The Lone Sailor


The Lone Sailor, a 1987 bronze sculpture, is a tribute to all the personnel of the sea services. The sculpture was created by Stanley Bleifeld, for the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.

History

Rear Admiral William Thompson was the first president and CEO of the Navy Memorial Foundation, which raised the funds to create the Navy Memorial. As a tribute to Thompson's work to bring the memorial to life, sculptor Stanley Bleifeld placed Thompson's initials and last name on the sea bag. The model for The Lone Sailor was Dan Maloney. Maloney modeled in 1984 or 1985 when he was a Petty Officer First Class assigned to the submarine USS Alabama. The Navy Times published Maloney's first person account of his selection and collaboration with Bleifeld on The Lone Sailor and Liberty Hound statues. The Liberty Hound is located on the Jacksonville, Florida waterfront. There were several earlier designs for The Lone Sailor but the versions created from those sessions were not approved. After the failed attempts using Navy Ceremonial Honor Guard models, Bleifeld asked New London Submarine Base for someone more typical.
As part of the casting process, the bronze for The Lone Sailor was mixed with artifacts from eight U.S. Navy ships, provided by the Naval Historical Center.

Replicas around the United States

There are other copies of The Lone Sailor in memorials around the United States.
There is only one copy of The Lone Sailor in a memorial outside the United States.