First time shanty singing and we had the best time. Will most assuredly return!! - Melissa T.
Join Tall Ship Providence and Ship’s Company Chanteymen for a monthly shanty sing at The Pier Bar! Come dressed in your best pirate garb, grab a drink from The Pier Bar, and sing along with traditional sea shanties! Request Ship’s Company to lead your favorite sea shanty, or volunteer to lead it yourself!
Tickets $10/person. Drinks not included.
With the rise of the Soviet Navy following the Cuban Missile Crisis, a series of confrontations on the high seas escalated tensions between the superpowers as collisions between opposing warships raised concerns that the Cold War could accidentally become hot. Enter John W. Warner as Undersecretary of the Navy – he led an American delegation to Moscow in the Fall of 1971 and hosted a Soviet delegation in Washington in May 1972 to hammer out an accord that led to better behavior on the world’s oceans. In this talk, Winkler discusses events leading to the 1971-72 negotiations with a focus on the final talks in Washington that featured a dinner party with the Soviet delegation and Warner, CNO Admiral Zumwalt, and Director of Naval Reactors, Admiral Rickover which was interrupted by the televised announcement by President Nixon of the mining of Haiphong Harbor.
What could possibly go wrong?
Dr. David Winkler is a distinguished historian of maritime and naval history and a retired US Navy commander. He served for more than two decades as staff historian at the Naval Historical Foundation, taught at the US Naval Academy, and is an adjunct professor with the Naval War College’s College of Distance Education. He holds a Ph.D. from American University, an MA from Washington University, and a BA from Pennsylvania State University. Winkler was named the 2020–2021 Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Charles Lindbergh Fellow in Aerospace History and previously held the US Naval Academy Class of 1957 Chair of Naval Heritage. In 2022, the National Maritime Historical Society awarded him its Distinguished Service Award.
He co-compiles NMHS’s weekly email newsletter, Tuesday Tidings, manages the International Journal of Naval History, and has a monthly history column in Sea Power. He has served as program chair for multiple Maritime Heritage Conferences, including the 12th conference in Buffalo, New York, in September 2025.
Dr. Winkler has authored numerous books, articles, and lectures internationally. His publications include Cold War at Sea; Incidents at Sea; Amirs, Admirals, and Desert Sailors; Witness to Neptune’s Inferno; and America’s First Aircraft Carrier: USS Langley and the Dawn of US Naval Aviation.
Tickets $15/person. Includes a drink ticket for The Pier Bar.
Space is limited!
Spring into your marriage in unique fashion by having your ceremony aboard Tall Ship Providence, Alexandria’s very own Love Boat! Alexandria Clerk of Court Greg Parks will perform your wedding ceremony in full 18th Century nautical uniform, along with staff and crew. Whether you’re feeling colonial elegance or pirate thunder, Providence will be with you as you start your life together on her hallowed decks! Spaces are limited so reserve your spot today!
Reservations $75/couple. Couples are responsible for obtaining a marriage license.
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