These two city museums are about a block away from each other. Both were closed for remodeling when I was in Norfolk last year.
The lightship “Portsmouth” served for 30 years at several cities along the Chesapeake Bay coast before being retired. She is now permanently drydocked in Portsmouth VA.
Some photos from a visit.
The museum
An 18th-century British 6-pounder cannon, found in the Bay. It was probably abandoned by General Cornwallis when he moved from Portsmouth to Yorktown in 1781.
Artifacts from the Battle of Craney Island, nearby. Sadly, none of the battlefield remains.
A mid-19th century gun carriage found in the Bay. It may be from the Confederate ironclad “Virginia”.
A fire alarm switchboard used by the city of Portsmouth in 1901
WW1-era dive helmet and air pump
Artifacts from the WW2 shipyard
The lightship “Portsmouth”
Demonstrating how the anchor chains worked
The Captain’s cabins
The hollow mast, with the light at the top. Every two hours, some poor schmuck had to climb 60 feet up this ladder, then haul a 5-gallon can of kerosene up there to refill the lighthouse lamp. Finally in 1931 the ship was converted to use an electric lamp.