This site is dedicated to providing and gathering accurate information on U.S. Navy presentation silver. Over the years, many of these historical and beautiful services have been lost, destroyed, or broken up. We hope to catch the attention of those who might know more information about missing pieces and services.
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Clock from the USS Philadelphia. Image taken from the Jewelers' Circular, June 24, 1891.
Featured Piece - USS Philadelphia Clock
The USS Philadelphia clock — which was made of silver, gold and brass and weighed over 400 pounds — disappeared in the mid 1990s.
According to the last records of the clock, which were on index cards at the Washington Naval Yard, the clock had been returned to the Naval Yard in 1946 from the USS Philadelphia CL-41. It remained in storage there until a request was made from the U.S. Naval Reserve Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania. In 1953 the clock was loaned to the Altoona Naval Reserve Center. When the Reserve Center closed in the mid 1990s, the memorabilia inventory from the Naval Yard was then loaned to the James. L. Noble Post #3 for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Altoona, Pennsylvania. However, the clock was not included in the inventory that was sent to the James L. Noble Post #3 and seems to have disappeared from any and all U. S. Naval records.
For further information and a detailed description, you can view an original Jewelers' Circular article about the clock, from the June 24, 1891 edition.
If anyone has any information regarding the clock, please contact us. We would be especially interested to talk to anyone who had worked at the Reserve Center in Altoona during the period that the clock was on loan to the Center.