Bethesda  

Sundial: 462
State/Province:  Maryland Country:  United States
Dial Type:  Horizontal Dial Condition:  Excellent
  Latitude and Longitude: 38° 59.990' N  77° 05.617' W
Location:
  • Walter Reed National Medical Center (formerly Naval Medical Center Bethesda). Outside the south entrance.
 
Description:
  • Farenholt sundial for U.S. Naval Hospital Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands. This cast bronze dial was designed and commissioned by RADM Farenholt for U.S. Naval Hospitals at bases where he was commanding officer, visited, or had special meaning to him. The dial is 18 inches (46cm) in diameter. The outer chapter ring has the motto, followed by a chapter ring with Arabic hours 6am to 6pm, raised hour lines that radiate from near the foot of the gnomon and short half-hour lines. The gnomon has graceful curves and a quatrefoil cut-out in the center. Below the gnomon is the naval command name, followed by the commissioning date in the southern portion of the hours chapter ring.

    The accompanying plaque reads, "This sundial stood on the grounds of the Old Naval Hospital at Hospital Point Pearl Harbor, Hawaii during the Japanese attack of 7 December 1941." The dial is inclined to accommodate the latitude of Bethesda, MD. The dial sets on a simple cylindrical pillar. Original lat 21deg 21’ N, lon 157deg 58’ W

    The sundial placed at NH, Pearl Harbor in 1924 may have been in part to honor his friend RADM Whiting. He died in 1925, and his widow, Henrietta (called Eta by her family) Petronella Afong Whiting, whom he had know for 25 years, were married 12 August 1926.
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: U.S. Navy
  • Circling Dial Motto:
    * My time is in the hands of God *

    South of Gnomon on Dial Face
    United States
    Naval Hospital Pearl Harbor
    Hawaiian Islands
    1924
  • Designer: RADM Ammen Farenholt
  • Builder: US Naval Foundry
  • Construction Date: 1924
 
References:
  • Farenholt Sundials
    #181 US NH Annapolis MD
    #258 US Naval Center Bethesda MD
    #461 US NH Brooklyn (Walter Reed, Bethesda MD)
    #462 US NH Pearl Harbor (At Walter Reed)
    #1014 US NH Parris Island SC (Beaufort SC)
    #1076 US NH Mare Island CA
    #1077 US NH Newport RI
    #1078 US NH Puget Sound WA (Bremerton, WA)
    #1079 US NH San Diego CA
    #1080 US Naval Ammo Depot (Hawthorne, NV)
    #1081 US Naval Air Station CA
    #1082 US NH Portsmouth NH
    #1083 US NH Corpus Christi TX

Last Revised: 2022-12-15 22:33