Preserve

The preservation of naval history is one of three core missions of the Naval Order. The founders of the Naval Order banded together as “survivors and descendants of participants of naval conflicts” for the express purpose of preserving the memory of those events and passing them to posterity. It was their desire to preserve “the illustrious deeds of the great naval commanders, their companion officers in arms, and their subordinates in the wars of the United States.”

We pursue our mission to preserve naval history in two ways, through the methods established in the Naval Order constitution and through our history preservation partnerships with other naval history organizations.

Our preservation projects reflect the charge in our constitution to “encourage research and publication of data pertaining to Naval art and science; and to establish libraries in which to preserve all documents, rolls, books, portraits, and relics relating to the Naval Services and their heroes at all times; and further, inspired by American Naval traditions to action worthy of them.”

Projects under the Preserve domain include the Great White Fleet Bronze Relief, Washington, D.C., the D-Day Navy Monument in Normandy, France, the preservation of Fleet Admiral Nimitz’ wartime journal, the Gray Book, and the Midshipman Dale Tombstone replacement in Bermuda.

We currently have two history preservation partnerships with the Pacific Aviation Museum and the Battleship Missouri.