>
date: label: Date made
content: 1978
label: ship built
content: 1775
label: voyage to Jamaica
content: 1776
label: became a ship of war in Royal Navy
content: 1776
label: ship lost at sea
content: 1798
name: label: maker
content: Newcomb, Charles J.
label: maker
content: Newcomb, N. David
notes: label: Description
content: This is a 1/8-scale model of the tobacco ship <I>Brilliant</I>, a 250-ton vessel built in Virginia in 1775 for British owners. The <I>Brilliant'</I>s first and probably only commercial venture from Virginia took place when it set sail for Liverpool, with a full hold of tobacco, in the summer of 1775. Typically the <I>Brilliant</I> would have returned with manufactured goods, but because of growing hostilities between Britain and the colonies, the ship remained in England. Records show that the <I>Brilliant</I> made one voyage to Jamaica and returned to London in 1776. Later that year, the Royal Navy purchased the vessel for just over £3,000 and converted it to a ship of war for service in the American Revolution.
label: Description
content: The ship <I>Brilliant</I> had three masts and square-rigged sails. Its lower deck was 89'-3" long, its breadth was 27'-1/2", and the depth of the hold was 12'-2". The ship was built of oak, pine, and cedar. When purchased for war service, the Royal Navy assessed its hull, masts, and yards at £2,143. The cordage, including halyards, sheets, tack, and anchor cables, were assessed at £340. <I>Brilliant's</I> sails, 27 in all, were valued at £143. Five anchors were assessed at £58, while a long boat with a sailing rig and oars was estimated to be worth £45. Other items aboard the <I>Brilliant</I> were inventoried, including block and tackle, metal fittings, iron-bound water casks, hour and minute glasses, compasses, hammocks, an iron fire hearth, and 10 tons of coal.
label: Description
content: After its conversion in 1776 as a ship of war in the Royal Navy, the <I>Brilliant</I> was commissioned as the HMS <I>Druid</I>. Its first voyage westbound across the Atlantic was as an escort for a convoy to the West Indies. The vessel served as the <I>Druid</I> until 1779, after which it became the fire ship <I>Blast</I>. In 1783, it was sold out of the service for £940 and, for the next 15 years, the former Virginia tobacco ship served as a whaler in Greenland. The vessel was lost in the Arctic in 1798.
label: Description
content: This model was built by Charles and N. David Newcomb of Bolingbroke Marine in Trappe, Md. The model makers began their work in March 1975, scaling every timber to size and making everything out of the same type of wood as the original. They devised miniature rope-making equipment to manufacture the 5,000 feet of rigging and anchor cable required in 20 different sizes. Women from the Newcomb family and the surrounding community made the rigging and sails.
label: Description
content: The model makers left the starboard side of the vessel unplanked to reveal the timbering and joinery of the hull and to permit a view of the vessel’s living accommodations in the stern and cargo stowage, complete with tobacco hogsheads.
place: label: ship wrecked
content: Arctic Ocean
label: ship built
content: United States: Virginia
label: ship sailed to
content: United Kingdom: England, Liverpool
label: ship sailed to
content: Jamaica: Jamaica
label: ship sailed to
content: United Kingdom: England, London
topic: label: related event
content: Revolution and the New Nation
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of The Tobacco Institute, Inc. (through Horace R. Kornegay)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.335672
label: catalog number
content: 335672
label: accession number
content: 1978.0403
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ship
label: Object Name
content: ship model
label: Object Name
content: rigged ship model
label: Object Name
content: ship model, rigged
label: Object Name
content: model, rigged ship
label: Other Terms
content: ship; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: textile (sails material)
label: Measurements
content: includes cradle: 12 1/2 ft x 14 ft x 4 ft; 3.81 m x 4.2672 m x 1.2192 m