An armed U.S. Navy landing party poses on deck with rifles stacked in pyramids and a field drum at the ready. Warships of this era regularly formed such parties from their crews to go ashore for guard duty, ceremonial occasions, or armed intervention during the frequent U.S. naval deployments to the Caribbean and Central America in the years following the Spanish-American War. Group photographs like this one commemorated the men who served together in these shore details. Project: 218611