Obverse

Obverse

Reverse

Reverse

Catalog Image

Catalog Image

catalog detail

catalog detail

ZFC3544

U.S. 48 Star Ensign Christening of U.S.S. Decatur.

Sub-collection: Decatur Collection of Military & Naval Service - Spanning 100 years

48 Star U.S. Ensign from U.S.S. Decatur (DD-936) commissioned on 1954.
This wool ensign was from the Decatur Grouping of flags and was mistaken at auction as an indentified WWI US ensign. However further inquiry has uncovered that it is, in fact, the US ensign from the 1950s which was used at the christening of the US Decatur in 1955, where Mrs. Alice Armsden served as one of the ship's sponsors.
This marked ensign and these flags were part of a of historical cache of artifacts descended from various branches of the Lear-Storer-Decatur family and included items from Sir William Pepperrell Baronet and John Storer (who were both part of the 1745 expedition to Nova Scotia to capture Ft. Louisburg), Colonel Tobias Lear (General Washington's Aide de Camp and personal friend), from Benjamin Lincoln Lear (son of Tobias Lear), Commodore Stephen Decatur (nephew of his famous namesake Commodore Stephen Decatur, 1779-1820), Rear Admiral George Washington Storer (nephew of Tobias Lear, 1789-1864), Ichabod Goodwin ( Governor of New Hampshire), and Admiral of the Navy George Dewey.

The collection was "rediscovered" in the mid 20th Century when the family as a whole decided to sell a barn at Kittery Point, Maine, the spiritual ecumene of the extended family. The barn had served as a repository for a vast amount of historical material that had been passed down through the generations. When inventoried the barn was found to contain a significant archive of papers, memorabilia, photographs, books, artifacts and twenty historic flags. The historic trove was divided up amongst the three branches of the family.

The share which had gone to Mrs. Alice Armsden nee Decatur, contained Decatur flags, and was kept intact until her and her spouse's estates were settled in 2009. In these estates were flags from some of America's most illustrious naval families - Decatur, Storer and Dewey.
The USS Decatur (DD-936) the fourth ship to bear the name, was a Forrest-Sherman class destroyer launched on 15 December 1955, and served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets from 1956 until she was struck from the roles of commissioned ships in 1988.

Provenance:Acquired at auction, 2-Day Winter Antiques & Fine Art Auction, 4-5 February 2010, James D. Julia, Fairfield, ME.

ZFC Significant Flag

Sources:




USS Decatur (DD-936), Wikipedia, 18 October 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Decatur_%28DDG-31%29

USS Decatur (DD-936), US Navy Ships, Naval History & Heritage Command, 18 October 22011, from: http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/d/decatur.htm

2-Day Winter Antiques & Fine Art Auction, Artfact, 10 October 2011, from: http://www.artfact.com/auction-catalog/2-day-winter-antiques-fine-art-auction,-day-2-kbmiwmy646

Smith, David, A Million-Dollar Map At Julia's Americana, Antiques and the Arts Online, 10 October 2011, from: http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/AuctionWatch/2010-03-02__14-22-30.html



Hoist & Fly

Width of Hoist 60
Length of Fly 113.5

Union/Canton

Width of Union/Canton 31.5
Length of Union/Canton 45

Stars

Comments on Star Measurements 8-8-8-8-8-8 horizontal rows

Stripes

Width of 1st Stripe 4.875
Width of 3rd Stripe 4.875
Width of 8th Stripe 5.25
Width of Last Stripe 4.875
Size of Hoist 1.375

Frame

Is it framed? no

Stars

Number of Stars 48
How are the stars embeded? Sewn
Are there stars on obverse? yes
Are there stars on reverse? yes

Stripes

Number of Stripes 13
Has a Blood Stripe? no

Nationality

Nation Represented United States

Fabric

Fabric Wool

Stitching

Stitching Machine

Weave

Type of Weave Plain

Attachment

Comments on Method of Attachmen Snap and ring.
Method of Attachment Swivel snap

Applica

Applique Sides Single Faced = Mirror Image Reverse

Documentation

Documents
All original documents and drawings are held in the Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.
Drawings
All original documents and drawings are held in the Zaricor Flag Collection Archives.

Condition

Condition Excellent
Damage Flag is like new.
Displayable yes

Date

Date WWII