By:  Erik A.R. Ronnberg Jr. -

This most elegant model depicts all the innovated mid-19th century characteristics and hallmarks of this most famous yacht in international yacht racing history. After her famous race against the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1851, America was sold to a French aristocrat and subsequent owners and somewhat disappeared from yachting endeavors. Given the British decision to aid the Confederacy during our Civil War, the yacht was surprisingly recognized in the service of the Confederate Navy showing up in 1861 as a dispatch vessel with the name Camilla in Savanna, GA. She was armed with three small Dahlgren 24-pdr deck guns and her famous 14’ stern eagle carving reduced to a minimal motif.  The Confederates used her as a blockade runner to Bermuda and even up to Hampton Roads, VA.  She was later scuttled off Jacksonville, FL about 60 miles up the St. John’s River by fleeing Confederates, yet was raised, repaired and renamed America by Union forces. In May 1863, having been used to capture the Southern blockade runners, she went on Annapolis to train midshipmen at the US Naval Academy.    The model’s hull was carved from waterline laminated lifts with applied bulwarks and painted-on decking. The deck furniture is shown in its original mahogany bright-work finish, and includes numerous brass fittings. It is authentically rigged with its sails shown in a furled configuration. The hull bottom is meticulously finished with individually applied copper sheathing with a semi-polished effect. It is mounted on a carved plynth which has be set upon a glass beveled mirror, and presented in a glazed case with brass trim and mahogany baseboard with a small drawer.

Model type: Naval, Recent Acquisitions, Sail
Scale: 1/8" = 1'
Size: 22 5/8" L x 17" H x 8 1/2" W
Class: A
Code: NAV 3503