Hours: Tuesday through Sunday: 10:00am to 5:00pm

Mission Statement:.To acquire, preserve and exhibit maritime and related collections associated with the history of Savannah as a port and the grand age of the 18th and 19th century Atlantic trade and travel, create educational programs and publications relating to maritime history and the museum, and preservation and enhancement of William Scarbrough House and garden. The period of interest is 1733 to the present with emphasis on the 19th Century.

Related Information:

• Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, founded in 1966, exhibits ship models, paintings and maritime antiques, principally from the great era of Atlantic trade between England and America during the 18th and 19th Centuries. The Museum's collections have been enhanced with newly commissioned large-scale models of the greatest ships in Savannah's history, a comprehensive display of navigational instruments, a variety of other seafaring artifacts and video presentations.
• William Scarbrough House was built in 1819 for one of the principal owners of the Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Scarbrough's architect, William Jay from England, created one of the earliest examples of the Greek Revival in the South. Used as a public school from the 1870's, the mansion was abandoned for twenty years and then restored by Historic Savannah Foundation in the 1970's. After another period of neglect, Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum restored the house again in 1996-97, building a new roof based on a documented William Jay design, adding a new rear portico and enlarging the garden to the largest in the historic district. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Use of the Collection: Self-guided tour of the historic William Scarbrough House. Each room contains a multitude of well presented maritime displays. Archives may be visited by researchers. An appointment is recommended. There are no electronically accessible archives. Written inquiries are responded to within a week or less.

Collection Content:

• General areas - Ship Models, maritime paintings, maritime tools and instruments, figureheads, scrimshaw, and maritime history short and long film clips.
• Library - None identified by the museum.
• Paintings - 23 on exhibit, none in storage. Numerous maritime paintings by well known artists including Antonio Jacobsen. Also many paintings by unidentified artists
• Models on display - 43 on display, none in storage.
  • America, 1850-51, Cup winner, by Raymond L. Langdon, 92, 1/4"=1'
  • Amoco Savannah, 1969, supertanker built in Hiroshima Shipyard & Engine Works, Japan, builder's model, 5/64"=1'
  • Anne, 1732, brought first colonists to new colony of Georgia, by William Hitchcock, 92-93, 3/8"=1'
  • CSS Atlanta ex Fingal, 1861-62, flagship for Confederate Commodore Tattnall's "misquito fleet", by William Hitchcock, 93-94, 3/8"=1'
  • SS Caribbean, 1942, turboelectric tanker, model by shipbuilder, 1/8"=1'
  • City of Chattanooga, Steamer
  • City of Savannah, 1877, sail steamer, flagship of Ocean Steamship Company of Savannah, by William Hitchcock & John R. Hayes, 93-94, 3/8"=1'
  • Constitution, 1794, by Richard Glanville, 1/4"=1'
  • Courier, 1842, McKay clipper, 3/16"=1'
  • HMS Cressy, 1901, Cruiser, Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd., 1/4"=1'
  • Eagle ex Horst Wessel, 1936, USCG Training ship, by William H. Eisele in 1981, 3/16"=1'
  • Forest City, 1907, schooner, transported lumber & naval stores to New York, large model "under construction" on ways, prior to planking, by William Hitchcock, 96-97, 3/8"=1'
  • Har Carmel, 1957, Freighter, Hamburg, by Reinholt Moltrecht, 1/8"=1'
  • Juliette Low, 1944, Liberty Ship, by Michael Costagliola, 1/8"=1'
  • Languedoc, Flagship of French Admiral Charles Henri Comte d'Estaing. His fleet assisted in the Revolution, 1779, by William Hitchcock, 92-93, 3/8"=1'
  • SS Mackay-Bennett, 1884, trans Atlantic cable layer, model built in 1884, 1/4"=1'
  • Mohican, 1944, Coast Guard tug, by Richard Swank, c1988. 3/8"=1'
  • Mosquito, 1915, River gunboat built by Yarrow Boatworks in Glasgow for English use on China rivers in WWI, model by Yarrow in 1915, 1/4"=1'
  • Savannah, 1818, First steam/sail ship to cross the Atlantic, by William Hitchcock, 92-93, 3/8"=1'
  • Savannah, Nuclear Ship, 1959, by William Hitchcock, 3/16"=1'
  • USS Savannah, 1937, Heavy Cruiser, by J.J. Wenner for US Navy Department, 1/4"=1'
  • Titanic, 1912, l1arge sinking diorama, by Stephen W. Henniger, diorama by William Hitchcock, 96-97, 9/64"=1'
  • Wanderer, 1857, slaver, by William Hitchcock, 92-93, 3/8"=1'
  • War Hawk, 1854-55, clipper ship built in Newberryport, MA, 1/4"=1'
  • Motor yacht "Designed and constructed by Messrs Yarrow & Co."

  • Half hulls with superstructure:
    • Lancelot, 1898, paddle steamer, 1/4"=1'
    • SS Cromarty Firth, by Kelso & Coy model makers, Glasgow, 1/4"=1'

  • Prisioner of War ivory and bone model, 1798-1810

  • Six ship models built by Maurice Besgneux of LaDesirade in French West Indies in the 1960s for banker Mills B. Lane, Jr.
    • Bonhomme Richard, 1776, frigate, 5/16"=1'
    • Corona del Christo, early 17th Century, Spanish Galleon, 1/4"=1'
    • Endeavour1764, Cargo vessel of James Cook, 3/4"=1'
    • Flying Cloud, 1851 clipper, 1/2'=1'
    • HMS Rose, 1757, 24 gun figate, 5/16'=1'
    • Savannah, 1842, frigate, 1/2"=1'

  • Seven ship models built by Joseph Gallettini, 1878-?, retired sea captain of shrimp boats along Georgia's coast. In 1932 he constructed a ship model for Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was admired by John F. Kennedy, and a group of senators commissioned a model for JFK in 1963, but it was not finished in time to present to him. The rest of his models were built for Savannah banker Mills B.Lane, Jr. The solid wood hull1s are carved from a single cypress tree from Gallettini's yard. (Identity of models could not be read in the display case.)

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