Battleship sailing toward front left. American flag off back, men on board; blue flag with “x” at front.
The new armored ships, produced during the 1880s and 1890s, were protected by armor on the sides of the vessel as well as on the decks. The New York was celebrated as a great war ship for its amazing speed, 20.57 knots an hour, and its activities during battles in West Indies, Spain and Cuba. Though Currier & Ives preferred to produce images by hand-pulling prints from designs drawn on stone, the firm produced several prints with the newest technology, chromolithography. Armoured Steel Cruiser New York, United States Navy was produced using this process. The print was created by printing multiple colors using specially prepared printing plates and paper that reflected the more vibrant hues of oil-based ink. Unlike earlier prints produced by Currier & Ives, which were printed on heavy rag paper and hand-colored, chromolithography provided a faster method of producing images and did not require hand-tinting.
