US 1852 PATTERN NAVAL OFFICER’S SWORD WITH PRESENTATION INSCRIPTION

Standard pattern, (The American Sword, Peterson #138) with gilt brass hilt retaining its original bullion sword knot and undecorated 31 3/8” blade. The original leather scabbard with finely engraved dedication "Presented to D.G. Nyberg Carpenter U.S.N. by his friends in the Crew of the U.S.S. Saratoga Nov. 1914" The Saratoga was the sister ship to the Maine which famously blew up in Havana harbor in 1899 starting the Spanish American War. She was laid down in 1890 and launched in 1891 under the name New York as an armored cruiser. She steamed via Gibraltar, Port Said, and Singapore to join the Asiatic Fleet at Manila on 6 August 1910. While stationed in Asiatic waters, she cruised among the Philippine Islands, and ports in China and Japan. She was renamed Saratoga in 1911 and in 1917, joined the Pacific Patrol Force. In November 1917 she transited the Panama Canal to join the Atlantic Fleet with the new name, Rochester. Excellent preservation throughout in its original oil cloth storage bag with expected effects of handling and age.