Hampton Roads Naval Museum Historian to Give Piracy Lecture at Nauticus

Hampton Roads Naval Museum Historian, Gordon Calhoun, will give a lecture on "Fighting Terror on the High Seas" Wednesday, January 27, at 7 p.m. in The Living Sea Theater at Nauticus. Calhoun's talk is part of a pirate lecture series developed by Nauticus in conjunction with its adjunct exhibit with the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Piracy Today: Modern Terror on the High Seas. The event is free and open to the public.

Throughout the 19th century, pirates around the globe routinely attacked American merchant ships and their sailors. Calhoun will focus on the history of U.S. Navy efforts to stop pirate attacks on the high seas. He is the historian and editor for the Hampton Roads Naval Museum and has done extensive research into the history of the U.S. Navy in the 19th century. Calhoun also writes and edits The Daybook, a quarterly publication of local U.S. Naval history and museum events, and is at work on a book on the history of the warship, USS Cumberland.

Created in partnership with the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Piracy Today: Modern Terror on the High Seas examines modern piracy and its connection to Hampton Roads. It features the actual Maersk Alabama lifeboat -- on loan from the Navy Seal Museum in Florida -- from which Navy personnel rescued Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates in April 2009. The exhibit also features graphics and videos that detail the coordinated efforts of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect our ships, sailors and marine natural resources from harm. Admission to Piracy Today: Modern Terror on the High Seas is included in the ticket price for Real Pirates.

For more information, call (757) 664-1000.