Burnell Poole

Burnell Poole (30 August 1884 – 1933) was an American naval artist.

Early life

Burnell Poole was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He married in 1920 to his only wife, Constance; they had a son, Burnell Poole Jr., in 1924. He painted a variety of canvases of scenes of ships in action, including of the destroyer USS Allen escorting the troopship USS Leviathan. Describing one of these paintings, now held by the Naval Historical Foundation, the artist commented that "This painting depicts the U.S. Destroyer Allen escorting the troop transport Leviathan through the danger zone on a typical dull day in the North Atlantic in rough weather. The visibility is fair", and "Under such conditions the Leviathan made about 23 or 24 knots necessitating 25 or 26 [knots] for the destroyer on account of her independent zigzag course."

In 1918 he visited the British Isles as naval correspondent for the New York magazine Everybody's Magazine. He took the opportunity to paint images of the British fleet, becoming the Royal Navy's official artist.